Real Madrid have crashed out of the Supercopa de Espana after a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in the semi-final stage of the competition. The Basque side will now square off against Barcelona in the final on 17th of January.
The Whites were outplayed by Athletic Bilbao in the first half and went two goals down. Raul Garcia scored both of those goals to see his side through to the finals of the Spanish Supercup. The Whites were persistent in the second half but did not seem to have luck on their side as they hit the goalpost twice.
Here’s how the Real Madrid players were rated from their 1-2 defeat at the La Rosaleda Stadium in Malaga –
GK: Thibaut Courtois – 7/10
Courtois was among the best performers on the night for Zinedine Zidane. The Belgian pulled off a stunning save in the dying moments of the match to keep Real in the tie until the full-time whistle.
RB: Lucas Vasquez – 6/10
An evening to forget for Vasquez in defence as the Spaniard conceded a silly penalty in the first half. The game slipped from Real Madrid’s grasp when they went down two goals.
CB: Raphael Varane – 6/10
The Frenchman was guilty of ball watching as Raul Garcia tucked away a goal right in front of him. Varane was replaced at the half time break by Nacho Fernandez.
CB: Sergio Ramos – 7/10
Sergio Ramos almost saved the day for Madrid in the closing stages of the match. Judging by his standards it was a somewhat sloppy performance in defence from the captain.
LB: Ferland Mendy – 7/10
The full-back enjoyed a lot of the possession throughout the game. Mendy seemed a bit slow to the pace of the game.
CM: Luka Modric – 7/10
Modric put in a hard shift trying to unlock the Bilbao defence. However, the Croatian was unavailable to weave his magic as he always does. Modric made way for Federico Valverde in the second half.
CM: Casemiro – 7/10
A tireless performance from Casemiro who toiled hard across the pitch. The midfielder set-up Karim Benzema’s goal in the 73rd minute. The Brazilian would be gutted with the result at the end of the day.
CM: Toni Kroos – 7/10
The German went about his job with relative ease but could not get Los Blancos across the finish line.
RW: Marco Asensio – 8/10
Marco Asensio was Real’s standout performer on the night at La Rosaleda Stadium. The Spaniard hit the woodwork once followed by the crossbar, all in the space of six minutes. Asensio was unlucky in the semi-final fixture.
ST: Karim Benzema – 8/10
The Frenchman was rewarded for his efforts on the night with a goal and could have possibly had another goal had he not wandered offside.
LW: Eden Hazard – 7/10
The Belgian had a better evening in comparison to his recent performances but certainly not at par with his old Chelsea days. Hazard nearly set-up a goal for Marco Asensio around the 60-minute mark, but it hit the woodwork.
Substitutes
CB: Nacho Fernandez – 7/10
Nacho seemed to do a satisfactory job after replacing Varane on the field of play.
LW: Vinicius Jr – 7/10
The Brazilian had a lively cameo appearance in the match’s closing stages as he came on to replace Eden Hazard.
CM: Federico Valverde – 7/10
An impact substitution from Zizou, which almost instantly delivered post his introduction. Valverde’s cross-field pass to Casemiro was instrumental in the build-up to Real’s goal.
ST: Mariano – 6/10
Did not have much involvement with the game post his introduction.
