Carlo Ancelotti salutes football loving Saudi Arabia, as Real Madrid prepare for Spanish Super Cup final versus Barcelona

Carlo Ancelotti

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – 15 January, 2024: Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid manager, says the club have thoroughly enjoyed their time in “football loving Saudi Arabia” – and anticipates Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup 2024 final in Riyadh versus Barcelona being watched across the globe.

The El Clasico final takes place at Al Nassr’s Al Awwal Park in Riyadh – the home of former Real Madrid hero Cristiano Ronaldo – on Sunday January 14 at 10pm Saudi Arabian time.

Real Madrid booked their place in this year’s Spanish Super Cup final by defeating city rivals Atletico Madrid 5-3 in Wednesday’s semi-final in the Saudi Arabian capital city.

Speaking at the pre-final press conference, Ancelotti said: “Saudi Arabia is a football-loving country and we have thoroughly enjoyed it here. The atmosphere from the fans will be important. The El Clasico match is important, and the whole world is watching it. There are nerves, but we are excited about the match, and there will be a great physical effort from the players.

“We trained excellently, the team is ready, and we are prepared for this match in a big way, and we are excited for the final.

“We have played against Barcelona many times and we have a lot of experience and know that they have a distinguished midfield and work well.”

Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal netted the all-important third, equalising goal with minutes remaining against Atletico Madrid that took the semi-final to extra time. His performance was also rewarded with the man of the match prize.

Ancelotti said: “Carvajal is in good condition. He rested and trained excellently, and I think he will participate tomorrow.”

Extra time was decided in Real Madrid’s favour against their city rivals through the help of the considerable impact of substitutes Joselu and Brahim Diaz. Joselu pressurised Atletico defender Stefan Savic into an own goal, while Diaz ran from his own half to score the fifth goal.

Ancelotti said: “Substitutes are important and influential players if requested, and this depends on the situations and circumstances of the match. As you can see in Vinicius’ case, we replaced him because of the minor condition that happened to him, and we have a fully equipped reserve bench, and they have high experience and skills.”

Confirming Kepa Arrizabalaga will be in goal for the El Clasico final, Ancelotti said: “Kepa played an important match against Atletico and deserved to participate with us and deserves to start tomorrow.”

He added: “We used a defensive strategy against Atletico Madrid, and this is the way Atletico plays, and depending on the direction of the opposing team, there will be changes to our style.”

Barcelona earned their place in the final by defeating Osasuna 2-0 on Thursday night at Al Awwal Park through goals from Robert Lewandoski and Lamine Yamal to set up the mouthwatering El Clasico Spanish Super Cup final in Riyadh.

This is the second year running that the two have met in the final in the Saudi Arabian capital city. Last year, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the fourth time that the Spanish Super Cup has been played in Saudi Arabia. In 2020, Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid on penalties in Jeddah, and won the trophy again two years later by beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in Riyadh.

This year’s Spanish Super Cup is the latest illustration of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to host the very best international events across all sports, with football at the forefront.

While enabling the Kingdom to build relationships and showcase the unique football culture to the world, hosting events like these provides new opportunities for the Saudi people to be inspired, pursue dreams, and realise potential.

The Spanish Super Cup kick-starts an incredible year-round schedule of international sports in the Kingdom, with football, motorsport, tennis, esports, combat sports, golf, and equestrian events all locked in for 2024.