 "Real Madrid will take on Barcelona in Sunday's Spanish Super Cup final. AP")
Real Madrid defeated Mallorca 3-0 in the Spanish Super Cup semi-finals in Jeddah on Thursday, thus setting up a title clash against Barcelona on Sunday. Jude Bellingham scored the opener in the 63rd minute, whereas an own goal from Mallorca’s Martin Valjent in the 93rd minute doubled Madrid’s lead and eventually secured their victory. Rodrygo wrapped up the match with a third goal in the fifth minute of injury time in the second half.
The Los Blancos will now look to avenge their La Liga defeat against Barcelona in October , when they face their arch-rivals in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final. Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Rodrygo was confident of beating Barcelona on Sunday.
“It’s always difficult to play against them, but we are ready, we’re doing well and we want this (trophy),” Rodrygo told Movistar, before praising Bellingham, who scored his eighth goal in his last 10 games for Madrid.
“At the start of the season he was having trouble scoring, but he’s always got his head up, training every day to improve and the result of his work is there,” said Rodrygo.
Real Madrid made the early running against last season’s Copa del Rey runners-up, with Lucas Vazquez and Rodrygo coming close in the opening stages. Kylian Mbappe appealed for a penalty after going down under pressure from Dani Rodriguez but it would have been soft.
Jagoba Arrasate’s Mallorca found their footing and did well to restrict the Spanish and European champions to no further clear chances in the first half. Madrid lost Aurelien Tchouameni early in the second half after he hurt his head in a challenge with Cyle Larin, although he confirmed he was unharmed after the game.
Bellingham ‘phenomenal’
Madrid broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute through Bellingham after the post and Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif kept Rodrygo and Mbappe at bay.
A blistering Madrid move bore fruit when Rodrygo’s header from Vinicius Junior’s cross hit the upright and Mbappe’s effort was parried by the scrambling Greif. Bellingham was in the right place at the right time to carefully slot home the rebound past defenders on the goal-line, continuing a stunning run of individual form in front of goal.
“Jude is a phenomenal player, he helps us win games all the time, with goals, assists, or just his work,” said Tchouameni.
While Vinicius and Mbappe had a quiet night by their standards, they were both involved in the opener and Ancelotti said it showed the damage his side can do. “When those up front activate, anything can happen,” said Ancelotti.
“The four (forwards) are very dangerous, that’s quite evident, everyone can see it, the quality they have.” Mallorca struggled to find a way back in and ended up contributing Madrid’s second goal, when Valjent stretched to cut out a pass but slid the ball into his own goal.
Rodrygo wrapped up the win late on to set up a repeat of last season’s final, won by Super Cup holders Madrid. There was some pushing and shoving between both teams at the end, centred on a spat between Mallorca’s Pablo Maffeo and Madrid defender Raul Asencio.
“It wasn’t necessary to have a fight like that… in the end nothing happened, but neither team needed to do it,” said Madrid coach Ancelotti.
Ancelotti predicts an ‘unpredictable’ Super Cup final
Carlo Ancelotti is predicting an “unpredictable” Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona on Sunday. “The Clasico has been unpredictable lately,” the Italian told reporters on Thursday after Madrid’s win over Mallorca. “There were games we won easily, like the 4-1 last year in the Super Cup. We also won 4-0 twice in Barcelona while they beat us 4-0 at the Bernabeu.
“It’s hard to think what kind of game the next one will be. It will be entertaining because there is quality on the pitch. And obviously we want to end up being better than Barcelona," added Ancelotti.
With inputs from AFP