German goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen saved two penalty kicks and led his team Barcelona to the Spanish Super Cup final by defeating Real Betis on penalties 4-2 after they tied 2-2 in the original and extra time Thursday at King Fahd Stadium in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and hit A date with arch-rivals Real Madrid in the "El Clasico" match.
Barcelona owes its qualification to Ter Stegen, who climbed between the three woods and stood as an impenetrable dam in front of Betis attacks during the match, before confronting the kicks of Juanmi Jimenez and the Portuguese William Carvalho during the penalty shootout scenario.
He scored for Barcelona, who advanced twice, his Polish striker Robert Lewandowski (40) and young substitute Ansu Fati (93), and Betis, who equalized twice his French playmaker Nabil Fekir (77) and his substitute Lorenzo Moron (101). Real had reached the final by defeating Valencia on penalties 4-3 after the end of the original and extra time in a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
Barcelona pressed early to score the first goal, and I think that he succeeded in his goal after a cross from Brazilian Rafinha inside the area, which was followed by “on the fly” Pedri, and Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo failed to block it, but the video assistant referee “VAR” indicated a case of offside on the pass ( 23).
And goalkeeper Ter Stegen saved his team from an accomplished goal, after he removed the header of Argentine defender German Pezzila, following a corner executed by Frenchman Nabil Fekir (31), before passing after 4 minutes Brazilian Luiz Enrique from the right side, a ball that passed in front of Borja Iglesias under pressure from Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo. To Rodri Sanchez to remove it from the front of the latter, captain Sergio Roberto.
In the first serious attempt by the striker, Lewandowski managed to open the scoring after a solo effort on the left side of the Frenchman Osman Dembele, who bypassed Aitor Roibal and passed a ball inside the area, which the Polish hit, collided with Italian defender Luis Felipe and returned to him to deposit it into the net (40).
Ter Stegen worked in two waves, starting after a shot from Sanchez, which he blocked with his fists, so that the ball returned to Enrique inside the area, so that the German intervened this time with his right fist (45). In the second half, Dembele continued his brilliance, threatening Bravo's goal with a shot from his right foot (62), before the French international came out and Ferran Torres entered instead.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez also brought out the Dutch midfielder, Frankie de Jong, and inserted veteran Sergio Busquets, who played his 700th match in the Blaugrana shirt, to enter the three positions as the players with the most matches in the club’s history, behind Argentine Lionel Messi (778) and Xavi (767).
Betis equalized after a pass from Enrique inside the area to Fekir, who hit the ground with his left foot, deceiving goalkeeper Ter Stegen (77), before Lewandowski thought he had dealt the fatal blow with the second goal, but “VAR” indicated a case of offside on the passer Torres.
Ter Stegen intervened to preserve his team's chances by blocking Rodri Sanchez's shot (84), before leaving Ravinia after 3 minutes and entering Ansu Fati, who almost snatched the winning goal in the fatal time with a shot that Bravo blocked (90 + 2).
With the start of the additional first half, Fati scored the lead goal after a free kick and a header, followed by the substitute on the fly with his left foot and found Bravo's net (93). Fati raised his tally to 24 goals in 82 matches for Barcelona.
Moron, a poor substitute, equalized the score after a joint game inside the area, and the ball reached him after a shot from Enrique, who controlled it and hit it in turn with the heel of his foot, despite Araujo's harassment, deceiving the goalkeeper (101), before expelling Mexican substitute referee Andres Guardado in the 118th minute.
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