“I was angry with him" - Carlo Ancelotti opens up on argument with Barcelona star in Real Madrid's 3-2 Super Cup win

Real Madrid have made their way into the Spanish Super Cup final after defeating Barcelona 3-2 on Wednesday. The semi-final being held in Riyad, Saudi Arabia this year, was an evenly matched affair with both sides creating enough opportunities to win.

While Real Madrid are top of La Liga, Barcelona have had an abysmal season. They were knocked out of the group stages of the Champions League and are 17 points adrift of the La Liga leaders.

This was therefore an opportunity for Barcelona to salvage a derailed season and as Carlo Ancelotti opined before the game:

"It’s always going to be an even game, the numbers in the league do not count. It is a semi-final of the Super Cup and it starts 0-0."

However, it was Real Madrid who wrote history by emerging victorious in the first 'El Clasico' clash to be played outside of Spain.

Madrid opened the proceedings with a goal from in-form Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr. in the 25th minute. Luuk de Jong then pulled Barcelona level shortly before half-time.

Karim Benzema scored in the 72nd minute to make it 2-1. But Ansu Fati struck in the 83rd minute to ensure fans were treated to more drama in extra time. Federico Valverde, who had been brought on to replace Luka Modric, scored the winning goal in the 98th minute to heap more misery on Barcelona.

Real Madrid coach explains while he was angry with Gerard Pique

Federico Valverde scored the winining goal for Real Madrid in the 2021 Spanish Super Cup semi-final

After the game, Ancelotti was also asked about a spat he had with outspoken Barcelona vice-captain Gerard Pique. This was when Barca failed to kick the ball out of play when Vinicius Jr went down injured.

The Real Madrid coach explained:

“I was angry with him. I told him he should have kicked it out like we did once in the first half. He told me that they never kick the ball out in such situations and I said ‘sorry’ and that I didn’t know that. That’s respectable, if they want to keep playing and not put the ball out. I just didn’t know that.”

Ancelotti also analyzed the match in his post-match conference. He told the media:

“I don’t think that Barcelona dominated, as I think it was even. They used possession and we the counter-attack. The fact that we sat deeper was so that we could use the counter, which was very effective."

He added:

"Like I’ve said before, pressing high up is tougher for us because of the midfielders we have. It may not be esthetically pleasing, but we can be successful with it. We created quality chances and scored three quality goals in what was truly a close game.”

Los Blancos will face the winners of the semi-final between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao in the final.