In the end, even Real Madrid was too much to overcome. Barcelona claimed the final of the Spanish Super Cup with a 5-2 win over their fearsome foes in a crazy game on Sunday night.
Very similar to Last Classic in October, Barcelona scored four goals in a half. Hansi Flick’s rampant Catalans rallied that quartet before the half-time whistle at the Saudi Arabia-based showpiece, but Real Madrid did not go down without a fight.
Kylian Mbappe had opened the scoring before the Blaugrana attack and forced the dismissal of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny on the hour mark. Rodrygo reduced the deficit to three goals, but Barcelona held on to win a trophy that briefly distracted the controversy that has surrounded the club of late
How the game developed
Barcelona had been warned. “Madrid is one of the best teams in the world in transition,” stressed Flick before kick-off.
Kylian Mbappé He needed less than five minutes to justify the fears of the Barcelona manager, who led a long-range counter-attack that started from a corner defended by Real Madrid. Vinicius Junior robbed Marc Casado on the edge of his own team’s box and parried Mbappé. The Frenchman did everything but leave scorch marks on the turf as he tackled, twisting Alejandro Balde backwards before stabbing past Szczesny.
Despite the advance concession, Barcelona he would not be deterred, taking control of possession and chasing the ball after every turnover. Lamine Yamal, so often the source of offensive inspiration for the Catalans, teased Flick’s lateral level with an impossibly delicate finish. Inside the box from the right wing, the Barcelona teenage sensation fooled Thibaut Courtois with a delicate backhand which trickled into the bottom corner.
Played against the backdrop of a steady low hum from the majority Real Madrid– Crowd leaning in Saudi Arabia, there was a roar of disapproval when the referee pointed to the penalty spot in the 36th minute. After a review at the side of the pitch, Jesús Gil Manzano accepted that the leg hanging from Eduardo Camavinga had been enough for Gavi to fall. Robert Lewandowski made no mistake from 12 yards.
Raphinha doubled Barcelona’s lead three minutes into the attack. The Brazilian dived into the yawning chasm inside Madrid’s makeshift backline and fired a powerful header past Courtois to make it 3-1.
The epic first half stretched out to around an hour when nine minutes of stoppage time were reached. With the last blow of the never-ending half, Madrid had a short corner intercepted by Yamal. The winger pushed away fellow goalscorer Raphinha on a blistering counter-attack that Alejandro Balde, advancing from the left, finished off with a drilled finish into the bottom corner.
Carlo Ancelotti He tried to stem the bleeding with the half-time introduction of Dani Ceballos, but the Spaniard proved helpless as Raphinha added a fifth for Barcelona three minutes from the restart.
Just as Flick’s side appeared to be sailing towards another Clasico upset, their own flaws were laid bare. Mbappe burst behind that infamously high backline and slotted the ball away from Szczesny. Barcelona’s secondary goalkeeper hacked the Frenchman and was dismissed after a VAR review. Rodrygo headed the resulting free-kick into the top corner, ensuring that Inaki Pena’s first job as substitute goalkeeper was to retrieve the ball from his net.
The pace of a contest that did not close and crashed violently from one end of the pitch to the other late on began to wane in the final 20 minutes. Barcelona’s ten men went down more begrudgingly, thwarting a Madrid worn down by a five-goal blitz either side of half-time.
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The Line, Saudi Arabia’s grand conception of a single city stretching 170km, could have been built entirely in the space between Aurelien Tchouameni and Lucas Vázquez when Barcelona scored the third of the night
For all the glitz and glamor of Real Madrid’s attack, Raphinha’s free header was a powerful reminder that half of the team’s back on Sunday night consisted of a defensive midfielder alongside ‘an aged extremity.
Tchouameni appeared to be towing an invisible caravan when he tried to chase down Raphinha at the start of the second half, getting nowhere for the Barcelona vice-captain who quickly made it 5-1. In the ensuing stoppage of play, Ancelotti brought Vázquez off for Raul Asencio, a youngster making his first Clásico appearance but at least familiar with the demands of playing back four.
Ancelotti has been the engine of Madrid drive defensive recruits in January, while the club intends to save for a summer party. The Italian’s urgency will not have been stifled by a disastrous defensive display.
Raphinha sat out last year’s Supercopa final against Real Madrid, watching his teammates thrash 4-1 while enduring the many injuries that were blighting his Barcelona career. Fast forward 12 months, and there was no way the Brazilian was going to miss Sunday’s show.
In a match that included four players who finished in the eight best of the Ballon d’Or 2024Raphinha, a player who wasn’t even nominated for the prestigious individual award, outshone everyone else on the pitch.
Blessed with a tank that never runs out and a mind as sharp as his turn of pace, Barcelona’s rejuvenated vice-captain is enjoying the campaign of his career. Two goals and an assist in Sunday’s final take him to 30 goals in 27 appearances this season.
Mbappe was framed as the of laughter of the first classic of the season. The goalless striker not only failed to find the back of the net but was caught offside on eight occasions. Only once did he force Sunday to raise the assistant flag.
The Frenchman, who opened the scoring with the kind of ruthless finishing that eluded him for much of the first half of the season, was initially ruled offside when brought down by Szczesny after the break. However, after a review, the semi-automated technology claimed Mbappe and led to an early rain for Barcelona’s third-choice goalkeeper.
Even in second-half stoppage time, with Vinicius watching from the bench and Ancelotti retiring his number nine for the 90, Mbappe deftly pirouetted above a blur of blue and red before down a wayward Bellingham in the box.
While the overall result is the one negative that can never be ignored, Mbappe can take many positives from his own display.
Barcelona may have been the team that launched the huge Super Cup trophy into the Jeddah night air, but it was Atlético Madrid who emerged as the real victors this weekend.
Sunday’s final was very exciting especially because both sides have defensive flaws, Barcelona very much included. Madrid could have conceded five goals, but the Catalans conceded more shots, most of which came when they had numerical parity.
Diego Simeone’s Atlético saw chaos unfold after getting past Osasuna on domestic duty. This 1-0 win represented a 14th consecutive victory – a new club record – and took Atlético to Top of the League.
Simeone’s capital side only have a one-point cushion over their city rivals – Barcelona are six points behind in third place and the three teams have played 19 games – but Atlético have with the best defensive record of any club in Europe’s top five leagues, let alone. Spain
