Real Madrid have won their first title for the 2021/22 football season of the Spanish calendar, after two goals from Luca Modric and Karim Benzema helped them outclass La Liga fellows Athletic Bilbao in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to lift the Spanish Super Cup for the twelfth time in the history of the club.
Los Blancos clinched their first title of the season, following a curled strike from evergreen Luca Modric in the 38th minute following a Rodrigo Guez assist at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Striker Karim Benzema doubled Real’s lead with a penalty after the video assistant referee awarded a spot-kick for handball.
Real Madrid made it to the Super Cup final after defeating Barcelona by 3-2 after extra time in the semi finals, and sat back to look on from their base as last year’s defending champions Athletic Club Bilbao triumphed over Athletico Madrid with a 2-1 victory in the other semi final game to set up the grand finale against the Spanish capital based side, Los Blancos.
Real Madrid had their nerves trembling getting to the latter stages of the game after defender Eder Militao was dismissed for handling in the box, following a confirmation of the incident by the video assistant referee.
However, Bilbao failed to make the most out of the opportunity after Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a sensational save in the 86th minute to keep out Raúl García’s penalty. The win means Real Madrid have now won a total of 12 Spanish super cup titles, 1 shy of Barcelona’s total of 13.
Photo: Realmadrid.com
