Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup by beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 on Sunday as Luka Modric, and a Karim Benzema penalty secured a comfortable victory in Saudi Arabia.

Modric's curling finish towards the end of the first half and Benzema's strike early in the second sealed the win for Madrid, who claimed their first trophy in Carlo Ancelotti's second spell as coach.

Athletic had beaten La Liga champions Atletico Madrid to reach the final but were well beaten this time at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by a slick, organized Real Madrid side that has now lost only once in 20 matches.

They had brief hope in the 87th minute when they were awarded a penalty and Eder Militao was sent off, but Raul Garcia missed the shot, and Madrid's win was safe.

Ancelotti's side face Elche on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey and Paris Saint-Germain next month in the last 16 of the Champions League. 

In La Liga, they are five points clear at the top of the table.

"It's an impulse, an impulse to keep going," said Ancelotti. "We don't have much time to think because another competition is coming."

Modric continued his brilliant form by scoring the opener, a goal that makes him the oldest goalscorer in Spanish Super Cup history at 36.

Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Marcelo came on for the last few minutes before lifting his 23rd trophy at Real Madrid, equaling the haul of Paco Gento as the most successful player in the club's history.

"He's one of the greats, a legend of this club," said Madrid president Florentino Perez.

Ancelotti now has five trophies as Real Madrid coach, adding a Spanish Super Cup to the Copa del Rey, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup he won during his first spell.

Elsewhere, Jurgen Klopp insisted Liverpool will not give up chasing Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after bouncing back to its winning ways to beat Brentford 3-0.

Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino scored the goals as the Reds coped without the absence of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Victory lifts Klopp's men up to second, within 11 points of the runaway leaders, but they also have a game in hand on City.

"We don't have to convince anybody outside (the club). People who are with us, they want to enjoy the ride," said Klopp. "This is not the situation to talk about a title race, 11 points with one game in hand. In a normal world (City win the league), but what is normal nowadays?"

Liverpool failed to take advantage of an extra man for over an hour as Thursday's League semifinal, first leg against Arsenal ended 0-0, sparking fears of how they will cope for the rest of the month without two of their main sources of goals.

And Klopp was happy to quieten the "noise" over the absence of Salah and Mane.

"We can cut off the public noise. We knew against Arsenal what was not right," Klopp said. "That a couple of world class players aren't here, we know that. We knew we didn't have to make a lot of it."

In Italy, Atalanta gave Inter Milan's Serie A title rivals a boost with a goalless draw which ends the champions' eight-match winning run and offers AC Milan the chance to claim the top spot.

A keenly-fought contest in Bergamo finished with a blank scoresheet despite each side creating a handful of golden scoring opportunities, with goalkeepers Juan Musso and Samir Handanovic excelling between their respective sticks.

Simone Inzaghi's Inter stays on top, but Milan, who are two points behind their local rivals in second, can take the summit with a win over Spezia at the San Siro on Monday evening.

Atalanta stay eight points back in fourth but can take huge credit from their display with a clutch of key players unavailable injured or with COVID-19 infections.

They are a point behind third-placed Napoli ahead of their match at Bologna on Monday, hoping to gain some ground on Inter, who like Atalanta will have played a game fewer come to the end of this round of fixtures.