Real Golden Midfielder Kkamo Leads Supercoppa Championship

[골닷컴] Reporter Hyunmin Kim = Real Madrid’s proud golden midfield, which leads to Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric, played an important role in winning the Supercopa against Athletic Bilbao.

Real Madrid defeated Bilbao 2-0 in the Supercopa de España final of the 2021/22 season at King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At the same time, Real succeeded in winning the 12th Supercoppa trophy in the club’s history.

As it was the finale, Real were the best in this match. With the main striker Karim Benzema as the center, Vinicius and Rodrygu stood on the left and right to form an attacking triangle. The midfield was Real’s proud Kkamo (Cross-Casemiro-Modric) combination. While Ferland Mendy played on the left flank, Lucas Vázquez started as the right winger in place of Dani Carvajal, who was absent due to Corona. David Alaba and Eder Militang forged a central defender partnership, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois kept the goal.

It was Bilbao who led the initial attack. Bilbao led the attack with ace Inaki Williams moving forward. However, Real also started to bring the flow with Benzema’s sharp mid-range shot in the 18th minute. In the 27th and 28th minutes, Casemiro took a series of shots on target and threatened Bilbao’s goal. In the end, Real took the lead in the 37th minute, Rodrigo’s dribble, which received Modric’s forward pass, and Modric’s non-stop shot, followed by a back pass.

In the 49th minute, Real received a penalty kick due to a handball foul when Benzema’s non-stop shot from Vazquez’s ground cross was caught in the arm of the opposing defender Jerai Alvarez. Benzema calmly succeeded in this and widened the score gap to two goals.

With a two-goal gap, Real slowed down the tempo and started arranging stamina. On the other hand, Bilbao underwent a major player change in the 58th minute, excluding forwards Oihan Sanset, central midfielder Euier Saraga, and left wing defender Mikel Balenciaga, and added Raul Garcia, Mikel Vess, and Yuri Berichche.

After that, Bilbao’s offensive continued. In particular, Garcia, who appeared as a substitute, took the lead in the Bilbao attack, taking 6 shots in just over 30 minutes. However, Real controlled Bilbao’s attack without a score with a solid defense. Real Madrid faced a crisis by conceding a penalty when Militang was sent off for a deliberate handball foul with three minutes left of the match. He showed off his terrific ability to save with his feet.

In the end, Real kept a 2-0 victory and was able to become the protagonist of the Supercoppa title. Above all, Real managed to break free from the Bilbao jinx in the final. Prior to this match, Real had lost face in all of their five finals against Bilbao (1916, 1930, 1933, 1943 and 1958 Copa del Rey). However, they were finally able to lift the Supercoppa trophy by overtaking Bilbao.

The players who performed the most impressive performances in this match were neither Benzema, the leading striker, Courtois, who saved a penalty, nor Vinicius, the dribbler that Real was proud of. It was Real’s golden midfield Kkamo line, which has been in its seventh season since the 2015/16 season.

First, at the age of 36 years and 129 days, Modric scored the winning goal and proudly became the oldest scorer in Supercoppa history. In terms of game content, 3 shots were the second most after Benzema (4), and in passing attempts (79) and successful passes (70), as well as in cross attempts (3), it was second only to his teammate Kroos. Above all, even though he is now at the age of twilight as a football player, his win rate in the ball competition was 100%. Even the interception was the most among the players with 4 appearances.

Casemiro’s contribution cannot be overlooked either. He boasted 100% of both the win rate of the ball contest and the win rate of the aerial ball contest, and he was tied for first place with Cross in 9 times in possession. In addition, he showed off his long-term defensive power by recording 4 kicks (2nd place in the team), 1 tackle, 1 interception, and 1 shot interception. He did not stop there, and he also showed a sophisticated kick by taking both shots on effective shots (the most in the team with two).

Looking at the simple game content, the player who performed the best was none other than Kroos. He took first place overall in ball touch (119) and passing (100), as well as cross (6) and chance-making (3). Even more surprising, the pass success rate was 95%, of which the long pass success rate reached a whopping 94% (16 attempts were successful 15 times), and the cross success rate reached 83% (6 attempts were successful 5 times). Although the cross success rate is usually only 30%, it is on the high side, so this is a phenomenal number. It was a cross that showed off his kicking ability, which was a long-term.

In addition, he boasted 1st place in the team by occupying 9 times in both the number of ball matches and the number of possessions, and he also exerted a high influence on defense by successfully making two tackles and one interception. In terms of influence throughout the game, it can be said that Kroos was the best player in the game.

Real Madrid defeated Bilbao thanks to Kkamo’s performance and won the club’s 12th Supercoppa title. When all official competitions are combined, it is the 93rd victory. In particular, during the 7 seasons Kkamo played together, Real won 13 trophies, including 3 consecutive Champions League victories (2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18). These combinations will surely be remembered for generations to come as the best midfield combinations in the history of Real.