Only with penalties, but made it to the finals in Barcelona

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The penalty shootout decided the Spanish Super Cup first semi-final between Barcelona and Real Sociedad in favor of the Catalans.

Real Sociedad won the first Spanish Super Cup: in 1982, they beat Real Madrid 4-1 overall for the trophy. Since then, the Basque corps has not been able to fight for any of the tenders, so Sociedad was still waiting for a return in 2021 with a flawless balance sheet. The process is different from the beginning: since last year, four teams have been fighting for the Super Cup instead of two, but both the semi-finals and the finals will be decided in one match. Barcelona, ​​by no means with a flawless balance, was waiting for the tournament as a record winner: the grenade red-blue had been able to lift the super cup thirteen times so far, but did not make it to the finals in the first four-participant competition.

Based on the form the two teams have shown in recent weeks, the Catalans were clearly the chances of a semi-final in Córdoba, yet Real Sociedad started the clash better. The most dangerous player of the Basques was Mikel Oyarzabal, but when he had to, Marc-André ter Stegen stood in the mud at the Barcelona goal. In the absence of Lionel Messi, who was missed on the other side due to minor injury, the Catalan star team was unable to form situations for a long time.

For the second half of the first half, Barcelona then took control, and in the 40th minute it was a mature goal: former Sociedad player Antoine Griezmann was headed into Frenkie de Jong’s goal by Álex Remiro.

At the beginning of the second half, de Jong was again the protagonist, but the Dutch would have liked to have given up on this: he handed Real Sociedad a penalty with his hand, from which he equalized Oyarzabal. He could have improved almost after the midfield but de Jong: After Griezmann’s great start, however, he waited too long so he couldn’t shoot in the end.

After the regular playing time, there were few options left, so the twice-fifteen-minute extra could come. After a long shot from Zaldúa, who came in as a substitute, ter Stegen showed great feats, on the other side Dembélé made Remiro a smaller defense in a bigger position. The second half of the extra time also saw a great situation in front of both goals, but Griezmann’s shot, then Januzaj’s solo and free kick defended the opponent’s goalkeeper, the penalties could follow.

Ter Stegen continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. After 71 minutes, Bautista sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. However, Willian José made a spectacular save. Griezmann could have fired Barcelona in the final, sending the ball into the sky instead, but young Riqui Puig was confident, so the Catalans won the penalty shootout 3-2 and can hope that Messi will be on the field in Sunday’s final in Seville. can step.

On Thursday night, the other finishing spot will be Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao clash in Malaga.