SummaryReal Madrid have won the Supercopa de España for the twelfth time in history. In the final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, defending champion Athletic Bilbao was sidelined: 2-0. The Royal has record holder FC Barcelona (thirteen titles) in sight.
Sports editor
Latest update:
22:59
The Supercopa de España was decided from 1982 to 2018 with a duel between the winner of the league (La Liga) and the winner of the cup (Copa del Rey). Since last year, a format with four teams has been used. Last year that happened in Seville, this year for the first time in Saudi Arabia.
Real Madrid had settled in the semi-finals after extra time with cup winner Barcelona from Luuk de Jong, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay: 3-2. Against Athletic, which was too strong for reigning champions Atlético Madrid (2-1), coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team dominated from the start. Luka Modric also expressed the dominance in the 38th on the scoreboard by hitting the target on a pass from Rodrygo: 1-0.
The La Liga leader easily defended the lead after the break and even made it 2-0 with a penalty from Karim Benzema. The French striker was allowed to moor from eleven meters because the VAR intervened after hands by Yeray Álvarez.
The victory and the title could hardly have escaped Real Madrid, but a new intervention by the VAR seemed to bring the tension back. Éder Militão had to leave with a red card after a handball and Athletic Bilbao received a penalty. Thibaut Courtois, however, made the save by stopping Raúl García’s knock with his leg. The Royal won 2-0 and won the Spanish Super Cup for the twelfth time. Athletic Bilbao remains on three titles.
Substitute Marcelo became the player with the most official titles in Real Madrid’s 120-year history: 23. He equals the legendary Francisco ‘Paco’ Gento (88). Sergio Ramos, currently under contract with Paris Saint-Germain, took 22 trophies with Real Madrid and Karim Benzema now has 20 trophies with the Spanish top club. Carlo Ancelotti took his twentieth trophy as a coach and his first since 2017, when he took two more trophies with Bayern Munich. He then worked for Napoli and Everton, before returning to the Spanish capital last summer.
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