Carlo Ancelotti has made three changes to his starting lineup compared to the one that started against FC Barcelona: David Alaba in central defense, Lucas Vazquez on the right side and Rodrygo in attack took the place of Dani Carrvajal and Marco Asensio, both missing on the scoresheet, and Fernandez Nacho. Thibaut Courtois was in charge and Eden Hazard remained on the bench the whole game.
By technically spinning the ball in midfield, the Merengues muzzled the Basques. Los Blancos created more goalscoring chances but Unai Simon got in their way. The Basque goalkeeper twice prevented Casemiro from opening the scoring. Simon first deflected a dry shot from the middle of Real (27th) for a corner before tapping out a whim, which seemed to go down below the bar (28th). The Athletic goalkeeper was finally surprised by a right shot from Modric (38th, 1-0).
On resumption, the Basques did not have time to react when the referee, alerted by the VAR, awarded the Merengues a penalty for a hand fault by Yeray Alavarez converted by Benzema (52nd, 2-0) . Athletic did not give up, but it was difficult to score without a shot on target.
Up in the game (58th), Raul Garcia was clumsy twice. The striker notably placed the ball on the right of Courtois’ goal (64th). The Red Devils goalkeeper had no saves to make before a clearance from Eder Militao was blocked by Nico Serrano (84th). Uncomfortable at the end of the match, the Portuguese defender of Real was excluded for a hand fault (87th) but Courtois deflected with the left foot the penalty shot in the center by Garcia (89th).
