Outside the green, and before Hernández Hernández ordered play, the television cameras and photographers had a double objective: the coaches of both teams. Gattuso took the initiative and headed towards Ancelotti, who had never before been seen so tense in the initial greeting with a guild mate, until not long ago one of his best friends. As he already warned in the previous one, Genaro offered him his hand and Carletto He did not deny it, but the face of the Madrid coach gave him away. Greeting and pat on the chest for pure commitment, and something else. Not a sweetheart or a confidence or a ‘good luck’. A ‘ciao’ with reluctance that was not even repeated after the penalty shootout. That was the only interaction between the two. Also in the press room, where they did not comment on it.
Madrid will play its third final of the Super Cup of the four editions played with this format to four, but he celebrated it as he played: walking. Meeting without spark, with many unforced errors in the pass, a bad decision in the last meters and, again, defensive mismatches: «I didn’t have so much work, but I was able to help the team. We were not fine and we have to keep improving. We have to find the goal and not concede as many as Villarreal’s or today against Valencia. We have to watch the game to see where we can improve, but I think that in the second half we lowered our pressure,” explained Courtois, the MVP of the semifinal.
Ancelotti said in the preview that they did not rehearse penalty shootouts, but their goalkeeper does study them. Courtois he knew that Cavani was shooting them to the left and that Gayá had taken his last two penalties to the right and center. There he caught him: «We try to find out those little things by watching videos, but players can change their habits, of course. It has also been very important that we have scored our four penalties, “reflected the Belgian.
The intra-history of the batch not only had Thibaut as protagonist. Ancelotti was smart, choosing Benzema, Modric and Kroos, his best shooters, for the first three penalties. Asensio, who also has a good shot, was fourth. The question was who had been chosen for the decisive launch, in case they were equal to the last turn: «The fifth had to be launched Vinicius (pause of silence for a couple of seconds), but better that he didn’t have to throw it away,” Ancelotti said before flashing a mischievous smile and arching his eyebrow.
He became more serious to talk about the game, but with the focus on what is important, the classification: «It is normal not to have a top performance after only twenty days have passed since the end of the World Cup. It has been a long-suffering, complicated game, but at this level it is like that. The Valencia He has defended well and we have complicated something with the goal in the second half. It is a collective error because we do not get on the passer and there is a bad reading of the center. It is clear that the team is not at its best and that we have to improve, but it has delivered and we are in the final and, usually, in the finals we do well”.
On Sunday, whether it’s Barça or Betis, the team will continue to be weak in defense. The casualties of Alaba and Tchouaméni were joined yesterday by injuries to Lucas, Camavinga y Militao. In the case of the Galician, it is impossible for him to play in the final due to a sprain in his right ankle. The Frenchman has a bruised knee and the first examination left me with moderate concern. The Brazilian’s thing is a slight concussion and today he will pass neurological tests. To this report of war we must add the recent recoveries of Mendy and Carvajal, who were substitutes yesterday and that circumstances will force them to start on Sunday, in search of the second title of the season.
