Final, 2-0 Real Madrid: It’s over in Cardiff. Real Madrid wins the 2014 UEFA Super Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo provided the turbo-boosters in Real Madrid’s victory, but the entire team fueled the result with a fine overall performance. While Ronaldo’s pair of goals fill the score-sheet, Kroos, Bale and Casillas also deserve plaudits.
Real Madrid topped Sevilla because of its superior quality, ambition, preparation and perhaps a greater sense of familiarity within its group. Real Madrid’s players returned to the club from 2014 World Cup duty and barely missed a beat in their first competitive game of the season.
It would have taken an outstanding performance from Sevilla — a statistical outlier — for it to win against a Real Madrid team that was playing this well. However, Sevilla struggled to link the midfield and attack, which allowed Real Madrid to dominate the game for long spells.
Check out some stats:
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Real Madrid is vying for six trophies this season, and it’s one for one, so far. Real Madrid will take on Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup on Aug. 19 and 22. It then begins its Primera Division campaign against newly-promoted Cordoba on Aug. 25.
Sevilla will continue its preseason preparations with its eyes fixed on its first league game of the season — against Valencia on Aug. 23.
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90th minute +3, 2-0 Real Madrid: Bale sprints forward and shoots on goal, but Beto punches it away.
Bale really wants to score in his homecoming but it isn’t meant to be.
90th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: There will be a minimum of two minutes of added time in the second half.
90th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Figueiras fires a volley toward Casillas’ goal, but it deflects off of a Real Madrid player and goes out for a corner kick.
89th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Krychowiak drives a shot on goal, but Casillas turns it away.
86th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Modric gives way to Illaramendi, as Real Madrid makes its final substitution.
85th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Kroos, Ronaldo and Co. have done an outstanding job passing the ball.
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84th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Real Madrid makes another substitution, replacing Coentrao with Marcelo.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo is back on the field after receiving treatment.
83rd minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Sevilla replaces Coke with Figueiras.
83rd minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Ronaldo is down after a heavy challenge from Coke.
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78th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Reyes enters the game for Sevilla, replacing Suarez.
76th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Ramos and Krychowiak are exchanging words, and Pepe (of all people) rushes in to play the role of peace-maker. The referee tells the players to cool it, and the game continues.
72nd minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Isco replaces James, as Real Madrid makes its first substitution.
James didn’t shine in his Real Madrid debut. The Colombian struggled to factor into his team’s attacking play and he had one moment in defense which nearly ended in calamity.
James’ debut leaves plenty of room for improvement, and he has the time and ability to do so.
71st minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: It took some time, but Real Madrid now looks like the European Champion that it is.
Benzema finished a sweeping counter-attack by shooting high and wide of Beto’s goal, but the build-up warrants a mention due to the quality of the passing.
67th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Beto saves James’ powerful, dipping shot.
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66th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Sevilla makes a substitution.
Aspas, the striker who is spending the season on loan from Liverpool, enters the contest. Vidal exits.
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64th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Benzema’s sliding shot from the top of the penalty area forces Beto to make a diving save.
Real Madrid looks comfortable with the two-goal lead. It’s passing is incisive and inventive.
Meanwhile, Sevilla hasn’t held possession long enough to force Real Madrid’s attacking players to perform those defensive duties in which they don’t excel.
53rd minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Kroos is cautioned for a foul on Krychowiak.
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48th minute, 2-0 Real Madrid: Ronaldo scores again, doubling Real Madrid’s lead.
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Ronaldo hit a blistering, left-footed shot from 15 yards out. It hit Beto’s hand, but caromed into the goal — such was the power with which Ronaldo shot.
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As was the case with the first goal, Ronaldo started and finished the move.
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46th minute, 1-0 Real Madrid: The second half is underway.
Halftime, 1-0 Real Madrid: That’s the end of the first half. Real Madrid leads by one.
Real Madrid hasn’t hit high gear yet but it deserves the lead it currently holds. The reigning kings of Europe have controlled possession and territory throughout, and one moment of supreme quality — Bale’s pass to Ronaldo — provides the difference.
While James was largely a spectator and had one or two nervous moments, Kroos is sparkling in his Real Madrid debut.
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Sevilla has defended with admirable determination and threatened on a pair of occasions. But Casillas has made the saves when called upon.
45th minute, 1-0 Real Madrid: Real Madrid is firmly in control of the action, as the first half nears its end.
44th minute, 1-0 Real Madrid: Carvajal is cautioned.
41st minute, 1-0 Real Madrid: Vitolo is cautioned for a foul on Ronaldo.
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35th minute, 1-0 Real Madrid: Casillas makes a save after James makes a pair of mistakes inside Real Madrid’s penalty area.
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The Colombian playmaker tried to clear the ball but scuffed it into the air instead.
30th minute, 1-0 Real Madrid: Ronaldo scores. Real Madrid leads on the half-hour mark.
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Bale delivered the killer pass. The Welshman delivered his cross from deep on the left side to the far post, where Ronaldo arrived and beat Beto with a sliding shot.
