Real Madrid earned their 100th El Clasico victory against Barcelona by defeating them 3-2 in the semifinals of the Supercopa de Espana. The game ended level at the final whistle, and the two teams had to play an extra half an hour to determine the winner.
Fede Valverde emerged as the hero for Los Blancos, replacing Luka Modric in the second half of the 90, and converting the chance created by Rodrygo. Ferran Torres made his debut for Barcelona, alongside the returning Pedri and Frenkie De Jong. But, Torres and De Jong would only play the opening 45 minutes before being withdrawn.
Real Madrid will face the winner of Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao
Vinicius Jr opened the scoring for Madrid, finishing off a blazing fast counter attack to give his team the lead. But, Luuk De Jong would continue his re-emergence as part of the Barcelona team by scoring the equaliser before half time.
Karim Benzema pounced on a cross parried by Marc Andre ter Stegen to give his side the lead once more. And once again, Barcelona would come to level terms. This time, Ansu Fati scored the equaliser with a header to beat Thibaut Courtois.
Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema have combined for 35 goals and 17 assists this season.
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 8, 2022
Real Madrid's unstoppable duo 👊 pic.twitter.com/rComdt3X5S
Although Barcelona created plenty of chances throughout the game, they were unable to take them due to poor finishing. Real Madrid, on the other hand, relied on Vinicius Jr and Karim Benzema’s pace for the majority of the game, playing on the counter attack to exploit Barcelona’s defense.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men will now face the winner of the second semi final between Atletico Madrid and Bilbao, on Sunday.
