Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't needed.
On Wednesday, in yet another installment of El Clasico, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to claim a 5-1 win on aggregate and win the Supercopa de Espana for the 10th time. The game was played without Ronaldo, as an appeal of the Portuguese virtuoso's fifth-match ban - the result of pushing the referee in the first leg - was rejected by the Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol's Comite de Apelacion.
Marco Asensio, who replaced Gareth Bale in Real Madrid's starting lineup, was the one to open the scoring, as the Spanish attacker produced a fantastic shot in the fourth minute that left Marc-Andre ter Stegen with no chance. Barcelona could do nothing to stop Los Blancos as the first half wore on, and the capital club scored again in the 38th minute, when Karim Benzema shook off Samuel Umtiti and used two touches to beat the German 'keeper.
A pitiful first half for Barcelona was followed by a second half in which Gerard Pique was taunted by Real Madrid's supporters. As the Catalan defender was replaced by Nelson Semedo, fans chanted: "Se queda, se queda." The chant was in reference to a tweet that included a photo of Neymar, published before the Brazilian phenom joined Paris Saint-Germain.
Speaking of PSG, Les Parisiens didn't hesitate to add a photo of Neymar on Twitter during the Supercopa de Espana's second leg.
Real Madrid won the Supercopa de Espana in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2008, and 2012.