A fine shoot-out performance saw Real Madrid advance to the final of the Supercopa de Espana after beating Valencia on penalties.
The sides couldn’t be separated after Karim Benzema’s first-half penalty was cancelled out by Samuel Lino’s equaliser.
Rodrygo had the first big chance of the game when he broke free beyond the Valencia backline but skewed his effort from a tight angle high and wide.
Madrid had a handful of chances in the first 15 minutes including a dazzling Benzema run into the box before watching his effort flash wide, as well as Federico Valverde’s long-range shot from 30 yards out that fizzed wide.
But the story of the first half quickly changed when Valencia took control with a few chances of their own.
Edison Cavani forced a good save out of Thibaut Courtois with a close-range header, and Justin Kluivert also threatened Madrid’s goal with a couple of blocked shots.
Madrid went on to take the lead against the run of play when Benzema was foolishly brought down by Eray Comert after the Frenchman had broken through on goal.
Comert, who was never getting near Benzema, chose to bring the striker down as Benzema looked to pull the trigger, giving referee Alejandro Hernandez no other choice but to point to the spot and caution the defender.
Benzema calmly rolled the ball into the bottom right corner to give the current holders the lead.
Valencia wasted no time getting back into the game after the restart, as Lino took advantage of a sleepy Madrid defence to attack a deep Toni Lato cross at the back post to send the ball beyond a stunned Courtois.
Madrid continued the second half as they began it, struggling to get into their rhythm and Valencia found themselves on top for the majority of the half.
In a half of little chances, Benzema had an opportunity to snatch a winner with minutes to go when he met a Valverde cross, but guided his header over the bar.
Madrid were fortunately presented with another huge chance through Vinicius Junior deep into added time, but as the ball fell to him in acres of space six yards from goal, Giorgi Mamardashvili came rushing out to deny him.
Mamardashvili pulled another great save out early into the first period of extra time to deny Vinicius once more, who tried to bend an effort into the top right corner from the edge of the box.
Fran Perez scuppered a big chance to give Valencia the advantage in the first half of extra time when he drove into the Madrid penalty box, but instead of slotting the ball to the bottom right of Courtois’s goal, which seemed the inevitable decision, opted to cut inside of the onrushing Antonio Rudiger into the congested area where he was challenged and dispossessed.
Courtois prevented Valencia from taking the lead ten minutes from full time in extra time when Perez found himself one-on-one with the Belgian again.
This time, Perez did get a quick shot away as he lifted the ball toward goal, but Courtois matched the effort with a strong right hand to turn the ball behind for a corner.
It was Madrid who on penalties, scoring all four of their spot-kicks with Courtois also excelling.
Madrid will face either Real Betis or Barcelona in Sunday’s final, who play on Thursday night, to defend their title.
Eurosport