BReal Madrid secured their first title of 2022 in the Supercup in the desert. The royals defeated defending champions Athletic Bilbao 2-0 (1-0) in Sunday’s final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For the team led by former world champion Toni Kroos, Croatian superstar Luka Modric (38th) and goalscorer Karim Benzema scored the goals with a hand penalty (52nd). Bilbao missed a hand penalty by Raul Garcia shortly before the end (89′) after Real’s Eder Militao saw the red card (87′).
For Carlo Ancelotti it was also the first title win with Real since he returned to the Madrilenians’ coaching bench in the summer. The Italian coached Real between 2013 and 2015, winning the 2014 Champions League in the process. Ancelotti is currently leading the table in LaLiga with the record champions. In addition, the Madrilenians are still represented in the Champions League and in the national cup.
After a year’s break, the Spanish Supercup was played again in Saudi Arabia. In the semi-finals, Real defeated arch-rivals FC Barcelona. Bilbao knocked out Atlético Madrid.
Sevilla derby in the other cup competition ended after being abandoned
Betis Sevilla have won the continuation of the Spanish cup game against city rivals FC Sevilla, which was canceled on Saturday evening due to fan riots. The game continued on Sunday afternoon in front of empty stands, Betis won 2-1 (1-1) thanks to Sergio Canales’ goal in the 73rd minute and advanced to the quarter-finals.
The Copa del Rey round of 16 duel was stopped on Saturday evening in the 39th minute when the score was 1-1 after visiting professional Joan Jordán was hit in the head by a flagpole thrown from the stands. The incident caused a lot of outrage in Spain: “An idiot ruins the derby” was the headline in the specialist newspaper “Marca” on Sunday on page one.
Betis Sevilla players celebrate their victory against city rivals.
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Image: EPA
But it wasn’t just the one, previously unidentified fan who caused trouble on Saturday. When Jordán went down, some Betis supporters chanted at him and the visiting team for several minutes. While Betis players condemned the incident, they also tried to put it into perspective. They accused Sevilla FC coach Julen Lopetegui of calling on Jordán to “throw himself on the ground and feign dizziness”. The 27-year-old Jordán held his head on the ground for a moment, but quickly got up again. “It’s all the dark side of our football,” commented the trade journal “AS”.
A Seville derby in the Betis stadium was canceled almost 15 years ago. Back then, on February 28, 2007, visiting coach Juande Ramos was hit in the head by a bottle thrown by a fan in the second leg of the cup.
The incident happened again after Betis made it 1-1 through Nabil Fekir in the 39th minute. Papu Gómez had just given Sevilla FC the lead. Jordán was absent from the continuation of the game because, according to the club, the professional was “under medical observation” at home on Sunday.
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