Madrid, Jan. 17 (BNA): Luka Modric was just awarded the best player award after the Spanish Super Cup final when Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti started yelling at him from afar.
“You missed a pass,” Ancelotti complained, moving his arms as Modric approached. “I sent the ball to the sideline.”
Modric started to smile. Soon the two embraced.
A missed pass appears to be the only thing that has gone wrong for Madrid this season, according to the Associated Press.
Behind another strong performance by Modric and his teammates on Sunday, Real Madrid easily beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in the Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia to cement their position as the most popular team in Spain.
After not lifting the trophy last season for the first time in over a decade, things changed for the better for the Spanish powerhouse as Ancelotti replaced Zinedine Zidane.
The veteran coach quickly put the team back on track, blending experience and youth to make it more competitive than it was a year ago.
Karim Benzema has a perfect partnership with Vinicius Junior in attack, while Eduardo Camavinga added some freshness to an experienced midfield that relied on Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro.
Veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois leads a defense that Sergio Ramos lost but did well with Eder Militao and David Alaba.
Ancelotti’s club often did not pay much attention to possession of the ball and thrived on counter-attacks, which caused the most damage. This has been the case the two times Barcelona have been defeated this season – in La Liga at the Camp Nou and last week in the Super Cup semi-finals.
Madrid also achieved league victories over Atlético Madrid and Seville, its closest rivals, as it trails by five points with a game in hand. Atletico and Barcelona are more than 15 points behind Real Madrid through the halfway point.
Ancelotti’s side have the best attack in the league with 45 goals in 21 games – 12 more than any other team. It also has one of the best defenses as it has conceded 18 goals, showing a balance that was not always present at the end of Zidane’s tenure.
Ancelotti has been switching between squads often and says he is proud of how the players adapt to different circumstances.
Real Madrid are in the Copa del Rey round of 16 and the knockout stage of the Champions League, a competition they won with Real Madrid in their first assignment with the club in 2014.
The next match for the team will be on Thursday at Elche Stadium in the King’s Cup. Elche plays again in the league on Sunday.
Real Madrid will meet Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 of the Champions League in February.
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