La Rosaleda is where Real Madrid played the other Spanish Supercup semifinal against Athletic Club Bilbao. We have the player ratings.
Real Madrid had a unique chance to bring us another El Clasico edition next Sunday if they defeated Athletic Club Bilbao tonight. But the Basque Lions were ready to fight until the very last moment in order to reach the Spanish Supercup final. Two ghastly mistakes were the main reason Real Madrid wasn’t able to deliver on that promise to the entire world. Lucas Vazquez had been enjoying a great reputation for too long, it was about time he had a bad night playing as a full-back.
This is not his natural position and he was bound to eventually make a mistake or two. The first one was a missed pass that landed on Dani Garcia, who assisted Raul Garcia for Athletic’s opener. After this calculation error, Lucas started looking nervous and committed a penalty. Raul Garcia didn’t hesitate from the spot and scored his brace before the break.
Real Madrid’s second-half reaction.
Zinedine Zidane is in big trouble if he thinks Eden Hazard can save results for him right after returning from an injury. The Belgian winger is far from the level we all know from him, he lacks the speed and dribbling skills right now. Karim Benzema is the one Real Madrid relies on, but he can only do so much.
In the second half, he scored one for Los Blancos but having one good striker active isn’t enough to win a semifinal. ‘Zizou’ has a lot of work to do alongside Florentino Perez if they want better strikers. Especially after letting Luka Jovic return to Eintracht Frankfurt on a loan. The winter transfer window might become active over the next couple of weeks for Real Madrid after this defeat.
Player ratings
Real Madrid: Courtois (8), Lucas (3), Ramos (6), Varane (5), Mendy (6), Casemiro (7), Modric (7), Kroos (7), Hazard (5), Benzema (7), Asensio (6).
Bench: Nacho (6), Valverde (7), Vinicius (5), Mariano (5).
Athletic Club: Unai (6), Balenziaga (7), De Marcos (7), Martinez (7), Capa (7), Nuñez (7), R. Garcia (8), Garcia (6), Vencedor (7), Muniain (7), Williams (6).
Bench: Villalibre (6), Lekue (6), Berenguer (5), Vesga (5), Morcillo (5).
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