Real Madrid produced a dominant display in the
Spanish Super Cup second leg to beat Barcelona 2-0 on the night and
lift the trophy after a 5-1 aggregate win.
After a controversial first leg at the Nou Camp that saw Real win 3-1 and resulted in Cristiano Ronaldo's five-match suspension, the hosts on Wednesday rounded off their pre-season preparations in style.
Marco
Asensio (4) produced another fantastic strike to add to his first leg
efforts before Karim Benzema (39) doubled the lead. While Barcelona
improved in the second half, they were unable to reduce the deficit as
Real took the victory 5-1 on aggregate.
Real
made the perfect start at the Bernabeu as Asensio picked up where he
left off on Sunday. He collected a pass 25 yards out before curling the
sweetest of strikes past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who could only watch it
hammer into his net.
Player ratings
Real Madrid:
Navas (7), Carvajal (7), Ramos (7), Varane (7), Kroos (7), Benzema (8),
Modric (7), Marcelo (7), Vazquez (8), Asensio (8), Kovacic (6). Subs used: Casemiro (7), Hernandez (5), Ceballos (5) Barcelona:
Ter Stegen (6), Pique (6), Rakitic (6), Busquets (6), Suarez (7), Messi
(7), Mascherano (6), Alba (6), Roberto (7), Gomes (6), Umtiti (6). Subs used: Semedo (6), Deulofeu (5), Digne (4) Man of the match: Lucas Vazquez
Barcelona's best period of the first half came just after conceding
the opening goal. A fine Javier Mascherano chip found Luis Suarez in the
box but he just skewed his volley wide before a Lionel Messi pass
destined for the Uruguayan was cut out by Sergio Ramos.
Real did
not let the Barca dominance rest and they should have extended their
lead in the 34th minute as an impressive Lucas Vazquez smashed the
woodwork when he tried his luck from the top of the box.
Five minutes later, Benzema put the game to bed. It was another fine
goal as he controlled Marcelo's fizzing cross before turning and hitting
home on a half volley to put Real 5-1 ahead on aggregate before the
break.
The crossbar was rattled again eight minutes into the second half, this time by Messi.
Suarez
tapped the ball into the Barca captain's path, allowing him to get away
from two Real defenders on the left of the box before shooting, but
Navas did well to push the effort onto the underside of the woodwork
before it bounced wide.
Team news
Cristiano
Ronaldo was suspended for Real Madrid, who made three changes after
Sunday's first leg with Luka Modric, Lucas Vazquez and Marcos Asensio
coming into the XI. Barcelona also made three changes with Andre Gomes,
Sergi Roberto and Javier Mascherano in for Aleix Vidal, Gerard Deulofeu
and Andres Iniesta.
Barcelona
saw the better second-half chances but could not find the back of the
net, with Suarez and Sergi Roberto going close in quick succession just
after the hour mark, before the Uruguayan also hit the crossbar with a
dinked effort in the 72nd minute.
But Real were just too strong
for their rivals over the two legs, and add the Spanish Super Cup
victory to their UEFA Super Cup win against Manchester United just over a
week ago.
Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring the second goal of the evening
Man of the match - Lucas Vazquez
While
he may not have registered a goal or an assist on Wednesday, Vazquez
was a constant menace for the Barcelona defence, especially in the first
half. His darting runs down the right flank left Samuel Umtiti and co
in all sorts of bother as Real dominated proceedings and he should have
had a goal after hitting the woodwork in the 34th minute.
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