R. Madrid beat Barcelona again to win the Spanish Super Cup
Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 to complete a 5-1 victory on aggregate in the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday, dominating its fiercest rival without the need of Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale.
Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema provided the goals in the second leg for a Madrid side that showed every ounce of confidence that Barcelona sorely lacked.
While Bale was rested on the bench, Ronaldo watched the game from the Santiago Bernabeu stands as he completed the first game of a five-match ban for pushing the referee who sent him off in Sunday’s 3-1 first-leg win.
Asensio filled in perfectly for Madrid’s star, scoring five minutes into the match for his second goal in the season’s curtain raiser. Benzema added a second goal in the 39th after Lucas Vazquez had already hit the post for the hosts.
Last season’s Liga and Champions League winners, Madrid also beat Manchester United to win the European Super Cup last week.
After seeing his team be soundly beaten at home in his debut with the team on Sunday, Barcelona’s new coach Ernesto Valverde decided to revamp both his starting 11 and its formation.
He ditched Barcelona’s classic 43-3 formation for a 3-5-2, with only Messi and Suarez up front. Neymar had accompanied them for the past four seasons before he bolted for PSG.
Valverde also gave starts to midfielders Andre Gomes and Sergi Roberto and defender Javier Mascherano, in place of Sunday’s starters Aleix Vidal, Gerard Deulofeu and the injured Andres Iniesta. It didn’t matter. Barcelona had no answer for Madrid’s pressure, lost ball after ball in its own half, and clearly missed Neymar’s presence on the left flank to start quick attacks.
The only bright spot on another long night for Barcelona was the positive contribution of Roberto, who provided the only consistent attacking spark besides Messi.
Zidane also rested Isco and Casemiro, who went on late. Luka Modric was back from suspension and outplayed all of Barcelona’s midfielders.
Asensio picked up right where he had left the first leg, stunning goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a long strike that floated overhead before landing in the net.
Messi needed over 10 minutes to finally touch the ball, and once he did Barcelona showed signs of life with two Messi-led attacks that made Madrid work in defense.
But despite having five midfielders, Barcelona never established control. A bad pass by Mascherano almost led to a goal from Vazquez, who hit the post in the 33rd.
That was just a warning of was about to come when Sergio Busquets lost another ball near Barcelona’s area. Madrid left back Marcelo pounced by sending a low cross into the area, when Benzema twisted around Samuel Umtiti and swept in his goal.
It took almost an hour for Messi to finally produced Barcelona’s first serious threat when he forced Keylor Navas to palm his shot onto the bar in the 53rd.
Suarez headed a rebound of Messi’s strike parried by Navas off the upright in the 71st. The striker finished the match favouring his right knee after running into Navas.
Madrid start their defence of its Spanish league title on Sunday at Deportivo La Coruna, while Barcelona will try to rebound at home against Real Betis.