Dominant against catchy Valencians, Real Madrid struggled to reach the Spanish Super Cup final on Wednesday night (1-1, 4-3 on tab). The Spanish and European champion, held in check after 120 minutes of play, had to wait for the penalty shootout to qualify.
To get there, Real Madrid was of course able to count on Karim Benzema. The Ballon d’Or, which was first illustrated by a series of dribbles concluded by a strike which flew away (15th), rectified the shot on a penalty which he himself obtained – hung by Cömert on a long opening from Militao – then transformed with a counter-foot (1-0, 39th).
Except that in just 23 seconds in the second half, Valencia equalized through Samuel Lino, scorer with a volley at the far post on a cross from Toni Lato (1-1, 46th). And if not much happened afterwards, except that Vinicius had the ball of the match at the end of his foot (90th + 5), Real Madrid did not flinch when the qualification s is played on penalties. On the contrary, Eray Cömert shot over, and José Luis Gaya saw Thibaut Courtois repel his attempt, sealing the qualification of the band to Carlo Ancelotti.
This Sunday, in the final, the people of Madrid will face the winner of the other half between Betis and FC Barcelona (Thursday, 8 p.m.).