Semi-Final Supercup de Espana
9 January 2025
Score 3 – 0
Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City (Jeddah)
On January 9, 2025, Real Madrid faced RCD Mallorca in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Real Madrid secured a 3-0 victory, advancing to the final against their arch-rivals, FC Barcelona.
First Half Game Analysis
This game was important for Real Madrid, as this game would lead them to the final and a chance to add another trophy to their glorious history. All the regular players were there in the team, and the team looked confident enough to go through this game.
The first 10 minutes of the game were good; they created a couple of chances by Mbappe and Rodrygo, but they were unable to turn them into goals. In the 11th minute, Mbappe got a pass from Rodrygo inside the box, but he squandered it away as his shot was blocked by a defender. Instead, Mbappe should have given the ball to Bellingham, who was unguarded and open in the center of the box waiting for the ball.
Seconds later, Tchouameni had a good ground shot aiming for the left corner of the post, but it too was well blocked by the keeper. It was a good shot and aimed well too.
In the 13th minute, Vini was shouldered by an opponent team, and in return, Vini had a slight spank on the chest of that player, nothing serious, only a slight touch, but the player fell on the ground and pretended. Still, Vini has to be very careful with his tantrums, as this might cost the team a heavy price.
Bellingham had a chance to shoot the ball through the crowd of defenders; again, the goalkeeper was able to grab the ball for safety. He had a good grounded shot from just outside the box line.
Real Madrid played well up until the 20th minute of the game and kept building pressure on the opposition goalpost. At the same time, they defended well, and Mallorca had only two or so attacks that were well foiled by the defenders.
In the 31st minute, Mallorca got to take one good shot just outside the box between the two defenders, Mendy and Rudiger. But this shot flew high above the bar and out. Mallorca had been having a few rare chances of attack so far in the game.
Up to the 36th minute, Madrid had a total of 5/14 shots while Mallorca had only 0/6, showing the degree of pressure shown by the teams. Still the score was nil-nil.
Madrid players did throw the ball into the box constantly, but those balls had not been able to be utilized so far in the game.
Second Half Game Analysis
In the second half, we see no changes in the players.
Mallorca pressed hard and took a close goal shot at the 47th minute. Again the ball was too high away from the post. No serious threat so far to the Madrid goalpost.
In the 54th minute, Tchouameni got hurt, and he was substituted by Asencio in the defense.
In the 61st minute, Madrid got a free kick just a meter away on the left of the box almost parallel to out line. Rodrygo took the shot, and it was headed away by a Mallorca player, and the shot could not be utilized as desired.
Finally, in the 62nd minute, Vini passed the ball inside the box, and Rodrygo headed the ball, but the ball struck the left pole and rebounded. The same ball was picked up by Mbappe and he took the shot, and that too was blocked by the rising keeper, who was flat on the ground. Again the ball landed by the feet of Bellingham, who, finally, was able to send the ball into the box, passing the keeper and five other defenders. This was, at last, a moment of joy to the players of Madrid after a long time pressing to get this result in the game.
Bellingham Goal through the crowd of defenders
In the 70th minute, Rodrygo led an attack on the right, and he took the shot, but his shot hit the outside net only, while Mbappe and Vini were available separately for a better shot. Here Rodrygo seemed a bit selfish and missed a good chance.
Valverde was substituted by Ceballos in the 75th minute of the game.
In the 77th minute, Vinu expertly picked up the ball in the left half and took the ball inside the box, and beating the two defenders who were constantly chasing him, took his shot at the post; the shot was deflected and foiled his great effort.
Mbappé also led one solid attack in the 78th minute from the right side of the post; he had to beat only the keeper, but his shot was well blocked by the keeper, and the ball earned a corner. But looking at the situation, on the left in the center, Bellingham was waiting for the pass, and he was in an ideal situation to score a goal. It would have been a better option to pass the ball to Bellingham by Mbappe. Here, Mbappe looked a bit selfish for a goal.
In the 86th minute, Madrid led the attack, and Camavinga had the ball and took his goal shot that was easily caught by the keeper. Again, in option Mbappe was available and perhaps had a better chance to score. So the players constantly need to bear in mind that the right decision for the goal shot must be taken care of, not just selfish ones if the opportunities are not the best. Because this element alone can make the teams win and lose the games, it is important in bigger games with bigger teams, as chances do not come that easily.
Brahim was introduced in the 87th minute, replacing Vinicius.
While building an attack by Madrid inside the extra time of the 92nd minute, Brahim forwarded the ball into the center of the box, and Mbappe rushed there to receive it, but the defender deflected the ball, and the ball slid into the post for an own goal to the delight of the Madrid players. Thus the score was 2 for Madrid.
In the extra time of the 95th minute, Rodrygo scored a beautiful goal and added a total of 3 goals to nil in the game. Vazquez threw a superb ball from the right flank into the center, and the rushing Rodrygo happened to be at the right place at the right time, and thus, he scored this late and superb goal for the team. Thus, Real Madrid sealed their victory in this game and moved ahead for the final match against the archrival, Barcelona.
Rodrygo goal in extra time
Strengths
The trio of players, like Vinicius, Mbappe, and Rodrygo, consistently threatened Mallorca’s defense all through the first half and also the entire second half of the game. They led constant attacks at the box of Mallorca, though they were unable to score any goals in the first half.
In the midfield, Bellingham did play some instrumental role and dictate the tempo of the game besides scoring a goal. In the defense too, the players showed great agility, and the Mallorca forwards hardly had any good chance for scoring goals.
In short, all the players played showed their competency and skill, and hence, they could defeat their opponent with the margin of 3 goals.
Drawbacks
On the side of drawbacks seen in this game were the lack of clinical finishing and the decision to pass the ball to the right person selflessly. Though all through the game, Madrid had several good opportunities to score goals, their lack of composer and clinical finishing devoid them for a long time for scoring goals. As the team plays with bigger teams, there will be very few opportunities to score goals; in such situations, whenever any such chance the players get, that must be turned into the goals with precision and speed. If not, then there will be higher chances of losing the game, however good they might play the game in the field. Real Madrid must focus on a clinical finishing technique as much as possible.
At times, we noticed that the forwards turned out to be a bit selfish, as they wanted to score a goal by themselves instead of passing the ball to a teammate who happened to be in the right position at that moment in time. Thus, it is of utmost importance that the balls should be played by the right-positioned player, not by self for the sake of scoring a goal and adding the numbers for self-pride. As Madrid tends to have great players, they are greedy to add to their account a greater number of goals to their name tally. Thus, they tend to play the ball in that manner and miss many opportunities in the process.
Another important point, as per my observation, is that Vinicius needs to be more composed and just concentrate on his game and skill rather than fighting and tangling with opposition players. As we saw him time and again having a fight and misunderstandings with the opponents, that spoiled his concentration and competency in the games in hand. Such behaviors will subdue his popularity among the players as well as the football officials and among the fans, which ultimately will have some disastrous effect on his football career.
Finally, Real Madrid played a more dominant second-half game that produced them those 3 goals. Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vini, and Mbappe played well in the front, while the other players were also very effective in their respective positions. By beating Mallorca, Madrid displayed their status as a formidable team with a valiant defensive strength and a superb-quality attacking mechanism force that is hard to stop.
The upcoming final against Barcelona promises to be an exciting encounter between these two of Spain’s giant teams. I am sure all will be eagerly looking forward to that great match day.
Statistics
Real Madrid Mallorca
Score 3 0
Ball Possession 65% 35%
Total shots 28 8
Corners 6 1
Fouls 12 14
Yellow cards 2 0
Total Passes 544 283