Ancelotti: "I don't agree with Xavi, it was a very tight game"

Carlo Ancelotti gave his thoughts on Wednesday's Super Cup clash with Barça in Riyadh and like rival coach Xavi, he said he felt nothing but pride for the way his players performed, "Were tired, but happy," he told reporters after the match.

Victory: "It was a hard-fought game, very closely contested, with some good moves, and two very good teams. It was very entertaining and as always, those of us on the sidelines suffered".

Gameplan: "We started well playing out from the back, hitting them on the break. Once we took the lead our effectiveness dipped. We deserve to be ahead in the first half and thorugh bad luck we let in an equaliser. The second half was more evenly-fought".

Counter attacks: "We are using counter-attacks well because we have players with the right characteristics to do it. It's not a foolproof method because in football there are a lot of other things, but they're doing it well".

Defence: "We were good in attack. We could have defended better. But Barcelona played really well. It was a very important game for both sides. Maybe not the most important game in the world but it is important".

Fatigue: "The players are tired. They've made a huge physical effort. But we were able to hold out until the end. The players who were fresher did well. We're tired but happy".

Benzema: “Karim's fine. He took a knock. Now we have a few days to recover in time for Sunday's final".