JAIPUR: Real Madrid will play FC Barcelona in Sunday’s final of the Spanish Supercup after beating Mallorca 3-0 in the second semifinal played in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.
Jude Bellingham broke down Mallorca’s rearguard action in the 63rd minute as he slid the ball through a forest of legs after Rodrygo hit the post with a diving header, and Kylian Mbappe saw his follow-up well saved by Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif.
Mallorca defender Martin Valjent then deflected Brahim Diaz’s attempted through ball to Mbappe into his own net in the second minute of injury time and in virtually the last action of the game, Rodrygo got a goal to celebrate his birthday and make it 3-0, Xinhua reports.
Mallorca coach Jagoba Arrasate stressed the need for a good start, but his team nearly fell behind in the opening minute after a Mbappe run set up Bellingham, whose shot was scooped away by Greif.
Mbappe then set up Rodrygo, whose shot at the near post was close to going in before the Frenchman saw an effort of his own blocked.
Real Madrid were on the front foot, with Mallorca defending in its own half and trying to deny space to Mbappe and Vinicius, who had a couple of bad-tempered incidents with Mallorca right-back Pablo Maffeo.
Aurelien Tchouameni tried his luck from distance with Greif getting down well to parry, and Bellingham also made the Mallorca goalkeeper work after creating space at the edge of the area.
Mallorca relied on its trio of Dani Rodriguez, Vedat Muriqi and Cyle Larin to carry its attacking threat, with Larin wasting a decent chance as he nodded Rodriguez’s cross wide when left unmarked in the Madrid area.
Mallorca’s resistance was broken by Bellingham in the 63rd minute, and the runner-up in last season’s Copa del Rey never really looked like getting back into the match.
Tensions boiled over at the end as Maffeo reacted badly to Bellingham’s little slap on the back of his head after the third goal, with young Madrid defender Raul Asencio also getting involved.
FC Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao in Wednesday’s first semifinal, with Gavi and Lamine Yamal scoring the goals either side of halftime.
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