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26th minute, 0-0: Beto comes to the rescue again. This time, he denies Ronaldo.
Benzema slipped a pass to Ronaldo, who was at the top of the Sevilla area. Ronaldo freed himself with his first touch and shot on goal, but Beto made another save.
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23rd minute, 0-0: Benzema beats the offside trap and runs onto a free kick but appears to slip as he arrives and chests a shot on goal, which Beto saves.
Maybe Benzema was pushed.
20th minute, 0-0: Casillas makes a fine save after vidal broke free and shot.
18th minute, 0-0: James crosses from the left to Bale, who arrived at the far post and slid to redirect the ball into the goal. But Beto batted it away, and a Sevilla defender cleared the danger.
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15th minute, 0-0: Ronaldo hits a powerful free kick, which takes a deflection and goes over the crossbar by a few inches. It’s another corner kick for Real Madrid.
11th minute, 0-0: Bale shoots from 30 yards out, but his effort is deflected and misses the goal (not by much).
Eighth minute, 0-0: There has been a slow start to the game, as the teams seem to be content with holding possession in the midfield while the opponents decline to apply much pressure.
Real Madrid and Sevilla aren’t at peak fitness, so they could be biding their time before they raise the tempo of their play.
Fourth minute, 0-0:Â Beto saves Ronaldo’s long-range shot.
Real Madrid has controlled possession in the opening minutes, as expected.
First minute, 0-0: The 2014 UEFA Super Cup is underway.
Pregame: The soccer world was wondering how Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti would fit James and Kroos into his existing galaxy of stars. We don’t have to wait long to see how the Italian goes about it.
Midfield mainstays Xabi Alonso and Sami Khadira are out of the squad, while Angel di Maria is on the bench. Luka Modric and Kroos will play deep in the midfield, while James occupies an advanced role behind Benzema.
The 2014 World Cup has created a staggered start to the season for many teams, as players return to their clubs with varying degrees of fitness and focus.
That the transfer market is still open also is a source of intrigue. Teams sometimes hold some players out of a game like this because they are the subject of ongoing transfer negotiations. Sevilla left back Alberto Moreno is one of these players. Sevilla and Liverpool reportedly have agreed to a transfer worth around £12 million ($20.2 million), and the Spanish fullback appears to be bound for Anfield.
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2:15 p.m.: Here are the lineups:
Real Madrid
Iker Casillas (1), goalkeeper
Fabio Coentrao (5), left back
Pepe (3), center back
Sergio Ramos (4), center back
Daniel Carvajal (15), right back
Toni Kroos (8), midfielder
Luka Modric (19), midfielder
James Rodriguez (10), midfielder
Gareth Bale (11), forward
Cristiano Ronaldo (7), forward
Karim Benzema (9), striker
Substitutes
Keylor Navas (13), goalkeeper
Raphael Varane (2), defender
Marcelo (12), defender
Alvaro Arbeloa (17), defender
Asier Illarramendi (24), midfielder
Isco (23), midfielder
Angel di Maria (22), midfielder
Sevilla
Beto (13) goalkeeper
Coke (23), left back
Nicolas Pareja (21), center back
Federico Fazio (2), center back
Fernando Navarro (3), right back
Grzegorz Krychowiak (4), midfielder
Daniel Carrico (6), midfielder
Denis Suarez (17), midfielder
Vitolo (20), forward
Alex Vidal (22), forward
Carlos Bacca (9), striker
Substitutes
Marioano Barbosa (25), goalkeeper
Diogo Figueiras (5), defender
Luismi (26), defender
Vicente Iborra (12), midfielder
Jose Antonio Reyes (10), forward
Jairo Samperio (11), forward
Iago Aspas (14), striker
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Noon ET: European soccer’s continental competitions have been underway for a few weeks, but the spotlight begins to shine on Tuesday when Real Madrid takes on Sevilla in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup.
Real Madrid, the winner of last season’s UEFA Champions League, hopes to win the first of up to six trophies this season. Sevilla, last season’s UEFA Europa League winner, also has high ambitions, but its are much more modest than those of the Spanish giant.
Real Madrid’s gameday squad includes Welsh forward Gareth Bale, who is returning to his homeland as a European champion. New signings Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez also are expected to play a role, as is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has recovered from the injury problems that slowed him toward the end of last season and at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Sevilla sold midfield fulcrum Ivan Rakitic to Barcelona during the offseason, so it will have a different look this term. Head coach Unai Emery is looking to integrate new signings like center back Nicolas Pareja and defensive midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak into the team, as Sevilla prepares to compete in three competitions.
Spain’s Primera Division (First division) doesn’t kick off until the weekend of August 23-25, so neither Real Madrid nor Sevilla is at peak fitness or sharpness. But this game counts, a trophy is on the line, and both sides want to lift it.
Spanish clubs are no strangers to this one-game competition.
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Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, is the site of the UEFA Super Cup — the unofficial kickoff to the 2014-15 European campaign. The game kicks off at 2:45 p.m. Stay right here for all the action from Cardiff City Stadium.
Photo via Twitter/@SupportingBale
