Karim Benzema converted an early penalty and Marco Asensio added a second-half insurance goal as Real Madrid beat Juventus 2-0 in a pre-season friendly in front of a 93,702 crowd at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti picked the starting line-up that will play the UEFA Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt. They produced the first victory of Real Madrid’s United States tour, after a 1-0 loss to Barcelona in Las Vegas and a 2-2 draw against Club America in San Francisco.
Spectators were still trickling into the stands when French star Benzema had a goal disallowed just eight seconds into the contest, Uruguay’s Federico Valverde’s through ball catching him offside.
Leonardo Bonucci hit the bar with a dipping free kick before Madrid took the lead midway through the first half.
Benzema opened the scoring with a penalty in the 19th, crisply firing into the bottom left corner after Juventus’ Danilo brought down fellow Brazilian Vinicius Junior with a sloppy move in the penalty area.
Ancelotti made just one change at the break, Antonio Rudiger replacing Militao.
David Alaba had a shot blocked, Mendy’s cross was palmed away by Perrin and Dani Carvajal saw an effort saved as Madrid dominated early in the second half.
Two minutes later, Benzema was among the departing players as Ancelotti made nine substitutions.
One of the substitutes, Asensio, made it 2-0, sweeping in Vallejo’s cross from the edge of the six-yard box after some smart footwork from another substitute, Eden Hazard, to make sure of the win.
