‘It’s a bit surprising to see Barcelona play like that’ Carlo Ancelotti unimpressed by lack of ambition

Real Madrid will have to go to Camp Nou to mount one of their famous comebacks forllowing their defeat in El Clasico. The 1-0 loss to Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final was a body blow for Los Blancos, but manager Carlo Ancelotti believes there is one thing working in their favour.

In his post-match press conference, Ancelotti was relatively upbeat, calling it one of Real Madrid’s most impressive performances in terms of purely control. Equally he feels Barcelona will not be able to repeat their play at Camp Nou.

“I don’t think they deserved to win. It was one of Real Madrid’s best games in terms of control. If we play like this in the second leg we’ll have more chances, I don’t think Barcelona can approach the game like that at home.”

Xavi Hernandez was critical of his side for their lack of control in the match, claiming it was down to Real Madrid that they were sat so deep.

Even so, Ancelotti admitted to Marca that he was not expecting such a defensive approach from the Blaugrana.

“It’s been a bit surprising to see Barcelona play like that, but they’ve learned to defend very well. They’re very strong in that aspect. We lost a lot of balls, and that’s not the best thing for us.”

Ancelotti is probably right in the sense that Camp Nou will demand more ambition from its side, but also in the fact that Barcelona will not be able to repeat such a defensive masterclass. Xavi will take heart from the fact that he should have Pedri, Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele available again for the return leg.