Real Madrid v Athletic Club 14 January 2021
Spanish Super Cup
Result: Real Madrid 1-2 Athletic Club
Date: 14 January 2021
Venue: Estadio La Rosaleda
Real Madrid failed to qualify for the Supercopa de Espana Final after suffering a 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday evening.
Zinedine Zidane surprised many when he pulled out an unchanged starting line-up from last weekend’s draw with Osasuna in LaLiga.
Madrid trailed the counterparts in the first 20 minutes when a ball into space from Dani Garcia released Raul Garcia, who after taking the supply in his stride, finished with aplomb.
It was nearly a second for Bilbao and Raul inside a few minutes following a rasping shot near the area, but the sharp-shooter fired wide of the mark.
Bilbao were piled under heavy pressure moments before the halftime break through Hazard, Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos, but neither managed to penetrate the opposing defence.
No remorse showed from Bilbao who bagged a second goal on 38 minutes when foul in the area from Lucas Vazquez on Inigo Martinez resulted in a penalty, which Garcia converted to complete his brace.
Real went for a substitution minutes in the second half, as Raphael Varane entered in the place of Nacho whilst Bilbao remained unchanged.
Benzema nearly brought Los Blancos back into the contest in the 52nd minutes when he got on the end of near post delivery to get a head in, but Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon parried.
It could’ve been three for Bilbao minutes later from a header in the area by Iker Muniain, but the effort went wide of the near post.
Real received a glimmer of hopes towards the closing period when Benzema arrived in the area to poke home from close-range much to the the Video Assistant Referee’s (VAR) approval.
Los Blancos had chances late on to pull a comeback through the self-same Benzema, but proved wasteful as Bilbao claimed victory for a date with FC Barcelona in Sunday’s final.
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