Real Madrid goes to the final of the Spanish Super Cup; beat Valencia on penalties

Real Madrid entered the final of the Spanish Super Cup this Wednesday after beating Valencia 4-3 in a penalty shootout after finishing 1-1 in the first semifinal of the four-way tournament that takes place at the King Fahd stadium in Riyadh .

A penalty converted by Karim Benzema (39) put Real Madrid ahead, but Samuel Lino equalized with a goal-mouth shot (46) to send the game to extra time, where neither team managed to break the tables, deciding the game in penalties.

While Real Madrid did not miss their first four shots, Eray Comert sent his shot into the stands of the King Fahd stadium and José Luis Gayá ran into a save by Thibaut Courtois, who had become the hero of his team.

Real Madrid, current Super Cup champion, will face the winner of the duel that Barcelona and Betis will play on Thursday in the final on Sunday.

“I am very proud of the team, we have played with a great mentality, I believe that this is the path,” Valencia coach Gennaro Gattuso said despite the defeat.

The merengue team began dominating, but Valencia grew little by little in the match until they put their rival in a lot of trouble.

“It was a long-suffering, complicated game,” Real Madrid coach Carlos Ancelotti admitted after the match.

“We have found an opponent who has defended well. We’ve handled it pretty well. We are happy because it is evident that the team is not at its best”, stated the merengue coach.

In the first minutes, Real Madrid managed to lock Valencia in their field, but the team began to get rid of the merengue pressure when the Brazilian Samuel Lino, on loan from Atlético de Madrid, began to connect with his teammate Justin Kluivert, and Edinson Cavani appeared.

The Uruguayan striker hit a header from José Luis Gayá’s cross, which forced goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (19) to show off.

After the whites’ initial dominance, Real Madrid had to suffer until Militao scored a long ball for Benzema’s career, who ended up knocked down in the box by Comert.

The action was penalized with a penalty, which the French striker himself converted (30) to finish the first half ahead on the scoreboard, although Valencia soon equalized the score on the return leg.

In the first minute of the second half, Lato put a ball into the area where Lino appeared to finish off the goal and put the score at 1-1 (46).

“That goal has disrupted our plans and Valencia has also squeezed us,” considered Marco Asensio.

Very slow and inaccurate, the Merengue team only got active in the last quarter of an hour of the match when Benzema was about to put his team ahead again with a header that went high (88).

In the best Meringue minutes of the second half, Vinicius lost one-on-one with goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili (90+5) and Valverde tried another long shot saved by the Valencian goalkeeper (90+7) to send the game into extra time .

In extra time, the game turned into an exchange of blows, in which Real Madrid showed itself more whole against a Valencia supported by its goalkeeper.

Mamardashvili again took a great shot from the edge of Vinicius (92), before showing off another long shot from Kroos (105).

Valencia was able to surprise with a shot from Fran Pérez that was saved by a providential Courtois (111), who would later finish certifying the whites’ pass with his save to Gayá. (D)