Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Real Madrid struck a fifth Clasico victory in a row on Wednesday to advance to the Spanish Super Cup final.
At the end of a pulsating contest in Saudi Arabia, Madrid scraped through 3-2 after extra-time versus Barcelona and will now face either Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao, who play on Thursday, in Sunday’s final.
As expected, Madrid triumphed to make it a quintet of consecutive Clasico victories, the first time either side has enjoyed such dominance since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona won 5-0 at Camp Nou in 2010.
That Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema, Madrid’s deadly attacking duo, both scored again was not a shock either, nor even that the brilliant Ansu Fati came off the bench to head home in his first appearance in two months.
The surprise was that a youthful Barcelona side, that sits 17 points behind Real Madrid in La Liga, pushed Madrid all the way at the King Fahd Stadium and for 10 minutes after Fati’s late equalizer looked the more likely to reach the final.
Xavi Hernandez said this game would be an “exam” for his team and while they lost the game, it would be harsh not to conclude they passed.
By the end, Barcelona’s 11 included Pedri, 19, Ez Abde, 20, Fati, 19, Nico Gonzalez, 20, and Ronald Araujo, 22. Gavi, 17, and Ferran Torres, 21, had gone off.
Madrid’s own young gem, Vinicius, might prove to be the best of the lot, the Brazilian almost unstoppable again.