Real Madrid wins the Classico, advanced to the finals of SuperCopa

People who follow Spanish football or Real Madrid and Barcelona will know that the Classico had lost its spirits in the last few years. Real Madrid kept on winning and the matches used to be one sided as Barcelona failed to impress their own fans. Last night, it was a different story altogether. Real Madrid was kept under pressure and the Blancos were dependent on counter attacking football. For the first time in last few years, Barcelona looked really good but unfortunately went down as Federico Valverde scored a goal in the extra time to help Real Madrid reach to the finals of the Super Copa De Espana.

Real Madrid dominated first 25 minutes of the match. With a brilliant counter attack and a brilliant pass from Karim Benzema, the youngster Vinicius Junior scored and Barcelona’s fate was questioned. After the goal, Xavi changed his tactics, played some aggressive football and attack, attack and attack was probably their mantra. Luckily, they got the goal in the 40^th minute of the match. Eder Militao had no idea of Luuk De Jong’s presence in the box and the Dutch took advantage of that and helped the Cules to end the first half in level terms.

Barcelona was a much better team in the second half. They pushed Real Madrid to the edge but the spirit of the Blancos were always high. Barca made two changes in the second half as Ferran Torres was substituted and Ezzalzouli was brought in and the sensational youngster Pedri replaced Frankie De Jong. They kept the possession and the pace was troubling Madrid at times but their counter attacking football was also getting heavy for the Catalans. Captain Karim Benzema once again did the job for the Blancos. His shot hit the post in the 69^th minute but he didn’t have to wait long to put Madrid ahead. His curler was brilliantly saved by Ter Stegen but it landed in Carvajal’s feet. The fullback’s low cross was easy for Benzema to tap and help Real Madrid move 2-1.

Ansu Fati, Barcelona’s golden boy answered Jordi Alba’s cross in the 83^rd minute and the Catalans were once again back on track but Federico Valverde in the added time scored Real’s 3^rd goal and with that, Barcelona now lost 5 classicos in a row. Real Madrid’s counter was too heavy for Barcelona to answer. They lacked men in the box and in the end, it was way too easy for the Uruguayan to score and help Madrid reach to the finals of Super Copa De Espana. The other semi-final match will be played between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao and the winner will be competing against the Los Blancos on Sunday.