Real Madrid scraped through to the final of the Spanish Supercup with a penalty shootout win over Valencia last night. Nothing separated the two sides at the end of 120 minutes, but two missed penalties by Los Che coupled with perfect conversion by the Real Madrid players helped them through.
Nacho Fernandez started the game at left back on the night and played the full 120 minutes. He made a whopping 16 defensive contributions in that duration in addition to a key pass and a 94% pass accuracy.
The Spaniard spoke to the press after his team’s win over Valencia and talked about his performance and the difficult game among other topics. Here are the snippets from his interaction.
On the hard-fought game: “It was tough. Winning a match with extra time and penalties is never easy. Valencia were good and it was a very competitive match. We had two chances and in the end, luck went our way in the penalty shootout. We’re delighted to be in another final.”
On repeating their mistake: “Their goal was the problem. We came out after the break and in the first attack, they scored. It’s something we have to work on because the other day at Villarreal we conceded right after the break. We’ll try to correct these mistakes in the next few days.”
On the change of position: “I’m used to it and I have no problem. For me, I’m happy to play, and I don’t care about the position. I feel much more comfortable at centre-back, but I’m happy to be playing.”
On Carlo Ancelotti: “He gives us motivation, confidence in ourselves. These are moments when perhaps the team’s under more pressure, but we’re confident because we’ve put a lot of work into it. It worked out well in the end.”
On his confidence in the squad: “I’ve got confidence in my teammates and Courtois of course because they’re the best. We have tremendous confidence in Courtois, not only for penalties. Every game he proves that he’s the best goalkeeper in the world. It’s great to have him in the team.”
On the chance to defend their title: “It’s a unique opportunity. Anything that means winning titles with this club is wonderful. We have had another chance to lift another title in recent years, which have been incredible. We have to battle and fight until the end.”
Marco Asensio started on the bench but came on in the 84th minute and played the extra-time segment. The winger also gave his two cents to the media after the game.
On the overall performance: “It was a complicated game, with little rhythm from both teams. It was tough for us, but the important thing is that we’re in the final and the running for another title.”
On Valencia’s goal: “We expected the second half to begin with high intensity. The goal upset our plans a bit, Valencia pressed and played very well. We kept creating chances and it could have gone either way. We went through on penalties and we’re very happy.”
On the road ahead: “We wanted to score a goal as soon as possible and avoid penalties, but the ball wouldn’t go in. We’re fine, happy, where we want to be and on Sunday we’re in the final and in search of another title. We wanted to reach the final and try to win it, no matter who our opponents are.”
Source: Real Madrid official website
Real Madrid News
Ancelotti talks Camavinga, Militao, Vazquez, Carvajal, Mendy after Real Madrid beat Valencia
Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images
Real Madrid were once again far from their best against Valencia in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup. Pitted against Gennaro Gattuso’s side, the Merengues needed a penalty shootout to seal their place in the next round as the game ended 1-1 after extra time.
Karim Benzema gave his side the lead in the first half after winning and converting a penalty. However, sloppy defending immediately after the break saw them concede, pushing the game to 120 minutes.
Ultimately, Thibaut Courtois came up clutch, with important saves during the game and a stop in the penalty shootout to clinch it for the champions of Spain and Europe.
Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media after his team’s win in Saudi Arabia and addressed topics including his team’s performance, injuries and Sunday’s final. Here are the snippets from his media interaction.
On his review of the game: “It was a tough and hard-fought match. There are no matches at this level that aren’t tough. We made a clear mistake at the start of the second half, and we made it difficult for ourselves. The first half was fine, and so was the end of the game.”
On Valencia’s performance: “The opposition defended well and created problems for us on the counterattack. We’re pleased. We need to improve gradually, but we did a good job. We weren’t great at several points in the game, but we stayed in it.”
On players’ fitness: “We didn’t have fitness problems because we did better in the final period. We tried to score in extra time and avoid penalties. We’re not at our best because there are players who only returned recently after the World Cup.”
On what held back the team on the night: “We were affected by the injuries to Camavinga and Lucas Vázquez and we brought on players who were pushing the limit, like Mendy and Carvajal. The important thing is that we’ve reached the final.”
On the poor defending for Valencia’s goal: “The block was compact during the match. We tried to remain compact. The move was an individual one and the mistake was a collective one. The players close to the ball didn’t press and the central defensive reading wasn’t great.”
On the injuries sustained during the game: “Camavinga had a knock on his knee, Lucas Vázquez sprained his ankle and Militão felt dizzy. Militão is fine because I’ve spoken to him. We have to evaluate Camavinga and Lucas Vázquez seems to have the most serious injury.”
On reaching the final: “We wanted to reach the final. We do well in the finals and we’ll see what happens. This is a different situation from last year. We’re going to fight flat out to win the Super Cup.”
On players’ availability for Sunday’s game: “On Sunday we’ll have a competitive defence. Carvajal and Mendy have shown that they‘ve gotten over their injuries. We just have to evaluate Lucas Vázquez and Militão.”
On the form of their opponents: “Our opponents are on form at the moment and we’ll have to suffer. Every match is complicated. Our opponents are well-organised and it’s always hard, but the important thing is to win.”
On the penalty takers against Valencia: “I chose the three with the most experience to go first, the coolest. Karim, Modric, Kroos, Asensio, and the last one was Vinicius. Thank goodness he didn’t take it (laughs).”
On the impact of the World Cup on the performance: “The level of the team is not at its best because this season‘s been unusual due to the World Cup. It’s normal that 20 days after the World Cup the players aren’t at their best level.”
On the supporters: “I want to thank them for the atmosphere. It felt like we were playing at home and we really enjoyed it. We all celebrated the victory together and now we’re going for the final.”
Source: Real Madrid official website
