Real Madrid earned a spot in the 2021-2022 season Supercopa final after winning their fifth straight El Clasico match on Wednesday. They defeated arch-rivals FC Barcelona 3-2 in the semifinal match hosted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Real Madrid won their 100th El Clasico overall and their 9th in the Supercopa de Espana. Real Madrid will face either Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao in the championship match. Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde scored the winning goal for Los Blancos' in extra time. The match report of Barcelona vs. Real Madrid is discussed in this article.
Supercopa Semifinal Match Report: Barcelona vs Real Madrid
Central midfielder Federico Valverde scored in the 98th minute to help Real Madrid to a decisive victory over Barcelona, progressing them to the Supercopa de Espana final.
Real Madrid began the encounter with a lot of aggression, as they created many chances in the first half-hour. Madrid players tried their luck by shooting from outside the D-Box to put Ter Stegen to the test. Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior gave Real Madrid an early lead in the 25th minute after winning a one-on-one fight with keeper Ter Stegen.
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Barcelona's attack always came to a standstill in the opponent's half despite having more ball control, demonstrating their lack of quality in the forward lines. After conceding an early goal, Barcelona players pressed Madrid's defense hard and leveled the scoreline courtesy of a lucky strike by Luuk de Jong. When a low cross came into the right post, he was in the correct place, and the ball just went into the net after being deflected by Luuk's foot. Barca leveled the score at 1-1 in the 41st minute.
After the first half, Real Madrid continued to attack in the opponents' half, creating chances, and in the 72nd minute, their star striker Karim Benzema gave Real Madrid the lead. He smashed a cross into the net after spotting it in the penalty area.
However, Real Madrid lost the advantage once again as Ansu Fati equalized with a stunning header in the 83rd minute.
The game continued into extra time when Real Madrid scored after only 8 minutes. The job was done for the Los Blancos this time by Uruguayan Valverde. Real Madrid won the match with a final score of 3-2.
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Real Madrid vs Barcelona Supercopa Semifinal Match Stats
The winner of the match Real Madrid had less possessions of the ball than FC Barcelona. According to the match statistics, the Los Blancos had 46 percent ball possession while the Blaugranes had 54 percent ball possession.
Real Madrid completed 640 passes, while Barcelona completed 704 passes. Both teams had quite a similar passing accuracy. Barcelona had a passing accuracy of 88 percent, while Real Madrid had a passing accuracy of 85 percent.
Barcelona committed 18 fouls, while Real Madrid committed 11. Each squad received two yellow cards.
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Aftermath
The head coach of FC Barcelona Xavi Hernandez was under pressure heading into this match since his team has been struggling this season. Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League group stage last December. They are presently in sixth place in La Liga with 32 points, 17 points behind league leader Real Madrid. Therefore, the Barcelona campaign was expecting to put up a positive effort in this semifinal match. They did play some amazing football, but Real Madrid came out on top in the end. Overall, it was an exciting Barcelona vs Real Madrid contest, with the best team advancing to the final. The Championship match will be contested at the same venue on January 16.