28/04/2025

MONDAY | APR 28, 2025

30

SPORTS

Ancelotti rues late goal

REAL MADRID manager Carlo Ancelotti was devastated as he felt his side should have taken more from yesterday’s 3-2 loss in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona where they conceded a late equaliser that led the game to extra-time, when their bitter rivals roared back to score a winner through Jules Kounde. Pedri put Barca ahead in the 28th minute with a brilliant curling strike but Real took control in the second half as Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to score the equaliser from a freekick in the 70th minute. Aurelien Tchouameni gave Madrid the lead seven minutes later with a towering header from a corner before Ferran Torres found the equaliser in a counter attack in the 84th minute that took the game to extra-time.

“There is nothing bad to say about the team who fought really hard. We competed very well. If we had won, it wouldn’t have been a scandal. We did great until we were shocked late.” In a season in which they are struggling with inconsistency, Real Madrid are now left only with La Liga as they bid to avoid a trophy-less campaign. “We have competed and we will also compete at Barcelona in the upcoming La Liga game. We will compete like we did tonight,” Ancelotti said. “We have to keep competing for the league title. We played a level game and were very close to lifting the cup. I’m hurt for not being able to lift the cup, but I have nothing to reproach my players because we played the game we had to play.” Ancelotti also dismissed talks about his future, with several reports linking him to the vacant Brazilian national team coaching job. “I can go on, I can stop, but it will be an issue for the next few weeks, not today.” – Reuters

the defence… But against Barca it can happen,” Ancelotti told a press conference after the match. “We tried until the end, we came close. The second half was very good, but that’s football. The match was evenly balanced. Barca were better in the first half, we were better in the second.

Just when it seemed like the title would have to be settled in a penalty shootout, Kounde drilled beyond Thibaut Courtois in the 116th minute to earn Barca a record-extending 32nd Copa del Rey trophy. “We were close to winning and we conceded a strange goal very late … A ball at the back of Barcelona’s players raise the trophy after winning the Copa del Rey final yesterday. – AFPPIC

27/04/2025 (SUN)

5958/2025

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Draw Date: 27/04/25 (Sun)

Draw No: 5905/25 Venue: WISMA GENTING, KL

Jubilant Flick eyes treble … after Barcelona sink Madrid in extra-time to win Copa del Rey title

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B ARCELONA manager Hansi Flick was thrilled with his side’s heroics to roar back and grab a breath-tack ing 3-2 win in extra-time and beat fierce rivals Real Madrid to lift the Copa del Rey title yesterday. The German coach said that his treble chasing players should not hold back in celebrating the record-extending 32nd Spanish Cup title and worry later about Thursday’s (3am Malaysian time) Champions League semifinals first-leg against Inter Milan. “It has been a simply perfect night,” Flick said. “I am very proud. For me, it’s amazing what they are doing, how they fight. “I really appreciate what they do, that they never give up. I think everyone, the club, the fans, are proud of this team. “To win a title in a game like the Clasico against Real Madrid is always special. I’m happy for my players and for the thousands of fans who were in the stands, they deserved this title. “Now we must celebrate and then the objective must be to recover, recover and recover. The treble is an option, but we have to keep working.” Barca, in scintillating form, recorded their third consecutive win against a

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title. Barca top La Liga on 76 points, four ahead of Real, and after Thursday’s Champions League match against Inter, they will face last-placed Valladolid before hosting Real in a La Liga clash that could decide the league title on May 11. Flick attributed his side’s success to the attitude of his players and how focus they have been, saying that the sky is the limit if they keep their feet on the ground. “At the beginning of the season I said I was here, with my assistants, to create a good atmosphere in the dressing room,” Flick said. “I wanted show them they could enjoy the game and that they could play at the highest level. I think creating that atmosphere in the dressing room is important and key.

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“It gives a lot of confidence. This is a matter of everybody. The staff, the players... They have a fantastic mentality. If you look at how they came back from the game, the ability to think positive to turn it around.” – Reuters

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stumbling Real Madrid who have already lost 4-0 at Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga in October and 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia in January. The blaugranas

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are undefeated in d o m e s t i c competition since late December, playing some of the best football in Europe this season, in the driver’s seat to win the Spanish league

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Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal celebrates with the trophy. – REUTERSPIC