Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti allowed his players to celebrate their Copa del Rey semi-final victory over Barcelona in style. Los Blancos defeated their El Clasico rivals 4-1 on aggregate, securing their place in the competition’s final in a season that has seen Barca dominate LaLiga. Xavi’s men are currently 12 points ahead of Ancelotti’s side, with Barcelona beating Real Madrid in the league just under three weeks ago. However, sealing another win in the cup proved to be too tall of an order for the Catalan giants, as Los Blancos bounced back from their first-leg 1-0 loss with a 4-0 thumping away at the Nou Camp.
The bond between Ancelotti and his players has been evident for some time, with the Italian coach joining in the celebrations when they won LaLiga last season, even smoking a cigar to honour the victory. Now, that strong relationship has been proven once again, as footage of his post-match speech in the dressing room following their huge win on Wednesday emerged on social media.
“Proud, proud to see a match like this,” Ancelotti is heard saying. “To sit on the bench is something to be proud of, for me and for all of you.” He then sets the Real Madrid stars off laughing as he continued: “Second, I lied to you. It was not a final. This was a lie, it was a semi-final, the final we still have to play.”
But it was with his final remark that led the dressing room to descend into chaos. “And third, listen now, tomorrow is a day off!” he boomed. As a result, Real Madrid stars jumped off their seats to dance around and shout in their rival’s facilities, with Ancelotti joining in the scenes too.
Vinicius Jr opened the scoring for his side at the end of the first half, and Karim Benzema then netted a second-half hat-trick, leaving Barca stunned. Despite their win over the rivals evidently feeling like they’d won the competition already, Real Madrid still have to face Osasuna in the final in May.
Los Blancos will also be looking to advance to the next stage of the Champions League to retain their title, with a clash against managerless Chelsea in the quarter-final first-leg next Wednesday.