Real Madrid survived a penalty shootout to beat Valencia at King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to reach the final of the Supercopa de Espana.
Samuel Lino cancelled Karim Benzema’s first-half goal as the two side’s failed to find the winner even in extra time. Thibaut Courtois then saved Jose Gaya’s penalty in the shootout to secure the win for his side.
Real, who entered the game on a lean patch, started well and had three straightforward chances to score in the first 15 minutes that went begging.
Rodrygo was the first to miss a close-range shot following a counter-attack before Benzema was denied and Federico Valverde’s long-range strike flew just wide.
The Ballon d’Or holder finally put his side ahead in the 39th minute after Eder Militao found the Frenchman in the box who was then fouled by Eray Cömert and Benzema put away the resulting penalty to put his side in control.
Valencia fired back immediately after halftime as Toni Lato’s cross was met by Samuel Lino who volleyed his shot into the net.
With the game heading towards penalties, Vinicius Junior had the chance to win the match for Madrid in extra time, but his close-range shot was saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Edinson Cavani and Benzema then opened the shootout with goals before Comert missed Valencia’s second effort as his day went from bad to worse.
Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Marcos Asensio all scored before Courtois secured the win for Real by saving Gaya’s spot-kick to send the 12-time winners to another decider.
Real Madrid, after taking care of Valencia, now awaits the winners of Barcelona vs Real Betis in the Supercopa de Espana final.
