Real Madrid made history on Wednesday night when they became just the third club to win their fifth UEFA Super Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti's team joins rivals Barcelona and Italian giants AC Milan to take on Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt. Defeated and inducted into the Super Cup Greats Hall of Fame. 2-0 in Helsinki. Goals from David Alaba and Karim Benzema secured the trophy.
He defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final in May, qualifying Real to start the curtain. Meanwhile, Frankfurt secured their place in Finland after beating Rangers on penalties in the Europa League final in May in. The main topics of the stable night were:
Stars Acquired
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Getty Images)last semester with a new season bringing new challenges The achievements are ancient history for Real and Frankfurt. However, Ancelotti and Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner were keen to reward players for their respective victories earlier in the year. Resisting the urge to nominate a none and play newcomer Antonio Rudiger, Glasner has selected 10 players to start the Europa League final. The only player absent was Filip Kostic, who is close to moving toJuventus
. He recognized Glasner before kickoff.
History Boys
} Image:
via Reuters)Many are unaware of the history behind Wednesday's game. I don't think so. The Supercup clash was the first time Real and Frankfurt had faced each other since the European Cup final in 1960.
Amazingly, Real won at Hampden Park in Scotland, where he won 7-3 in front of over 127,000 people. Real's goal was shared with the greats of Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskas to secure their fifth consecutive European Cup. Wednesday's game was less exciting.
Battle with Frankfurt
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REUTERS)Most pundits expected Real to win comfortably on Wednesday. It is no exaggeration to say that Yes, Frankfurt are Europa League champions and they deserve to be in Helsinki. However, they were beaten 6-1 by Sadio Mane's Bayern Munich five days ago.
But the German got off to a good start at the Olympic stadium. Early on, Daichi Kamada forced Thibaut to make a clever save on his Courtois, while the young Brazilian defender's ivy scored a brilliant block on the line to prevent Vinicius from his junior. They were ready for scrap.
Real break defense
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Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images)Real broke through the Frankfurt defense in the 37th minute. A fine play by Vinicius and Ballon d'Or favorite Karim Benzema allowed Vinicius to score a fine save from Kevin Trapp, sending the ball to the left post.
Benzema headed in from a corner kick and looped the ball towards Casemiro. The Brazilian then headed the ball back over the center and Alaba was waiting to shove it into the empty net. Soft goals, but they are all important.
Carlo's history
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AFP via Getty Images)Trapped as Real tried to consolidate their lead after the break. Benzema's shot bounced off Benzema before Vinicius made a great save. Still, the score remained 1-0 with 30 minutes remaining.
Between these two efforts, Mario Götze appeared. This was a blast from the past for many. The former German international, who famously won the 2014 World Cup final, returned to the Bundesliga after two years at PSV in his Eindhoven.
Sadly for Frankfurt fans, Götze could not make the difference, but Ansgar Knauf tested Courtois with a cheeky toe in the 63rd minute. Real then decided the match after Benzema scored a low cross from Vinicius.
The victory secured another piece of history for Ancelotti. He has now won the Super Cup four times and has surpassed Pep Guardiola once in the all-time rankings. The decision to move from Everton to Real Madrid was made just over a year ago.
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