Madrid: Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup for the 10th time with a 2-0 win over rivals Barcelona at a joyous Santiago Bernabeu here Wednesday to complete a 5-1 aggregate victory that underlined their new status as Spain’s dominant force.
Marco Asensio followed up his brilliant late goal in Sunday’s first leg with a stunning effort from 30 metres in the fourth minute that proved a punishing blow for the Catalans.
Karim Benzema struck before half time to seal the victory and Barcelona left the Spanish capital with home supporters’ chants of ‘champions’ ringing in their ears.
Real Madrid dominated the game throughout, toying with Ernesto Valverde’s side and showing no sign they were missing suspended forward Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale who was on the bench.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez both hit the woodwork but it was a bleak display for Barcelona, leaving Valverde with plenty of holes to patch before the start of the league this weekend.
“We’re not in our best moment, not on the level of the team or the level of the club. It’s the first time we’ve felt Madrid are superior,” Barcelona defender Gerard Pique told reporters.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, have started where they left off last season, by adding more silverware to their bursting trophy cabinet.
They clinched the European Super Cup last week with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United in Macedonia, adding to an already remarkable haul for coach Zinedine Zidane since he took over in January 2016.
With Ronaldo banned for shoving the referee in the first leg, Asensio was given a starting spot and made an instant impact.
The 21-year-old curled a brilliant strike into the top left corner from distance that left keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen bewildered.
“The first was beautiful, but this one was, too. The other was harder because of the path (it took),” Asensio told reporters.
reuters
