MADRID — Barcelona will be looking to rebound from the first loss of the campaign after perhaps its poorest performance in more than four seasons when it plays winless Valencia in the Spanish league. Coach Tito Vilanova glossed over Barcelona's bad form in losing the Spanish Super Cup to Madrid Wednesday, and he will be banned for Sunday's match against Valencia at the Camp Nou. Barcelona can ill-afford a repeat against Valencia team eager to turn its uneven start around. Real Madrid claimed its first Spanish Super Cup in four years and a morale-boosting success against their arch-rivals when Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo struck in a 2-1 win against 10-man Barcelona Wednesday. The victory over error-prone Barca, which had Adriano sent off in the 28th minute, meant the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate after the Catalans won last week's first leg 3-2 at the Nou Camp and Real took the trophy on the away goals rule. It was a much-needed success for Jose Mourinho's side after it failed to win in its opening three matches of the season and crashed to a shock 2-1 defeat at city rival Getafe in La Liga Sunday. Mourinho had warned his players he wanted a vast improvement and they responded with two goals inside 20 minutes thanks to poor Barca defending that allowed first Higuain on 11 minutes and Ronaldo eight minutes later to burst free and score. Lionel Messi gave Barca a chance of pulling off an unlikely comeback when he curled in a spectacular free kick from 30 meters moments before the break. Pedro drew a brilliant save from Iker Casillas and both sides had chances in a frenetic ending but Real held firm to end Barca's three-year grip on the trophy. The second-leg victory also broke Barca's seven-match unbeaten streak at the Bernabeu and was Real's first home win in a “Clasico” since May 2008. “At the Nou Camp they had a chance for a fourth goal and in the next move we scored the one that kept us in with a chance,” Casillas said in an interview with Spanish television. “We dominated the first half and the match in general, although we had to suffer a bit at the end,” he added. “We were on a poor run and we owed this to the fans. We haven't started the season well but some days you have good luck and some you don't.” Real's opening goal came when Javier Mascherano, playing his 100th game for Barca, failed to clear a long ball from Pepe and Higuain raced clear and fired a shot under Victor Valdes. Mascherano's central defensive partner Gerard Pique was then at fault for Real's second. Ronaldo beat the Spain international to the ball and although the Portuguese forward's chance appeared to have passed as the defense regrouped he loosed off a shot that flew high into the net off Valdes. Barca was down to 10 men just under 10 minutes later when Adriano hauled Ronaldo down as he homed in on goal and the Brazilian was deservedly shown a straight red card. World Player of the Year Messi lifted Barca with his 45th-minute stunner, leaving Spain captain Casillas flailing at thin air as the ball rocketed past him into the net. The goal put the Argentina international level with former Real striker Raul on 15 goals in “Clasicos” and three short of the record held by Real great Alfredo Di Stefano. Chelsea to face Juventus in Champions League group Defending champion Chelsea will take on Juventus, while Real Madrid will face Manchester City in this season's Champions League group stage. Thursday's draw pitched the holder against a Juventus side that stormed to the Serie A title and was unbeaten in all competitions last season apart from the Italian Cup final. Group E also includes Shakhtar Donetsk and Champions League debutant Nordsjaelland of Denmark. Nine-time winner Madrid has been handed the toughest draw — with three league champion in Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax in Group D. The Spanish champion beat Ajax 3-0 both home and away in last season's competition. Bayern Munich, last season's runner-up, is in Group F with Valencia — which it beat on penalties in the 2011 final — as well as Lille and BATE Borisov. Four-time winner Barcelona faces Benfica, Spartak Moscow and Celtic. Manchester United, which failed to clear the group stage last season, also has a relatively weak group with Braga, Galatasaray and Cluj. Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain returns to the Champions League after an eight-year absence and will play Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Zagreb. French champion Montpellier makes its debut in the competition against Arsenal, Schalke and Olympiakos. Arsenal beat Olympiakos 2-1 at the same stage last season before losing the final group game 3-1. It also met the Greek team in 2009-2010. Seven-time winner AC Milan is in a group with Zenit St. Petersburg, Anderlecht and Malaga — another Champions League debutant. Everton blanks Leyton Orient Premier League Everton brushed aside Leyton Orient 5-0 in their League Cup second-round tie at Goodison Park Wednesday. David Moyes's in-form team led 4-0 at halftime courtesy of a Kevin Mirallas double and were never threatened by the League One side. — Agencies
