After losing the first leg by the score of 3-2 on Valencia's turf, Real Madrid players could take solace in the fact that all they needed was 1-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu to win the Supercup. Unfortunately, Valencia's David Silva and a couple of red cards got in the Meringues' way. The rest was just history writing itself in one of the world's most famous stadiums.
The Whites were the first team to get going in the opening stages of the match. Both Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Rafael Van der Vaart tested Hildebrant early, forcing the German goalkeeper to come up with some fine saves. Defensively, Madrid played a tight formation, not leaving any space between the defenders and midfielders for David Silva and Joaquin to exploit. Though the home team started well, it was Valencia who got on the score sheet first at the 33rd minute when Silva's shot to the bottom-right corner of the net left Casillas frozen in place. In Casillas' defense, I must point out that there were three Madrid defenders completely blocking his view, and none of them were quick enough to challenge Silva. Down 1-0 at their home turf, Madrid's situation would get worse when Van der Vaart was shown a straight red card for a nasty tackle on Juan Mata. The red card came less than ten minutes after Valencia's goal, putting the Madrid supporters in a state of shock. Since I watch most of the international soccer games on the net, there's often a chatroom connected to the streams; when Madrid got the red card several people left the room, convinced that it was over, but those who stuck it out witnessed an epic second half that will stay in my memory for a long time.
Indeed, five minutes into the second half, Real Madrid were awarded a penalty after a defender committed a handball on the goal line. Despite the clamors for a red card, the referee only showed a yellow card for Albiol's action, and proceeded to the penalty-kick. Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy had no problem converting it, equalizing the mark in the process, but his team were still behind on aggregate. In an effort to get more offense, at the 63rd minute, Bernd Schuster decided to replace defender Miguel Torres by Dutch defender Drenthe who had a more offensive upside. Meanwhile, Arjen Robben was taking on multiple defenders at times with his dazzling skills and twice came close to scoring. Madrid would suffer another setback at the 72nd minute when Van Nistelrooy got sent off with a second yellow card. Down to nine players with only Raul as their striker and Robben on the right wing, Madrid continued to push on; even Pepe ran up the field to get a shot off. At the 76th minute, the unthinkable happened, Sergio Ramos scored the second goal of his team, smashing in a rebound that came from Diarra's header hitting the crossbar. At 2-1, the score was now 4-4 on aggregate but since the Whites had scored two goals in the away game, they were in the lead. At that point, Schuster took a gamble. Since his team had the lead, he decided to lockdown the midfield in order to repress Valencia's attacks. Both Raul and Guti were taken out and replaced by Higuain and De la Red. Since Robben was still causing a lot of trouble to Valencia's defense, every ball from here on out was sent to him; even when the ball was in Drenthe's possession at the left side of the defense, the Dutch defender would clear the ball all the way to the right wing where Robben was posted. With ten minutes left to go, Madrid held on as best as they could since Valencia were now attacking with four players. At the 83rd minute, Casillas made a superb save that prevented the visitors from tying the score. Two minutes later, the ball had made its way to the other end where Ruben De la Red fired a spectacular long-range shot that left no chance to Hildebrant. Two minutes later, Valencia's defender would make a fatal mistake. Under Robben's pressure, he passed the ball back to his goalkeeper without taking a look. Higuain quickly seized the ball and easily beat Hildebrant to give his team a three-goal lead. 4-1 Madrid! Fernando Morientes would a second goal for Valencia at the 90th minute but it was too late, Madrid had won the Super Cup.
It was a majestic performance from La Liga's champions. All the players showed heart, courage, and determination, going against all odds to win this one. This is the kind of the effort that helps to forge a team mentality, every player is willing to go the extra mile for his teammates, and everyone is pushing in the same direction. With this win, Madrid will enter the season in a great state of mind knowing that nothing can stop them if they stick together.
