MADRID, Jan 17: Real Madrid won’t be going a second consecutive season without a title.
After failing to lift a trophy under Zinedine Zidane last season, Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid secured the Spanish Super Cup with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday in Saudi Arabia.
Luka Modric and Karim Benzema scored a goal in each half of the final as Madrid comfortably defeated the defending champions to reinforce its status as the top team in Spain this season.
Ancelotti has also led Madrid to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Madrid went without a trophy for the first time in more than a decade last season under Zidane.
Madrid’s 12th Super Cup title moves the club only one behind Barcelona, the competition’s most successful team.
Modric opened the scoring with a curling shot into the top corner after being set up by forward Rodrygo just inside the area in the 38th minute. Benzema added to the lead by converting a 51st-minute penalty kick after a handball determined by video review.
Athletic had a chance to move closer in the final minutes but Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved Raúl García’s penalty kick with his left foot. Madrid defender Éder Militão was sent off for the handball that prompted the penalty.
Madrid’s triumph gave veteran Brazil defender Marcelo a record-tying 23rd title with the club since he arrived in 2006, joining Paco Gento. It moved him ahead of former central defender Sergio Ramos, who is now with Paris Saint-Germain. He entered the match as a substitute in the 86th.
Sergio Canales scored in the 73rd as Real Betis beat Sevilla 2-1 in a Copa del Rey match which resumed a day after a Sevilla player was hit in the head by a piece of PVC thrown from the stands at Betis’ Benito Villamarín Stadium. Betis advanced to the quarterfinals.
Marcos André scored a minute into the match as Valencia beat Atlético Baleares 1-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey.
In the only Spanish league game on Sunday, Elche beat Villarreal 1-0 at home with a 78th-minute goal by Lucas Boyé. (AP)
