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KABUL (SW): Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema scored brilliant first-half goals as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 on the night to register a resounding 5-1 aggregate Supercopa win.
Spanish and European champions were dominant, even without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo. Zinedine Zidane's side, comfortable 3-1 first-leg winners on Sunday, put Cristiano Ronaldo's five-game ban behind them by out-playing their arch-rivals again as moments of magic from Asensio and Benzema put them out of sight.
Asensio's superb, swerving early strike set the tone at the Bernabeu and Benzema added a second six minutes before half-time to leave a dispirited Barca staring at a heavy defeat. Ernesto Valverde's side improved in the second period, with both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez seeing efforts hit the woodwork, but Real were by then in cruise control, the guardian reported.
In less than two years in charge, Zinedine Zidane has led Real to two Champions Leagues, and the 2016-17 La Liga title. And on this performance, they are going to be hard to beat again. The big story before the game was Ronaldo claiming he was persecutedafter being banned for five games – for pushing the referee – after being sent off in the first leg.
Watching from the stands, he was not missed on the pitch, with Zidane also able to leave Isco and Gareth Bale on the bench with Sunday's La Liga opener against Valencia in mind.
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde will be worried by what he has seen in his two competitive games in charge, having replaced Luis Enrique in the summer, BBC reported. Having lost Neymar to Paris St-Germain for £200m in the summer, and with their moves for Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho and Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele unsuccessful so far, they lacked the quality of Barca teams of the past, it added.
ENDS
