Real Madrid 2-0 Athletic: Los Blancos lift 12th Spanish Super Cup as Marcelo makes history
Real Madrid won the first title of the 2021/22 Spanish football season, with Luka Modric and Karim Benzema goals seeing them defeat Athletic Club 2-0 in Saudi Arabia to lift their 12th Supercopa de Espana.
After overcoming Barcelona in the semi-final, Los Blancos dominated last season’s Supercopa winners from start to finish at the King Fahd Stadium.
Rodrygo was given the start to replace the injured Marco Asensio and the Brazilian made the most of his opportunity from the very first minute and was lively, causing Mikel Balenziaga problems.
The winger teed up Benzema for a shot that flashed just wide, before, in the 37th minute, committing multiple red-and-white-shirted defenders to set up Modric for a first-time finish from the edge of the area as he scored his first goal of the season to put Real Madrid ahead.
Athletic Club’s Oihan Sancet had a chance to equalise just before half time, with his clipped effort curling just over Courtois’ crossbar but that was one of just a few chances for the Basque side in the entire match.
Although Marcelino sent on Thursday’s match-winner Nico Williams at half time in search of a spark, it was Real Madrid who enjoyed the better start to the second half and they were soon two goals up.
A Karim Benzema shot was blocked by Yeray Alvarez’s arm five minutes after the restart and VAR told referee Cesar Soto Grado to check the incident. After pointing to the spot, Benzema stepped up and converted to give Los Blancos a comfortable lead.
Athletic Club really struggled to create anything and they even blew their one golden chance to make the final moments interesting. In the 87th minute, a Raul Garcia header was going in, but it struck Eder Militao’s arm.
Just as with the other handball call, Soto Grado checked the VAR monitor and awarded a spot kick, while also sending Militao off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
But, Courtois made his own mark on this final by saving Raul Garcia’s penalty with his trailing leg, prompting a huge cheer from the majority Madridista crowd inside the King Fahd Stadium.
That save kickstarted the celebrations and the final whistle followed soon afterwards, confirming Real Madrid as the winners of the 2021/22 Supercopa de Espana, sending them to 12 titles, one short of Barcelona’s 13.
Luka Modric showed no signs of stopping soon after his excellent display in midfield together with Casemiro and Toni Kroos thus winning the Man of the match award.
Marcelo cemented his name in the history books of Real Madrid and Spanish football as he now becomes the current Madrid player with most trophies clinching his 23rd as he was subbed on late in the game.
