Real Madrid faced Athletic Bilbao for a third time in 2021-2022, and like the first two encounters, Los Blancos were the victors. Except this time, they won by more than one goal, taking down the Lions 2-0 in Saudi Arabia to avenge last year’s first-round Supercopa exit and reclaim the title they won against Atletico Madrid in 2020.
Luka Modric scored a brilliant first, with Karim Benzema adding a second from the spot. Then when Raul Garcia received a penalty of his own for Eder Militao’s red-card handball, Thibaut Courtois produced one of the finest penalty saves you’ll see.
Here are the player ratings from Real Madrid’s 2-0 win in the Supercopa final over Athletic Bilbao.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois was brilliant again, and his match rating comes on the back of one of the best saves we have seen this season in any competition. The Belgian is the best goalkeeper in the world right now, and his adjustment save with his foot on Raul Garcia’s penalty is a fine example why.
Rating: 8.5
LB Ferland Mendy
Ferland Mendy completed 91 percent of his passes and didn’t make any mistakes despite often having to navigate tight pressure near his own box. The French left back was so good defensively that Alex Berenguer had to be subbed off, simply because the Bilbao star was too nervous to take the defender on. Mendy was a little lacking offensively, though, failing to support Vinicius Jr. again.
Rating: 6.5
CB David Alaba
Certainly missed in the semifinal against Barcelona, David Alaba was able to return from injury for the final despite initial worries he would be out. Real Madrid fans sure were glad to see Alaba out there, as the team played much, much better in possession and in defense. Alaba had a couple of stellar interventions, including one early world-class tackle on Inaki Williams. He did not misplace a single pass.
Rating: 8.0
CB Eder Militao
Although Eder Militao was sent off, I am not going to dock his grade for it, because there was no way he could have reacted to Raul Garcia’s header. He was unlucky. Prior to the red card, Militao was great defensively, saving a couple of goals with his blocks. Militao had seven clearances and was nearly flawless with his passing accuracy.
Rating: 7.5
RB Lucas Vazquez
You know Lucas Vazquez is having a good game when the hive mind of Twitter isn’t constantly at his throat. Sure, he wasn’t perfect and is still frustrating with the inaccuracy of his crosses, but this was a definite improvement from the last time he faced Athletic Bilbao. Combine this with a positive semifinal performance vs. Barcelona, and Vazquez is shaking off the struggles we saw at right back last month. His one-on-one defending was quite good in this one.
Rating: 7.0
CM Toni Kroos
It was funny seeing some Madridistas call Toni Kroos’ performance against Barcelona average, because average by his standards is quite a bit better than average by anyone else’s. Kroos controlled the match perfectly against Athletic Bilbao in this final, as the opposition could do nothing to worry him or take the ball off him. The German’s range of passing was as good as ever, and he completed 95 of his 100 pass attempts with three key passes.
Kroos also completed 15 of his 16 long balls. There isn’t a more accurate passer on the planet than the No. 8, especially when it comes to these distance passes. And that opens up play big-time for Real Madrid. It also forces opponents to keep themselves honest with their positioning.
Rating: 8.0
DM Casemiro
Casemiro did not receive much vocal praise for his work in this 2-0 win, but he is another one of those players who is doing well when things are quiet. The defensive midfielder made a lot of important clearances in his box, as his duties were more about playing it safe against an Athletic Bilbao side that resorted to countering for about an hour of the match. On the ball, Case was better than in some of his recent matches, as he had no giveaways and usually found the progressive option for his team.
Rating: 7.5
CM Luka Modric
Rounding out Real’s world-class midfield was the standout performer of the match, Luka Modric. He scored the opener – and his first goal of the season, after being denied by the frame of the goal time after time – with aplomb. It was a trademark, finessed finish from the Croatian magician into the right-hand margin of the net, hit with such technical expertise that aspiring players need to check out the goal in slow-mo.
Modric did a lot more than score, too. He carried the ball out of tricky situations with slick skills, dropping jaws with the best nutmeg I have seen to start 2022. Lukita had some nice defensive actions, as well, including a sliding interception. In total, the man had four interceptions, which is astonishing when you factor in his offensive brilliance.
Rating: 9.0
LW Vinicius Jr.
Many Madridistas thought Vinicius Jr. would be one of the stars of the show against Athletic Bilbao, but Marcelino did a great job of game-planning against the world-class winger. Vinicius Jr. had very little room to work with, though it was not like he was helped much by a hesitant Mendy on the left. The winger was subbed in the second half for Marcelo, having recorded no successful dribbles against a stingy defense.
But to say Vini played poorly would be inaccurate. He did a LOT of dirty work defensively, recording five combined tackles and interceptions. Even offensively, he had two key passes. So when you factor in his all-around play, he was not bad. Just not as dynamic as we are used to.
Rating: 6.0
CF Karim Benzema
Although Karim Benzema scored, he was the worst player on the pitch for Real Madrid. Unlike in the Getafe game, he was not the worst player on the pitch because he was more abysmal than the rest of his teammates, but rather because he did not shine like his teammates did.
Benzema recently said that fans are too focused on goals and assists. Unfortunately, I must use this logic against him. Although one of the world’s best penalty takers put away a brilliant penalty past a frustrated Unai Simon, who had guessed right but could do nothing about the power and accuracy of the shot, he was poor otherwise.
The No. 9 had no key passes in this game. He took a few ill-advised shots. His movement and decision-making were not as sharp as usual, and while he had a few nice dribbles on the ball, they amounted to very little.
Rating: 5.5
RW Rodrygo Goes
Rodrygo Goes was the best player in Real Madrid’s front three, which bodes well for him getting more starts over Marco Asensio. After a strong performance off the bench in the semifinal win over Barcelona, Rodrygo assisted Luka Modric’s first goal and put in a lot of good work on both ends of the pitch to help the team. Like usual.
I would like to see Rodrygo’s technical decision-making improve. For example, he wastes a lot of Kroos’ long passes by approaching the ball the wrong way, and he needs to be better at anticipating how defenders are positioned when shooting. That said, he was good against Athletic Bilbao and can build on this latest assist.
Rating: 7.0