Barcelona: Cristiano Ronaldo will be fit for Real Madrid’s Spanish Super Cup second leg against Atletico Madrid on Friday, coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed on Thursday.
The Portuguese went off as a precaution at half time during the first leg at the Bernabeu on Tuesday after suffering a hamstring strain during the 1-1 draw.
“He is available to play and will be able to start the game. All the players are ready but that doesn’t mean I won’t make changes,” Ancelotti told a news conference in Madrid.
There were initial fears that Ronaldo had suffered a recurrence of the knee injury that he suffered at the back end of last season and carried into the World Cup but that was quickly played down.
Real have set their sights on winning all six trophies on offer this season having won the European Super Cup against Sevilla, but they were lacklustre against Atletico and the draw has put their city rivals in the driving seat.
“We are used to playing against Atletico and they are used to facing us. I don’t think the style of game will be different, they now have the advantage from their positive result at the Bernabeu but I think it will be the same type of match,” said Ancelotti.
“We need to defend, counter-attack well and take advantage of free-kicks.”
Angel Di Maria has been strongly linked with a move away from Real and, despite his good form, started on the bench in the first leg, but Ancelotti says he will treat him as any other member of the squad if he ends up staying.
“Di Maria asked to leave this summer and rejected the option to renew. We will look for the best option for him and if at the end of August he is still here then he will work with us like last season,” he said.
Meanwhile, Diego Simeone has played down the chances of Atletico Madrid repeating their La Liga triumph this season.
Atletico matched Real Madrid and Barcelona all the way in 2013/14 and won the title with a draw at the Nou Camp on the final day. They also reached the Champions League final where they were beaten by Real.
“I do not like to lie to people and one thing is clear: we cannot compete with Madrid and Barcelona,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Our rivals will be Sevilla, Valencia and Athletic [Bilbao], our objective is third place.” It is a similar tactic to the one that the Atletico manager used last season when he refused to accept his side were title challengers until the very end.
Atletico have sold several players, including their talismanic striker Diego Costa, but they have reinforced well and showed in the 1-1 draw with Real in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup that they will again be tough to beat.
“We are putting together the group and we have changed, above all in attack,” said Simeone.
“I look at it as a new start especially in attack because the team is different. Mandzukic, Jimenez and Griezmann are different to Costa, Villa and Adrian.
“We have, though, kept the same solid structure which is the base of the team, but we are now looking for the best style to adopt with this. We have to have patience.
“We are the champions but the players are not the same and we are in a different league to Barca and Madrid.”
Simeone said Atletico would always operate on a different level to Barca and Real.
“We don’t have a system that allows us to spend €80 million on one player, we have spent €100 million on all. [Barcelona’s] Messi, Neymar and Suarez are three of the best five players in the world.
“Real have brought in Kroos and James [Rodriguez] while Bale is now stronger. They have improved from last year.
“It is understandable to want to repeat what happened last year but you have to remember that we hadn’t won the league for 18 years. It is not something we win every year.”
