Thibaut Courtois saved Jose Gaya‘s poorly-struck spot kick to give Real Madrid a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Valencia after the teams had finished level at 1-1 after extra time in their Spanish Super Cup semifinal in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Karim Benzema gave holders Real Madrid the lead from the spot in the first half after he was fouled inside the area by Eray Comert, but Valencia came back into the game and deservedly equalised through a Samuel Lino volley from a Toni Lato cross straight after half-time.
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Vinicius Junior could have won it for Real Madrid in extra time, but his close-range shot was saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
After the match, manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted his team weren’t at the best in the moment, but remain focused on the second half of the season where they are alive in the Champions League, Copa del Rey and sit second behind leaders Barcelona in LaLiga.
“It was a difficult game, but games at this level are always difficult,” Ancelotti said. “We made it more difficult with a mistake at the start of the second half. I think the first half was good, and the end of the game was good.
“The opponent defended well and tried to hit us on the counter. We’re happy, the team isn’t at its best but little by little we have to improve, and the team delivered. We were always present on the field.”
Real Madrid will face the winner of Thursday’s semifinal between Real Betis and Barcelona in the final in Riyadh on Sunday.
“We aren’t at our best, that’s normal,” Ancelotti added. “There are players getting into better condition, also the problems for [Eduardo] Camavinga, Lucas Vazquez affected us, we had to use players like [Dani] Carvajal and [Ferland] Mendy who are at the limit, but we’re in another final.”
In a half empty King Fahd International Stadium in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Real started well and had three clear chances to score in the first 15 minutes.
Rodrygo skied a close-range shot following a counter-attack. Benzema was denied a jaw-dropping goal after he left behind three defenders with brilliant individual skills but had his shot blocked by a defender and Federico Valverde’s long-range strike flew just wide.
Real kept dominating and defender Eder Militao found Benzema in space with a long pass and was only stopped when Comert fouled him inside the area. Benzema wrongfooted the goalkeeper to score from the spot.
Valencia grabbed a surprise equaliser in the first play of the second half when Lino produced a close-range volley at the far post from a brilliant long cross from Lato.
Edinson Cavani and Benzema opened the shootout with perfectly placed shots, but Comert missed Valencia’s second effort with a poorly-struck attempt.
Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Marcos Asensio were on target and Courtois secured the win for Real by saving Gaya’s spot-kick.
“I don’t care if it’s Barcelona or Betis, the important thing for us is to be in the final,” Asensio said after the match. “It was a difficult game, with not much pace by both teams so we struggle a bit, but reached the final and we came to win the title.
“We came to the second half with a plan but they equalised soon after the break and that changed our approach. The ball just didn’t wanted to go in for us tonight, but we are happy to be where we wanted.”
