Real Madrid’s Intercontinental Cup triumph on Dec 18 marked a remarkable milestone for Carlo Ancelotti, as the Italian became the manager with the most titles in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies.

After his side breezed past Mexican club Pachuca 3-0 in a one-sided contest at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, he surpassed the late Miguel Munoz, whom he equalled in August by winning the European Super Cup against Atalanta.

“There are so many of them (titles) and I’m delighted, really happy… it’s a success story,” a smiley Ancelotti told Spanish television channel Telecinco.

“Today I really liked the attitude from the players. Up front, they made the difference, Vinicius Jr had a great game. Offensively we did well.

“We have a lot of quality. Kylian (Mbappe) had a good game, Rodrygo scored the second… We are very happy because we won a title far from home and in the middle of a busy season.”

The 65-year-old has one of the most-decorated CVs in world football.

When he was lured back to Real for a second spell three years ago, following the departure of club great Zinedine Zidane, he knew that his only mission was to increase Real’s trophy haul and he has not disappointed.

Ancelotti became the first manager to capture titles in each of Europe’s top five leagues – England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France – and has guided Real to two Champions League and La Liga doubles in three seasons.

His Real silverware includes three Champions League titles, two Club World Cups, three European Super Cups, two Spanish League titles, two Spanish Cups, two Spanish Super Cups and, now, one Intercontinental Cup title.

The latest victory was a fairly easy contest, as Mbappe opened the scoring in the 37th minute before Rodrygo doubled Real’s lead early in the second half. Vinicius sealed a comfortable win with a late penalty.

Mbappe returned to the line-up in after missing the weekend’s 3-3 draw with Rayo Vallecano due to a hamstring injury suffered in the Champions League win at Atalanta last week.

He swept in from close range to break the deadlock after brilliant play from Vinicius, who won the Fifa Best men’s Player of the Year award a day earlier after missing out on the Ballon d’Or.

Former West Brom and Newcastle forward Salomon Rondon led the attack for Concacaf Champions Cup winners Pachuca, but they never truly looked capable of an upset and Rodrygo’s fine curling strike put Real in total control.

It was allowed to stand after the referee consulted the pitchside monitor even though Jude Bellingham was in an offside position and appeared to be interfering with the goalkeeper’s line of vision.

Vinicius added a third from the penalty spot six minutes from time following another VAR (video assistant referee) review after Lucas Vazquez was chopped down in the Pachuca box.

“In this part of the season I was a bit anxious but this will change in 2025 I’m sure,” added Ancelotti. “It’s important for us to get to Christmas alive. I think we’ve grown a lot and that gives us confidence for 2025.”

This was the first edition of the Fifa-backed Intercontinental Cup, which broadly maintains the previous format of the Club World Cup and features the six continental champions.

The latter is being expanded to include 32 teams in 2025 and will now be played every four years. A past version of the Intercontinental Cup ran from 1960 to 2004 involving the champions of Europe and South America.

Real won that competition three times and then lifted the Club World Cup on a record five occasions.

They are to due to play Pachuca again at the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, as well as an Al Hilal team including Neymar, and Red Bull Salzburg.

Real host Sevilla in La Liga on Dec 22 in their final game of the year. They will return to the Middle East in early January for the four-team Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

-Reuters/ AFP

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 LaLiga leaders Barcelona had to settle for a 2-2 draw at mid-table Real Betis after substitute Assane Diao scored a stoppage-time equaliser on Saturday to give Manuel Pellegrini cause to celebrate in his 500th LaLiga game as a manager.

Barca have 38 points from 17 matches but second-placed Real Madrid, who have 33 with two games in hand, can narrow the gap to two points if they win at Girona later on Saturday.

“We weren’t able to finish things off in the second half, to put the result beyond doubt. But we now look forward to the next game, there’s no time,” said Barcelona’s Ferran Torres, who got their second after Robert Lewandowski had put them 1-0 up.

The visitors created a number of chances early on and Lamine Yamal, making just his second start after a four-week absence with an ankle injury, was mostly in the thick of the action

The 17-year-old caused numerous problems for Betis in the first half with his silky footwork and inventive passing.

Barca opened the scoring in the 39th minute through a flowing move orchestrated by Yamal and neatly finished by Lewandowski for his 16th league goal of the season.

Betis showed more intent after the break as Sergi Altimira and Abde Ezzalzouli sent headers just wide before the hosts’ pressure was rewarded with a penalty in the 68th minute.

Frenkie De Jong clattered into Barca loanee Vitor Roque and the spot kick was given after a VAR review, with visiting coach Hansi Flick being sent off for his vociferous protests.

Giovani Lo Celso stepped up to convert and level the match, but Barcelona regained the lead in the 82nd minute as Yamal’s brilliance once again shone through, with his well-disguised through ball finding its way to Torres who scored.

However, there was one final twist in a thrilling contest, and Pellegrini’s substitutions paid dividends as two of them combined for the equaliser, with Aitor Ruibal’s dangerous cross flicked into the net by Diao with a cheeky backheel.

“Well, I think we deserved at least a draw,” Diao said. “We defended and attacked as a team. We went for the three points. We couldn’t get that, but we deserved a draw.”

Betis, who remain 11th, will be glad to have snapped a two-game losing streak but they have not won a LaLiga match since October.

“In terms of performance, we needed it,” Pellegrini said. “I think the team has to regain confidence with today’s performance, and hopefully build up to three points.”

-Reuters

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr scored a hat-trick to help the LaLiga champions snap a two-game winless run in all competitions with a commanding 4-0 victory over Osasuna on Saturday.

The Brazilian forward opened the scoring in the 34th minute after taking a Jude Bellingham pass in his stride to beat the offside trap and firing an unstoppable strike past goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.

Bellingham recovered his scoring instinct by netting his first goal of the season with a brilliant finish eight minutes later, lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper to extend Real’s lead.

Vinicius wrapped up the home side’s win with strikes in the 61st and 69th minutes, helping second-placed Real climb to 27 points, six behind leaders Barcelona. Osasuna are fifth on 21 points.

-Reuters