Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-2 in extra time to reach the final of the Spanish Super Cup. This was their fifth straight win, and their 100th El Clasico victory.
Barcelona head coach Xavi took charge of his first Clasico since rejoining the club in the middle of the season, and his team has gone undefeated in their past six matches across all competitions. Real, on the other hand, has won their previous two matches after losing to Getafe ten days ago.
When Vinicius Junior scored his 15th goal of the season in the 248th meeting between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Marc-Andre ter Stegen (25), was not expecting it. Eder Militao’s clearance hit Luuk de Jong, who was not paying attention, and the two teams were level at the break (42).
Spain’s Barcelona came back twice to force extra time. Karim Benzema’s 23rd goal of the season looked like it would send Real Madrid to the final.
Substitute Federico Valverde put Madrid back in front for a third time eight minutes into the first period of extra-time, and there was no way back for Barcelona as their spirited fight came up short and Real won their 100th El Clasico.
Real Madrid Beat Barcelona 3-2 in Saudi
Thirty-two thousand fans were spread out across the half-full King Fahd Stadium in Saudi Arabia’s capital as the Spanish Super Cup went on the road again after the coronavirus pandemic sent last season’s edition back to Spain. The excited crowd was treated to a classic El Clasico.
Before this, Madrid had a lot of chances to break the deadlock on the counter, but they didn’t take them. Benzema took Sergio Busquets off the ball on halfway and set Vinicius up on the left. Vinicius raced clear of Ronald Araujo and fired a shot into the near post.
Luuk de Jong and Thibaut Courtois both had to save two headers from Barca’s Luis Suarez in quick succession. The Dutchman then leveled the match when Militao’s defensive clearance hit him at point-blank range.
Pedri and Ousmane Dembele, who came on at halftime, both had chances to score, but they couldn’t make them. Benzema, who had hit the post three minutes earlier, poked home Dani Carvajal’s cross 18 minutes from time to give Barcelona the win.
At first, that looked like it meant that Real Madrid would reach the final. But with eight minutes to go, Barca forced extra time when Fati was left alone in the six-yard box by more bad defending and managed to get Jordi Alba’s cross into the back of the net.
To keep the game level at 1-1 the game went to extra-time. After Barca came back twice in regular-time, they lost for the third and last time.
During the break, Real Madrid took advantage of a lot of space because the other team was focused on attack. There were a lot of white shirts waiting to score inside, so Rodrygo sent a pass there. Valverde scored after Vinicius let the ball run into his path, and he did so.
El Clasico Without Messi or Ronaldo
People say that El Clasico isn’t the same as it was before because a lot of great players have left Real Madrid and Barcelona recently.
Before the match where Madrid beat Barca 3-2, Benzema was asked if the El Clasico still felt the same after Lionel Messi left Barcelona.
“People who are in the game don’t even matter. It doesn’t matter who is there, who has left, or who will join. Real Madrid vs. Barcelona is a very important match “Benzema said that, according to ESPN, and he said that.
This is what people say: “The names change but before there was Zidane or Ronaldinho or Ronald or Eto’o, there was Real Madrid vs Barcelona, which is always going to be Real Madrid vs Barcelona.”
It was the first Clasico of the season, and Real beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Nou Camp to win.
Is Xavi Good Enough to Make Barcelona Great Again?
Xavi Hernandez going back to Barcelona is an important moment. A man who helped define the style of play for one of the world’s best teams has come back to the club. For a team that doesn’t seem to have a clear identity, this is a big deal.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70366684/1363477248.0.jpg?w=750&ssl=1)
As long as Barcelona played at the Camp Nou, Lionel Messi might have been a god. Xavi, however, was always a strong supporter of the team’s way. Even when he was a player, he was a big fan of the passing game, the kind of football that Pep Guardiola taught him.
Benzema and Vinicius: How good is The Dou?
Most top-level leagues have Benzema and Vinicius as their best pair.
Were they better than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota, who have 22 goals and nine assists together? No, but they did better than them!
As a team, Bayern Munich’s pair of Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry have scored 22 goals between them.
It has been great for Real Madrid to have Benzema and Vinicius on their team this season. In front of goal, both the Frenchman and the Brazilian are taking on more of the work.
When they play in LaLiga Santander and the Champions League, they’ve been very good at taking control of games and making them hard for opponents to get back into.
Benzema and Vinicius have always played well for Real Madrid, which has allowed them to make a serious title run and reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
What Comes Next?
This weekend, Real Madrid will play the winner of Thursday’s semi-final between La Liga champions Atletico Madrid and last season’s Copa del Rey runners-up Athletic Bilbao in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The game will start at 6.30pm UK time.
