Fans can expect the unexpected when Real Madrid face Barcelona in the Supercopa de España final on Sunday, Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti said after their semi-final victory.
Madrid entered Thursday's showpiece quietly with a 3-0 win over Real Mallorca, with Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo either side scoring a Martin Valjent own goal.
A day earlier, Barcelona booked their own place in the final with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
The Blaugrana beat Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu when the Clásico rivals last met in October, although they have since slipped to third in LaLiga.
“The Clasico has been unpredictable lately,” Ancelotti told reporters on Thursday.
“There were games we won easily, like last year's 4-1 in the Supercopa. We also won 4-0 twice in Barcelona, while they beat us 4-0 at the Bernabeu.
“It's hard to imagine what kind of match the next one will be. It will be entertaining because there is quality on the pitch. Of course, in the end we want to be better than Barcelona.”
14 – @FCBarcelona” >@FCBarcelona is the team with the most #SpanishSuperCup titles (14), @realmadriden” >@realmadriden is second (13), although “The Whites” are the team with the most such titles among the new format (three out of five: 2020, 2022 and 2024). Clásico#RM#FCB#Clásico pic.twitter.com/UBPSGh5YoK
— OptaJose (@OptaJose” >@OptaJose) January 9, 2025
Madrid needed more than an hour to open the scoring against Mallorca, last year's Copa del Rey finalists, who are currently sixth in LaLiga and 13 points clear of the leaders.
England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock and completed an excellent team move with Rodrygo and Kylian Mbappe.
“We started very well, but we could have opened the score a little earlier, in the first half,” Ancelotti said.
“After the good start it became more difficult for us. It was a demanding match because Mallorca played the match they had to play.
“They defended very well, closed spaces, tried to look for opportunities with crosses. A few times they caused us problems.”
9 – Jude Bellingham is the midfielder in the Top 5 European leagues who has scored the most goals in all competitions in the last two months (nine goals). Efficiency.#Bellingham #SpanishSuperCup pic.twitter.com/XcrpXSV1Wm
— OptaJose (@OptaJose” >@OptaJose) January 9, 2025
Madrid played the match without midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who was replaced by Raul Asencio early in the second half after a nasty head crack.
Bellingham also looked uncomfortable after going down in the final minutes but finished the match with Federico Valverde substituted with 15 minutes to go.
“The doctor preferred to take him (Tchouameni) off the field because it was a blow to the head,” Ancelotti said.
“Bellingham and Valvede were overloaded. We didn't expect the heat and it affected the rhythm of the match.”
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