3-1: Benzema brace secures spoils against Athletic

Real Madrid chalked up a fourth win on the trot in this rearranged Matchday 19 clash, brought forward on account of the Spanish Super Cup, at the Alfredo Di Stéfano on a night when the hosts dominated from start to finish. It took the Whites all of 10 minutes to fashion a first meaningful chance, with Lucas Vázquez playing the ball into the box and Karim Benzema contrived to send his left-footed effort from a slightly tight angle over the top. In the 14th minute, Athletic were reduced to 10 men after Raúl García was shown a second yellow. The madridistas had claims for a penalty waved away when Ander Capa handled in the 17th minute, but the hosts continued to boss possession and Fede Valverde fired in a shot from inside the box that whistled narrowly wide.

Zinedine Zidane's troops kept plugging away in search of an opener and came close to making the breakthrough in the 41st minute. Luka Modrić's cross was met by Vinicius Jr. inside the six-yard box but Unai Simón produced heroics to keep the ball out with his chest. In the next move, Valverde came close when his shot on the half-turn sailed over the bar. Just when it looked as if the sides were destined to go in all square at the break, up popped Toni Kroos with a sublime strike. Vinicius Jr. found the German, who unleashed a driven right-footed shot from just outside the D to make it 1-0.