Champions! Real Madrid clinched their first title of the season with the club's twelfth Spanish Super Cup against Athletic in Riyadh. A solid Real Madrid side outclassed their opponents and added to their trophy haul courtesy of Modrić's 38th minute strike and Benzema's 52nd minute penalty. Courtois was at his best in the 86th minute to keep out Raúl García's penalty, after Militão had been dismissed. Real Madrid left Saudi Arabia with another trophy as Modrić was named man of the match in the final.
The first half was played at a high intensity without many big chances being created until Modrić's goal. The first chance came after 18 minutes when Benzema's shot from the edge of the area was saved by Unai Simón. Casemiro tried his luck nine minutes later, cutting in from the right and almost catching out the Athletic goalkeeper. The opening goal in the final soon followed and what a goal. Rodrygo lured in three defenders before slipping in Modrić who beat Unai Simón with a beautiful right-footed strike in the 38th minute. The Basque side looked to level things up in stoppage time when Sancet's shot went just over the bar.
The Whites got off to a fine start to the second half when in the 50th minute Benzema fired the ball goal-wards from the edge of the box and the Frenchman’s effort struck Yeray on the arm inside the area. After consulting with the monitor, Soto Grado awarded a penalty and the France international converted the spot-kick to double the madridista’s lead. It was Benzema’s second goal in this year’s competition, which made him top-scorer in the tournament.
Madrid were largely unthreatened until the 87th minute, when Raúl García’s header hit Militão on the arm inside the box. Soto Grado once again went over to the monitor and awarded Athletic a penalty and subsequently gave the Madrid defender a red card. Courtois then pull off a stunning save with his feet to deny García. There was still time for Ancelotti to bring on Marcelo, who became the current Madrid player with the most trophies to his name (23).
Player ratings:
Starting XI:
Thibaut Courtois: 8.5
The big Belgian’s season only gets better and better. Produced an incredible penalty kick save with an outstretched leg to deny Athletic any chance of coming back into the game.
Lucas Vazquez: 7.0
Difficult task marking Muniain, who is not a traditional winger. The Athletic captain drifts centrally into pockets of space, but the Vazquez- Modric- Rodrygo trio did a great job of cover shadowing and passing the mark on rather than breaking the team’s shape by man-marking.
Eder Militao: 8.0
Always a fun battle between Inaki Williams and Militao. The Brazilian gives Williams no room to breathe and can match his speed step for step in a break away. Was sent off late in the match for a handball inside the box.
David Alaba: 7.0
Looked a step slower likely due to the quick recovery from his muscle injury, but his understanding of the game allowed the Austrian to make more than one clutch sliding tackle to avoid a foot race.
Ferland Mendy: 8.0
Berenguer had no chance 1 v 1 vs Mendy who controlled his left flank with ease. Marcelino put Nico Williams on at halftime to try and create some chaos, but Mendy was never challenged.
Casemiro: 7.0
Athletic gave Casemiro the freedom to play and his distribution from the back was good. Had a team high of 4 clearances.
Luka Modric: 9.0
Ageless, simply ageless. Forget the well taken goal, Modric put in a tremendous amount of work in midfield to provide balance defensively and to deny passing lanes.
Toni Kroos: 8.0
Another routine performance from the German. Had a few mishaps with Ferland Mendy, but was otherwise foot perfect with 119 touches, 95/100 passes, 9 recoveries, and 3 key passes.
Rodrygo: 7.5
Another Super Cup game, and another assist. Rodrygo’s ability to run at defenders with speed and force them into decisions opened up the passing lane for Modric’s goal.
Vinicius Junior: 6.5
A quieter game given the Brazilian’s new lofty standards, but defensively was immense. Had 3 tackles in the second half and the few times he did go 1 v 1 vs Demarcos he was successful.
Karim Benzema: 6.5
Scored the second goal of the game with an inch perfect penalty. It was Benzema’s shot that deflected for a handball and earned the penalty decision. Like Vinicius, put in a lot of defensive work but did not have the same impact offensively.
Substitutions:
Fede Valverde: 6.0
Replaced Rodrygo Goes on the right wing and provided fresh legs on the flank. Was a willing runner and had a few nice flicks and passing sequences with Kroos and Modric.
Marcelo: N/A
Replaced Vinicius Junior and provided additional support for Mendy in the final 5 minutes of the match. Has now accumulated 23 trophies with Real Madrid — matching the great Paco Gento.
Nacho: N/A
Replaced Lucas Vazquez for the final minutes of the match to help shore up the back line.
Kommentare