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Tight schedule, Covid-19 pandemic, injury concern- plenty of issues have been there to impact a team’s gameplay and force them to rely on fortune in order to get a favourable outcome but that certainly has not been the case for Real Madrid as the Spanish giants secured a sensational 3-2 victory against their arch-rivals Barcelona to claim their fifth El Clasico victory in a row.
A victory in the El Clasico meant that Real Madrid advanced to the final stage of the Spanish Super Cup.
The match that had taken place in Saudi Arabia went to the extra time in order to find the winners and now Carlo Ancelotti’s men will face either Athletic Bilbao or their city-rivals Atletico Madrid in the final.
Real Madrid’s Uruguay midfielder Federico Valverde’s extra time goal earned a terrific victory for the Galacticos.
How it started
Earlier, Real Madrid scored the first goal of the match in 25th minute after their Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior found the back of the net. But Barcelona just took 16 minutes to score an equaliser after Luuk de Jong made full of use of Madrid’s defensive lapses.
Madrid went ahead again 25 minutes into the second half after striker Karim Benzema scored an intelligent goal. But there was more drama left after Barca striker Ansu Fati scored the second eqaualiser of the night in the 83rd minute.
Eventually, an extra time goal helped the Madrid-based team to secure a thrilling victory.
Focusing on positive aspects
Barcelona might have conceded a defeat but their Spanish manager Xavi concentrated on the positives and praised his team’s performance in the El Clasico.
"I am sad and angry because the game was there for the taking for us," the Barca coach said in a post-match press conference.
"We played with a complex in the first 20 minutes, but we got over that. It was a day to be brave. This Barca side can compete against anyone. We didn't get the result we wanted, but it was still a step forward.
"The feelings are contradictory because we could almost touch the win. I'm sad because it's a Clasico defeat and we miss out on a trophy, but we dominated Madrid for large spells.
Carlo disagrees
Though, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti did not agree with Xavi but was quick enough in admitting that his opponents had a good game.
“I don't agree (with Xavi), the game was even, they had more possession and we used the counter," Madrid coach said in press conference after the match.
"We dropped off to enjoy the counter. The counter was effective. We had some quality moves - the three goals were spectacular. An even game, honestly. It was a good show, we gave a good impression of Spanish football. In my opinion, Barcelona played well, too,” the Italian manager explained.
