Atlético Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid (Valverde & Rodrygo Goes). Onto the final… Here is the immediate reaction. To come: Player ratings, interviews and a derby podcast.
It was that time of year again. A trip
to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish SuperCup beckoned, with Atlético Madrid the opponents for a semi-final showdown. Gonzalo García was the first name on the team sheet after his hat-trick in the last game. Rodrygo Goes also continued to start in attack. Fede Valverde, covering once more at right-back – captained the team for the derby.
After Barcelona breezed past Athletic Bilbao, Madridista anxiety levels will have peaked considering Los Blancos had a harder game. An early rocket from Fede Valverde would have squashed those nerves, as Madrid started brightly. Rodrygo Goes should have scored the second after a great cut in, but could only hit the goalkeeper. Atlético started to bite back, with Alexander Sørloth missing a couple of headed attempts. Half-time, a deserved 1-0 lead for Real Madrid.
The second- half had a different feel to it. Madrid did manage to score first, with Rodrygo Goes making up for his earlier miss with a well taken goal. Atlético then bit back, with Alexander Sørloth making up for his own first-half misses. Perhaps it was the heat, but the intensity of the game noticeably dropped after the goals. Atlético remained the stronger side though, and almost scored late on through Macros Llorente. Despite a late Atlético chance zipping agonisingly wide, Real Madrid kept it together though, and progressed to the final with a full-time score-line of 2-1. Can they win the final against Barcelona?
