Carlo Ancelotti scooped the first trophy of his second reign at Real Madrid and vowed his "ugly" team would go flat out to bring more silverware to the Santiago Bernabeu.
It had been 18 months since Madrid last won a title, the 2019-20 LaLiga crown in the pandemic-hit season that went into extra time, but a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa de Espana final scratched that itch.
Last term under Zinedine Zidane proved a struggle at times, but there is more zip and panache to the Madrid that Ancelotti has fielded this season. He won four trophies in his first two-year spell at Madrid from 2013 to 2015, and obviously fancies several more this time around.
Madrid are front-runners in LaLiga, albeit with Sevilla in pursuit, they remain in the Copa del Rey and also have Champions League ambitions ahead of a tough last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
This trip to Saudi Arabia for the Supercopa should provide a timely lift for Madrid, heading into the business end of the season. Seeing off Barcelona in a testing semi-final was a boon, and Madrid controlled the final against Athletic until flagging in the closing stages.
"I am very pleased, happy, and we continue," Ancelotti said. "We are going to compete, but being here is lucky. It is an honour to train this team and this club. By the way, we are going to compete for the other competitions.
"We have the strength to fight for all competitions. This is a team I like to watch play. We don't have just one way of playing, but rather different ones and that is the strength of this team."
Ancelotti pointed out his personal trophy drought had also ended, after going without such success during spells with Napoli and Everton. It had been four and a half years since he last won any cup, which came at the tail end of his Bayern Munich tenure.
"I'm not tired of winning, because the last one was a [German] Super Cup with Bayern and I hadn't won for a long time," he said.
"Winning is the end of the job. Winning means you've done a good job. Sometimes it isn't. I've done a good job at Napoli or Everton and I haven't won anything."
Ancelotti spared a playful jibe for his team, who appear to have taken kindly to their Italian coach.
"When you win a lot, you think you're the most handsome, that you play the best football in the world and the sacrifice goes down a bit," Ancelotti said.
"Fortunately, the sacrifice of our players is high. I think my players are not handsome … they are very ugly."
Simeone delighted with Le Normand return after traumatic brain injury
Diego Simeone was delighted that he was able to welcome defender Robin Le Normand back to the starting XI for Atletico Madrid's 3-1 Copa del Rey victory over Cacereno.
Le Normand had not played since his side's 1-1 draw at home to city rivals Real Madrid in September, in which he suffered a severe head injury following a collision with Aurelien Tchouameni and required extensive treatment on the pitch.
Thursday's match against fourth-tier opposition was his ninth appearance since joining the club from Real Sociedad in the summer and Simeone was pleased to see the Spain international back on the pitch.
"We are very happy that he is back with the team," Simeone said.
"It is normal that he needs that time to get back to playing, he will need that time playing, training and competing to be at his best. We are waiting for him and we need him, he is a very important player for us."
The match itself was not as straightforward as Atleti would have liked, having gone a goal down after half an hour.
It took an 83rd-minute Clement Lenglet goal to draw level before an effort from Julian Alvarez and an Adri Perez own-goal in stoppage time secured Atleti's passage through to the next round.
Having taken until the 81st minute to get ahead in their 2-0 victory over sixth-tier Vic in the previous round, Simeone explained he had been expecting it to be a tough test.
"We had been through it with Vic. They are not easy, Girona, Villarreal, Espanyol have been eliminated. It is not easy. The teams have enormous enthusiasm, they work together as a team, they get a goal that raises their enthusiasm. It is not easy to keep it up until the end," he said.
"The game was as expected, a great cup game, with a very hard-working opponent. When you show little decisiveness you run the risk of losing. We have to improve in that part."
Misfiring Mbappe vows to respond as Real Madrid brace for Girona clash
Kylian Mbappe is firmly under the spotlight after missing his second penalty in a week, but he has vowed to bounce back.
Real Madrid travel to Girona on Saturday to face last year's surprise package in LaLiga.
Madrid were left licking their wounds after a 2-1 loss at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, their fourth defeat in the last seven games in all competitions.
Los Blancos, who are missing a host of players through injury including talisman Vinicius Junior, missed a golden opportunity to close the gap on leaders Barcelona, who they trail by four points with a game in hand.
Their absentee list also includes Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao, the latter two out for the season with ACL tears, but perhaps Madrid's biggest concern has been the form of Mbappe.
The France captain and World Cup winner arrived from Paris St Germain with sky-high expectations to boost an already stellar squad, but so far struggled to settle, looking tentative and out of sync with the rest of the team.
While he has scored 10 goals in all competitions, his all-round game has often been poor, and he was out of sorts again against Bilbao.
His penalty miss was a tame effort that made it easy for goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala to palm away; almost a carbon copy of the spot-kick he missed the previous week in Madrid's Champions League loss to Liverpool.
Ancelotti admitted after the game that Mbappe was not in his best form and the France captain vowed to react.
"Bad result. A big mistake in a match where every detail counts. I take full responsibility for it. A difficult moment but it's the best time to change this situation and show who I am," Mbappe posted on Instagram.
After a stuttering start to the season, Girona have picked up form. They are on a four-game unbeaten run in the league and are eighth in the LaLiga standings on 22 points.
Yet their growing optimism suffered a blow on Wednesday as they were shocked in a 4-3 penalty-shootout defeat in the Copa del Rey by 10-man fourth-division side Logrones, who knocked them out in the second round.
Madrid have won their last two meetings with Girona in LaLiga, keeping clean sheets in both, and can make it three wins in a row against the Catalan side for the first time in the top flight.
Cacereno 1-3 Atletico Madrid: Simeone's side survive scare after late fightback
Atletico Madrid progressed to the Copa del Rey last 32, but only after surviving a scare against fourth-tier Cacereno.
Diego Simeone's side trailed 1-0 in the 83rd minute at Estadio Principe Felipe, after Alvario Merencio's first-half strike.
However, the LaLiga side levelled through Clement Lenglet, before striking twice in stoppage time through Julian Alvarez and an Adri Perez own-goal.
Julio Cobos' side were on a four-match winning streak in Group 5 of the Segunda Federacion, and took the lead on the half-hour mark, with Merencio rounding off a quick counter.
The hosts held firm but were finally breached seven minutes from time, when Lenglet headed in from Rodrigo de Paul's cross.
Cacereno were reduced to 10 men two minutes later with Jaime Sancho shown a second yellow card, and Atletico capitalised on their numerical advantage in stoppage time.
De Paul's shot deflected in off Perez to complete the turnaround, while Alvarez put the tie beyond the fourth-tier outfit later on.
Data Debrief: Late, late show spares Atletico blushes
Atletico had won each of their last seven matches across all competitions, but they were given an almighty scare on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Simeone's side eventually broke Cacereno's resistance, scoring three goals from the 83rd minute onwards in any competition for only the second time - also doing so against Real Zaragoza in June 2013.
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