Real Madrid fell short in their hopes of winning the 2026 Spanish Supercup, as they were defeated 3-2 by Barcelona in Jeddah. It means their wait for a trophy, which is now over a year, must go on.

As per Diario AS, head coach Xabi Alonso gave his reaction to the loss. He was disappointed, but there was also pride at his side’s performance at the King Abdullah Sports City.

“There is a mixture of emotions, on the one hand the disappointment of not being able to win the title. But also the pride that the team has stood up to it. We competed until the end. The final has been very even, with different moments. The team tried until the end and it was very close.

“The team had a great attitude, a great commitment, I knew that there were moments when we were going to have to hold on without the ball, have that resilience and that control and that conviction of what we are doing. In the first 30 minutes we barely conceded. A lot has happened in a very short time. In the second half we came out playing well on the left with Vini. On a rebound we conceded the goal for 3-2 and I was convinced that we were going to have chances to equalise. We lacked that success to get to penalties.”

Alonso delighted with Vinicius Junior performance

Alonso expressed his delight with Vinicius Junior, who was Real Madrid’s standout performer during the Supercup final.

“Vinicius arrived until the 85th minute very well, he asked for a substitution due to fatigue, there was a lot of humidity. He has been unbalanced, the goal has been spectacular, he has been a great threat in his corridor. We’re not happy with the result, but we can take positives for the season. Now to get players back (from injury), which is the most crucial thing right now.”

Alonso rues timing on Kylian Mbappe substitution

Alonso brought Kylian Mbappe on from the bench on the 76th minute, but he failed to make the desired impact. He revealed that the plan was for the returning Frenchman to come on prior to Barcelona’s winning goal.

“Kylian was going to come on just before conceding the third goal. We wanted imbalance, threat, to engage with him between the lines and into space. He gave it to us a little later. It’s a pity that we were already behind on the scoreboard, but we wanted to press with him in attack.”