Carlo Ancelotti saved his playing cards near his chest after Real Madrid’s wild 4-3 loss to Barcelona on Sunday – a match that will have marked the top of his El Clasico tenure.
“It’s the last one of the season,” Ancelotti mentioned tersely, dodging questions on whether or not it was his final as Madrid boss.
Speculation swirls across the Italian, with Xabi Alonso tipped to take over on the Bernabeu after saying his exit from Bayer Leverkusen. Reports counsel Ancelotti is Brazil-bound.
If this was his farewell, it was one to overlook.
Despite Kylian Mbappe’s hat trick heroics – his twenty ninth, thirtieth and thirty first objectives this season, a file for a Madrid debutant – Los Blancos blew a 2-0 lead and watched their everlasting rivals roar again in entrance of a deafening Montjuic Olympic Stadium.
Barcelona, led by teenage phenom Lamine Yamal and an electrical Raphinha, uncovered a patchwork Madrid backline lacking key figures like Eder Militao, Antonio Rüdiger, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, and David Alaba.
The Catalans pounced on defensive lapses: Eric Garcia headed in from a nook, Yamal dazzled with a solo effort and Raphinha capitalized on two calamitous errors to internet a brace.
“In games like this, you have to defend and attack well,” mentioned Ancelotti after his 350th sport in cost. “We created chances but gifted them goals. That’s what cost us.”
The loss leaves Barcelona on the point of their twenty eighth La Liga crown.
Hansi Flick’s squad sits seven factors clear with three video games to go and wishes simply two extra factors to clinch the title. A win at Espanyol on Thursday would seal the deal – no matter Madrid’s consequence at Mallorca.
Despite the sting of a midweek Champions League semifinal exit to Inter Milan, Flick praised his crew’s resilience: “To come back from 2-0 down shows the character of this group. We’re not celebrating yet, but the mentality is incredible.”
Real Madrid, in the meantime, face the prospect of ending a trophyless marketing campaign, having already surrendered their European crown and now doubtless the league title.
Asked if the season was a failure, Ancelotti was defiant: “People will judge how they want. Our job is to finish strong and win the last three games.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com