The Super Cup Goes to Real Madrid
Trondheim is Norway's hotspot for hi-tech, but yesterday it was a centerpiece for high drama.
The Spanish clash that was this year's Super Cup wasn't decided until extra time after a touchline-to-touchline action extravaganza put no distance between Real Madrid and Sevilla.
However, the Champions Legue winners prevailed, with the appropriately named -- for this location -- Vikingos emerging victorious over the Europa titlists in a 3-2 cracker.
Impressively, Real got the job done without its usual lumnaries, as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Tony Kroos, and Pepe didn't make the trip.
Thus, the way was clear for a new name in the Blancos lineup -- Marco Asensio -- to put his stamp on the proceedings, and he did, with an absolute stunner:
This is why Real is who they are. Brand-name headliners are cool, but so is having a talent pool ready whenever called.
But Sevilla are champions, too, and came right back into the game through Franco Vázquez’s volley:
Real is still sloppy on defense, one incident of which resulted in Sevilla being awarded a penalty:
Yevhen Konoplyanka took care of business ever so calmly.
Sergio Ramos has a habit of delivering the goods late in the game, and that hasn't seemed to change in the new season's early stages.
Dude was true three minutes into time added on:
And then, 119 minutes after kickoff, Daniel Carvajal snatched the match from Sevilla’s grasp with a stunner of a solo act:
And so it was that this Super Cup actually lived up to its billing.