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Gabriel Heinze, Miguel Torres (Royston Drenther, 63rd); Arjen Robben, Guti (Ruben De la Red, 76th), Mahamadou Diarra, Rafael Van der Vaart; Raul (Gonzalo Higuain, 77th), Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
The Whites were the first team to get going in the opening stages of the match. Both Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Rafael Van der Vaart tested Hildebrant early, forcing the German goalkeeper to come up with some fine saves. Defensively, Madrid played a tight formation, not leaving any space between the defenders and midfielders for David Silva and Joaquin to exploit. Though the home team started well, it was Valencia who got on the score sheet first at the 33rd minute when Silva's shot to the bottom-right corner of the net left Casillas frozen in place. In Casillas' defense, I must point out that there were three Madrid defenders completely blocking his view, and none of them were quick enough to challenge Silva. Down 1-0 at their home turf, Madrid's situation would get worse when Van der Vaart was shown a straight red card for a nasty tackle on Juan Mata. The red card came less than ten minutes after Valencia's goal, putting the Madrid supporters in a state of shock. Since I watch most of the international soccer games on the net, there's often a chatroom connected to the streams; when Madrid got the red card several people left the room, convinced that it was over, but those who stuck it out witnessed an epic second half that will stay in my memory for a long time.
Indeed, five minutes into the second half, Real Madrid were awarded a penalty after a defender committed a handball on the goal line. Despite the clamors for a red card, the referee only showed a yellow card for Albiol's action, and proceeded to the penalty-kick. Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy had no problem converting it, equalizing the mark in the process, but his team were still behind on aggregate. In an effort to get more offense, at the 63rd minute, Bernd Schuster decided to replace defender Miguel Torres by Dutch defender Drenthe who had a more offensive upside. Meanwhile, Arjen Robben was taking on multiple defenders at times with his dazzling skills and twice came close to scoring. Madrid would suffer another setback at the 72nd minute when Van Nistelrooy got sent off with a second yellow card. Down to nine players with only Raul as their striker and Robben on the right wing, Madrid continued to push on; even Pepe ran up the field to get a shot off. At the 76th minute, the unthinkable happened, Sergio Ramos scored the second goal of his team, smashing in a rebound that came from Diarra's header hitting the crossbar. At 2-1, the score was now 4-4 on aggregate but since the Whites had scored two goals in the away game, they were in the lead. At that point, Schuster took a gamble. Since his team had the lead, he decided to lockdown the midfield in order to repress Valencia's attacks. Both Raul and Guti were taken out and replaced by Higuain and De la Red. Since Robben was still causing a lot of trouble to Valencia's defense, every ball from here on out was sent to him; even when the ball was in Drenthe's possession at the left side of the defense, the Dutch defender would clear the ball all the way to the right wing where Robben was posted. With ten minutes left to go, Madrid held on as best as they could since Valencia were now attacking with four players. At the 83rd minute, Casillas made a superb save that prevented the visitors from tying the score. Two minutes later, the ball had made its way to the other end where Ruben De la Red fired a spectacular long-range shot that left no chance to Hildebrant. Two minutes later, Valencia's defender would make a fatal mistake. Under Robben's pressure, he passed the ball back to his goalkeeper without taking a look. Higuain quickly seized the ball and easily beat Hildebrant to give his team a three-goal lead. 4-1 Madrid! Fernando Morientes would a second goal for Valencia at the 90th minute but it was too late, Madrid had won the Super Cup.
It was a majestic performance from La Liga's champions. All the players showed heart, courage, and determination, going against all odds to win this one. This is the kind of the effort that helps to forge a team mentality, every player is willing to go the extra mile for his teammates, and everyone is pushing in the same direction. With this win, Madrid will enter the season in a great state of mind knowing that nothing can stop them if they stick together.
All the Goals
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Gabriel Heinze, Miguel Torres (Royston Drenther, 63rd); Arjen Robben, Guti (Ruben De la Red, 76th), Mahamadou Diarra, Rafael Van der Vaart; Raul (Gonzalo Higuain, 77th), Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
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