By L A Adithya
In an enthralling encounter, Real Madrid saw off their city rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 on Thursday at the Alinma Bank Stadium, Jeddah, to book their place in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. The men in white now square up for a Clasico in the final, as Barcelona also made their way after a dominant 5-0 win against Athletic Bilbao in the first semifinal of the competition.
The deadlock was broken as early as in the first 2 minutes of the game as Los Blancos captain Federico Valverde launched an absolute howitzer of a free kick from 30 yards out after a foul on Jude Bellingham to open the scoresheet, leaving Jan Oblak with no chance of saving as the ball fired past him.
Rodrygo Goes doubled the lead in the 55th minute after Valverde threaded in a precise pass to the Brazilian to run past Robin Le Normand and slot one in with a cute finish. Just three minutes after Rodrygo got his name on the scoresheet, Atleti’s Norwegian striker leaped over Raul Ascencio to head the ball into the back of the net from a cross to bring his team back into the game.
Without their star man Kylian Mbappe, Real had to sweat it out until the end to come out victorious in the derby. However, Rodrygo stepped up to the occasion, earning him the Man of the Match award.
Despite dominating the game on paper and having 21 shots with 6 on target compared to Real’s 8 shots and 4 on target, Atleti couldn’t come out on top in the thrilling affair between the two. Real Madrid now lace up for the final on January 12 against FC Barcelona, which is going to be their 2nd match-up with each other after Xabi Alonso’s men had beaten Barca 2-1 in October