So now it turns out Ancelotti is rubbish...? Real Madrid fans: a bit of perspective, please
Real Madrid fans: can we all just chill out a bit? Sunday’s 5-2 walloping by Barcelona was an absolute horror show for Los Blancos, of that there can be no doubt. But let’s not confuse the Spanish Super Cup final with the Champions League final.
Yes, Barça utterly steamrollered Madrid in Saudi Arabia; they made Carlo Ancelotti’s men look like a mid-table side at best. Other than some fine pieces of goalkeeping by Thibaut Courtois, and a few moments of explosive attacking play by Kylian Mbappé, Madrid simply had no answer to the Blaugrana.
But let’s not forget: while one team is celebrating winning its 15th Spanish Super Cup, the other recently lifted its 15th… European Cup.
Ancelotti is a serial trophy winner - let’s not lose sight of that fact
It’s important that we don’t fall into the trap of having short memories. The supporters who are furiously calling for Ancelotti’s head right now are the same folks who, just a few weeks back, were lauding the Italian for leading Madrid to victory in the Intercontinental Cup.
Along with August’s UEFA Super Cup win, that Intercontinental Cup triumph followed a season in which the European title was far from Ancelotti and Madrid’s only trophy success. The 65-year-old also oversaw another domestic title - by a 10-point margin, it should be noted - as well as a 4-1 thumping of Barça in the 2024 Spanish Super Cup final 12 months ago.
In other words, under the stewardship of a guy who supposedly doesn’t know what he’s doing - a tactically suspect coach incapable of finding the right formula, they say - Madrid have secured five out of the last seven trophies they’ve contested. Meanwhile, Barça have just won their first piece of silverware since 2023.
Indeed, I’ll go further than that: since January 2020, when Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup with a shootout victory over Atlético Madrid, the head-to-head trophy count for Spain’s ‘big two’ reads: Madrid, 13; Barcelona, 4.
So let’s try and maintain some sense of perspective, alright? Poor results serve as an opportunity to learn and improve; after all, Madrid responded magnificently to October’s 4-0 Clásico defeat, putting together enough victories to overturn a nine-point LaLiga deficit and leave Barça lagging five points behind them.
Real Madrid still in the race for several trophies in 2024/25
Madrid are very well placed to win LaLiga again this season - Atlético look to be their chief rivals for the title - and Champions League progression will be in the bag if they can get a result in their next European game, against opposition that is hardly daunting. Austrians RB Salzburg visit the Bernabéu on matchday seven of the league phase next Wednesday.
What’s more, should Madrid defeat Celta Vigo at home tomorrow, they’ll be just four games away from adding a 21st Copa del Rey to their trophy cabinet. Then, in June and July, Los Vikingos have the chance to win the inaugural edition of the revamped Club World Cup.
As Barça president Joan Laporta would say: Wake up! We’re not doing so badly, are we?
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