Real Madrid fielded a much more experienced side than Barcelona in Sunday’s Clasico in New Jersey, but Los Blancos ultimately suffered another defeat against their arch-rivals.
Last summer, Carlo Ancelotti’s side lost 3-0, which didn’t matter much since they have won three trophies in the 2023-24 campaign, including La Liga and the Champions League. As expected, the Real Madrid coach is not worried about the defeat, or the manner in which it happened – quotes via Diario AS.
Ancelotti downplays
“It was a match with good intensity and good phases of play. Obviously, we continue our line of preparation, little by little the players come back. We take advantage of these matches to give minutes and we continue. We must not get carried away. These are pre-season matches, we are missing eight players… The result is not as important for us as the conditioning of the players.”
Ancelotti also spoke about Vinicius, who was menacing throughout the 33 minutes he spent on the pitch in his first appearance of pre-season. “He was good and looked in good shape. It’s clear he worked during the holidays. The players are back in good shape and don’t need much work.“So Real Madrid have no reason to worry after this defeat. It would have been nice to be able to boast, but they would prefer it to happen next May/June.