Tribal Football

Real Madrid down Mallorca to set up Super Cup final against Barça

Danny Clark
Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates scoring his team's first goal against Mallorca
Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates scoring his team's first goal against MallorcaLaLiga
Real Madrid booked a date with rivals Barcelona in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final after Jude Bellingham’s (21) second-half strike helped them to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Mallorca - a seventh triumph in nine meetings for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Reigning champions Real dominated the opening 20 minutes as Lucas Vazquez, Rodrygo and Bellingham all saw efforts thwarted by Dominik Greif in the Mallorca goal.

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The one-way traffic showed no signs of slowing down as the first half progressed, but despite seeing plenty of the ball, Los Blancos looked devoid of ideas in the final third, with the Mallorca rearguard holding firm under pressure.

Rodrygo briefly threatened a breakthrough for Real shortly before half-time, however, the Brazilian fired wastefully over the bar after excellent work from Bellingham in the build-up.

Grateful to still be on level terms, the Pirates came close to an opener themselves soon after the restart, when poor defending from Vazquez resulted in Dani Rodriguez powering a close-range strike narrowly off target.

That served as a warning for Ancelotti’s men who regained control of the contest and took a deserved lead in the 63rd minute, with Bellingham converting a loose ball from eight yards after Rodrygo’s initial header cannoned off the post and Greif denied Kylian Mbappe.

Armed with the momentum, Los Blancos went in pursuit of a second to put the game beyond Mallorca, but Greif came to the Pirates’ rescue once again, thwarting Rodrygo and Mbappé in quick succession.

Real continued to create chances with time ticking into the final 10 minutes and they finally added gloss to the scoreline with two goals deep into stoppage time.

First, Martin Valjent diverted into his own net from Brahim Diaz’s through ball, before Rodrygo put the seal on a convincing win, tucking home at the back post to set up a mouthwatering final.

As for Mallorca, their wait for a first Super Cup title since 1998 goes on.