Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has praised his team’s togetherness and quality after they beat Barcelona to lift the Copa del Rey.
Angel di Maria opened to scoring for Los Blancos early on in the Mestalla, but they were pegged back when Marca Bartra equalised with 20 minutes to go. However, Gareth Bale showed why the club invested so much in him last summer when he scored a sensational solo goal five minutes from time.
The win secured the first trophy for Ancelotti as Real Madrid boss, and could kick start the bid to win the treble, with La Liga and the Champions League remaining as real options for Los Blancos.
Speaking to the press afterwards, the Italian said: “I’m happy to have won this competition. We deserved it because we had a good run and today was very difficult because we were playing against a very strong team. We won through hard work and we had chances to put the match to bed in the second half”.
“I’m just happy for both the players and the fans. I’m happy to have been here and experienced this spectacle. Now it is time to celebrate with the fans. Tonight was great because of the atmosphere. The fans helped us a lot. It was a spectacle on and off the pitch.”
He added that to beat Barcelona you have to play as a team, and refuted any suggestion the Catalans were not a strong side anymore.
“Everyone says they are at the end of a cycle, but playing them is very tough. In a season there are times at which you do not have the luck you need to win, but in my opinion the team is not finished. It is a very dangerous team. Not everything has gone well for them this season, but they still have La Liga and they’re going to fight until the end for it,” he stated.
Having praise the team, Ancelotti did have some special words for Gareth Bale too. “It is certainly the most important goal of Bale’s career. It came at a decisive point of the match,” he commented.
