Federico Valverde and Rodrygo scored, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois produced a series of fine saves as Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 to book a place in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final against FC Barcelona.
Atletico dominated large phases of the game and registered more than twice as many shots as Real, but could beat Courtois only once, through Alexander Sorloth’s second-half header.
The match was just two minutes old when Jude Bellingham went down under pressure around 10 metres outside the Atletico penalty area, prompting the referee to award Real Madrid a free kick, reports Xinhua.
Valverde struck the ball firmly and low, and it was still rising as it found the back of the net, leaving goalkeeper Jan Oblak with no chance.
Real Madrid began by pressing high and preventing Atletico from building play effectively, but as the half progressed, the latter created enough chances to have scored, only to be repeatedly denied by former Atletico goalkeeper Courtois.
Sorloth headed over early on, while Julian Alvarez fired wide, before Courtois stretched full length to push away Alex Baena’s shot. The Belgian then produced a superb reflex save to tip over Sorloth’s header from a corner, and after the Norwegian nodded over Conor Gallagher’s cross, Courtois was again at his best to deny Baena, with Gallagher firing the rebound wide.
Atletico started the second half strongly, but it was Real who doubled their lead when Rodrygo latched onto Valverde’s through ball and beat Oblak with a composed finish in the 55th minute. Sorloth finally pulled one back three minutes later with a powerful header.
Courtois later pushed another Sorloth effort wide before Real were forced into defensive changes, with Antonio Rudiger and Raul Asencio replaced by Ferland Mendy and Fran Garcia.
Atletico continued to press, but Courtois once again denied Antoine Griezmann, while Marcos Llorente and Alvarez sent late efforts just wide.
IANS
