Real Madrid produced another in their long line of famous European performances to lift the UEFA Super Cup, seeing off domestic rivals and UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla 3-2 after extra time in Trondheim.
Madrid looked dead and buried as they trailed 2-1 deep into stoppage time in Trondheim, but Ramos’ equaliser sent the match to extra-time where Dani Carvajal’s brilliant 119th-minute goal won it for the European champions.
Dani Carvajal missed Spain’s UEFA EURO 2016 campaign with an injury picked up in Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League final victory over Atlético Madrid, departing San Siro in tears on that memorable May evening.
It was his drive that won the UEFA Super Cup for his team. Having gained possession near the halfway line just as Sevilla were looking to break, the right-back turned quickly and slalomed his way through the Andalusian side’s defence before calmly beating Sergio Rico to seek another memorable victory for Zinedine Zidane’s side.
The win, the second piece of silverware in the Zidane era, means that the Frenchman joins Simeone, Guardiola, Ancelotti and Luis Enrique to have won the UEFA Super Cup as a player and a coach, having won in 2002 when Madrid beat Feyenoord in Monaco. Sevilla meanwhile miss out for the fourth time, having lost to Madrid in 2014, to AC Milan in 2007 and Barcelona , also after extra-time in 2015.
As is usually the case on the big star, Real Madrid’s captain Sergio Ramos once again was at the center of much of the action. First he gave away a penalty with a clumsy challenge on Vitolo in the second half, but then headed in a last-minute equaliser to send the game into extra time. He could have sealed it too when he stooped to head in an extra-time header but the goal was ruled out for a pull on Sevilla defender Adil Rami.
The centre-back has now scored in three of Madrid’s last four UEFA finals, with two of those goals coming in the 93rd minute.
“It’s a very happy day for me, not only because of the title we won as a group but also on a personal level, being able to contribute at my best and scoring a goal in a final in the 93rd minute,” he told UEFA.com afterwards.
“This is a good memory.”
Zidane lauded his side’s never-say-die attitude afterwards saying:
‘In football you never know what’s going to happen. The good thing about tonight is that we knew it was going to be difficult, but we never gave up.
‘They got ahead in a key part of the game, but we never gave up and Sergio’s goal in the last minute brought us back to life.’
‘Second title (as Madrid coach), first of this season and I’m very happy with the effort the guys have made.’
Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli declared himself proud of his Sevilla players following the 3-2 European Super Cup defeat saying:
“I feel proud of the way we played and the bravery we showed against the European champions after such a short time working together, so it was exciting for me and I very much appreciate it,” the 56-year-old told a Press conference.
“I think we saw the team was getting gradually better and in terms of possession we dominated Madrid in the second half.
“But we didn’t take advantage and weren’t forceful enough. When you don’t do that an opponent such as them, with the players they have, can do you damage.
“We had to cut short our preparations for this match but now we have another two games [against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup] to win a trophy before the League starts.”
