Cristiano Ronaldo-less Real Madrid Lifts UEFA Super Cup After 3-2 Win Against Sevilla
Real Madrid is celebrating the UEFA Super Cup without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after routing Europa League winner Sevilla in a Trondheim clash. Real Madrid needed extra time to manage the 3-2 final result.
Ronaldo is still sitting out the games after sustaining a knee injury at the grueling Euro 2016 in July. Although the recently concluded match can be ruled even since Sevilla is playing with limited 10-man team.
Celebrating via social media
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The Portugal international is content on posting his teammates' picture in social media and with a single word description "champions". The Instagram post resulted into a domino effect with fans now hyped-up for a possible Ronaldo appearance in a friendly match against Reims this August 16. The real challenge will not kick in until five days later for LaLiga Championships at Real Sociedad.
The match up is nailed at 2-2 when Dani Carvajal sank a winner in the 119th minute, producing a jaw dropping solo goal that afforded the trophy for Madrid.
Meanwhile, there are several factors that can be attributed to Real Madrid's victory, Carvajal being the foremost. Carvajal suffered an injury and missed the Spain installment of EUFA Champions League 2016 but stayed true to his promise that the next tournament will see him a renewed player. True indeed, Carvajal calmly scored via calculated kick that went past Sergio Rico.
Then came key performance from Sergio Ramos who is now notoriously know as a last-minute threat after having scored three goals in the last four outings, two coming past the 90th minute mark. These achievements are proof enough that Ramos can already handle the pressure that bigtime matches provide.
Key players
Marco Asensio is another cornerstone of the game after playing a "complete" soccer-sense. Sevilla struggled to contain Asensio because he is constantly traversing infield, looking for an opening. The strategy paid off when the 20 year-old Spain's brightest prospect opened the match with a goal from twenty meters.
Lastly, the real worry for opposing teams is the youthful vigor of Real Madrid since Carvajal, Kiko Casilla, Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata are all coming off fresh from "Madrid's school of how to win championships". The big four are exclusively tailored for Real Madrid system.
Ronaldo of course is undeniably the biggest name in Euro soccer and is still a credible force to reckon with while Ramos has leadership in the field that has adopted to Madrid even if originally a Sevilla player.
