Although historically undervalued by La Liga’s elite clubs, the Supercopa de Espana has taken on a whole new significance in an odd twist this strangest of seasons.
The Supercopa has often played a useful role over the years in offering an opportunity for the league’s greats like Barcelona and Real Madrid to salvage their bruised egos in difficult times with at least the lesser glory of getting their hands on some silverware when lagging behind in the league title chase, after which they could hopefully set themselves up nicely for the second part of the campaign.
So far it has gone according to plan as the Blaugrana have managed to hold up their end of the bargain, edging past Real Sociedad in a close penalty shootout last night in Cordoba. Madrid had hoped to achieve similar results at La Rosaleda, also facing Basque opposition in Atletico Bilbao but were unable to pull off the same stunt as their Catalan rivals and set up a Clasico final.
Athletic went into the break two goals in the lead thanks to Raul Garcia’s brace, and despite narrowing the deficit through star striker Karim Benzema, Los Blancos were beaten 2-1 after the subsequent equaliser from Benzema was disallowed.
Zidane’s men will now troop quietly back to Madrid empty-handed while a beaming Marcelino, the new appointee at San Mames, will be eagerly looking forward in gearing his team to face Barcelona in the final on Sunday.
Zidane, spoke post-match in comments carried by Marca, seemingly intent on keeping a level head despite the disappointment.
“Our first half was difficult, we didn’t begin the game well. They scored with the two chances they had, and that’s difficult.
“We didn’t read the first half well. They pressed high and we lost balls that we normally wouldn’t. We ended up switching formation because we weren’t comfortable with Luka (Modric)’s position.
“All you can do is keep working, try to rest well and think about the next game. You have to turn the page and keep working. We can’t go crazy now.”