For him Real Madridthe Copa del Rey never been a priority history, but the semifinal of this edition has incentives that make it a transcendental commitment. For those of Carlo Ancelotti, beat the FC Barcelona (21:00 h/ Day 1) would mean taking the revenge of the Super Cupfill their great rival in LaLiga with doubts, be at the gates of a new title, pick up cruising speed for the Champions League cancan… There are no excuses for underestimating this tie.
“We do not have more or less desire for the Super Cup. We do not want a rematch. We are close to a title. When this team is, the boiler rises in temperature”, he aspired in the run-up to a duel where Rodrygo will be a doubt until the last minute ahead of the call for the Bernabéu. ‘Carletto’ will once again have positive doubts when it comes to setting up his starting eleven.
“After all the months of the season, I don’t know who the starters are. In each game I have to choose the best 11,” he said, going so far as to insinuate that I could go out at the Bernabéu without Kroos in Modric. Or not. “These are games in which you need a lot of things: personality, energy… Kroos may not be in the eleven because of his energy, but he could be because of the personality and courage necessary for this type of game. We have to evaluate everything this,” he said.
Once again, the Real Madrid coach used the tactic of being distracted that usually leads, almost always, to the use of heavyweights in an emergency. More if possible before a Barça plagued by doubts and by the impact of the Negreira case, about which the Italian coach was asked again. “I think that at this moment there is no corruption in soccer. I don’t know who will be the referee. He will do it the best way,” he said.
“There is no cagometer”
The person in charge of delivering justice in the Clásico cupbearer will be the Andalusian Munuera Montero, who already led Barça-Real Madrid last season in the Spanish Super Cup that ended with a white victory after extra time (3-2). Precisely, Ancelotti has revisited these days the final of the tournament that was played on Arab lands in January which meant a change of trend in the confrontations between the two teams.
“In the Super Cup match we lacked commitment, forcefulness and we made individual mistakes. This affected us, but I think it will not happen again. It is a key game in a competition that is important to us. We can take advantage”, assured ‘Carletto’, also aware of the major casualties of the team he leads Xavi such as those of Pedri or Lewandowski.
Despite the trends and precedents, Ancelotti strove to differentiate the context of each tournament. “As I said, it’s a different competition against a very strong opponent. It’s going to be an important match. It’s a 180-minute match to be able to play a final. There is no “cagometer”“, he concluded using a term that a journalist referred to during the press conference. Another calm and calculated episode for an Ancelotti who enters March with the confidence that the file gives him.
