Real Madrid eliminated Valencia in the final
Real Madrid, who defeated Valencia 5-4 on penalties in the first semifinal match of the Spanish Super Cup of soccer, advanced to the final.
Real Madrid closed the first half of the match, which was played at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, winning 1-0 with a penalty goal from French striker Karim Benzema on 39′. Starting the second half with a goal, Valencia tied the score with Samuel Lino in the 46th minute. In the following minutes, when mutual attacks did not bring a goal, regulation time of the game ended 1-1 and extra time was made.
When the score did not change after extra time, Real Madrid, who had a 4-3 lead over their rival in the penalty shootout, made their mark in the final with a score of 5-4.
The Swiss Eray Cömert and the Spanish José Luis Gaya were the players who missed the penalty shootout in Valencia. The Turkish footballer Cenk Özkaçar, who was a member of Valencia, took the field in the first 11 and played until the end of the match.
For his part, Lucas Vázquez (Min. 68), one of the players who played in the starting eleven for Real Madrid, was removed from the game due to injury and Eder Militao (Min. 75) due to his dizziness on the pitch. .
TWO ITALIAN TECHNICAL DIRECTORS FACE
Meanwhile, the semi-final match saw the struggle of two Italian coaches, Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid and Gennaro Gattuso at Valencia.
Ancelotti (2001-2009), who was the coach of Milan when Gattuso was a footballer, experienced a coldness with his former footballer when he was dismissed and replaced by Gattuso while he was training Napoli (December 2019).
The second match of the semifinals of the cup will be played between the teams Barcelona and Real Betis.
HISTORY OF THE SUPER CUP
Barcelona won the Spanish Super Cup 13 times and defending champion Real Madrid 12 times.
In order to increase revenue and promote La Liga clubs in Spain, the Super Cup matches were played abroad for the first time (in Morocco) in 2018. While the Super Cup was transformed into 4 finals (1st and 2nd of La Liga and finalists of the Copa del Rey) changing the format in 2020, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) signed a 3-year agreement for the matches of this tournament to be played in Saudi Arabia.
In the Super Cup, Saudi Arabia awards 800,000 euros to the teams that lose in the semifinals, 2 million euros to the team that lifts the trophy and 1.4 million euros to the losers in the final. (AA)