After Real Madrid’s 2-3 defeat against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Xabi Alonso, the Real Madrid coach, made surprising statements about the performance of the team’s star, Vinicius Junior.
It is worth mentioning that the Spanish Super Cup tournament was broadcast exclusively via “Thmanyah App”, the exclusive broadcaster of the Saudi Professional League.
In statements to “Movistar” channel, Alonso praised the Brazilian star’s performance, saying that Vinicius “gave a wonderful performance and posed a threat with his runs, and scored a goal with amazing skill.”
In the press conference, the Spanish coach explained, “But he asked to be substituted in the 85th minute because he felt some fatigue, because the humidity was very high, and Vinicius made a great effort.”
Regarding Kylian Mbappé, Alonso stated, “He was not ready to participate as a starter, and I decided to involve him in the second half to threaten Barcelona’s defenders, but unfortunately we conceded the third goal before he entered.”
He added, “My feelings are mixed between pride in the players’ performance and trying until the end, and disappointment because we were unable to win the title. The match was close, and we wasted two chances in the last moments.”
The Real Madrid coach confirmed, “We will quickly turn this page to prepare for what is coming, and we benefited greatly from playing two matches against prominent competitors within a few days.”
When asked about his conversation with Florentino Pérez, the club’s president, after the match, Alonso confirmed, “We didn’t talk about anything, just a very quick discussion.”
With this victory, Barcelona won the title for the sixteenth time in its history and the second time in a row in Saudi Arabia at the expense of Real Madrid in a match that was broadcast on the “Thmanyah App,” the exclusive broadcaster of the Saudi Professional League.
