Real Madrid humiliated FC Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup (4-1) to win their 13th title in the competition. On Saudi soil, Vinicius Junior played a real trick on Barcelona’s best enemy with a hat-trick scored in the first half.
3 mins
Intractable, Real Madrid humiliated its great rival FC Barcelona 4-1 on Sunday in Riyadh to win the Spanish Super Cup thanks to a hat-trick from Vinicius Junior in forty minutes, plunging Barça a little further into doubt. The Merengues thus take their revenge on last year’s final and will bring back a 13th edition of this trophy in the windows of the club museum, already well stocked.
This first trophy of the year rewards an almost perfect first part of the season for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, now co-record holder for the number of titles won on the Real bench with Zinédine Zidane (11). The Madrilenians also bring their enemies back to the reality on the ground: Barça is missing too many things to compete with the big guys.
Because if Xavi wanted before the match a “ click », he finally witnessed a shipwreck. His men could not have had a worse start, Madrid perfectly exploiting the defensive generosity which seriously complicated the season of the reigning Spanish champion (3rd in Liga, seven points behind Real, eight behind Girona).
Vinicius sinks Barça
The Barcelona defense, positioned very high in an asymmetrical 3-4-3 pattern that was far too crumbly, completely failed twice, only to find itself trailing 2-0 in the 10th minute. First it was the French defender Jules Koundé, in difficulty since his return from injury in November, who let Vinicius Junior slip behind him, perfectly launched by Bellingham before winning his face-to-face against Peña (7th, 1-0). Again three minutes later, when Carvajal launched Rodrygo, the other Brazilian arrow, into the depths, the Madrid attack, altruistic, to offer the ball of the double to Vinicius (10th, 2-0).
Ferran Torres sounded the Barcelona revolt with a half-volley over the bar, before Lunin made a first save on Lewandowski’s rebound (12th). The Ukrainian goalkeeper, starting in place of Kepa, preserved the Merengues’ two-goal advantage by winning with his foot in front of Torres (28th), before breaking down a few moments later. Left alone at the entrance to the area, Robert Lewandowski gave his team hope with a volley from the right (33rd, 2-1), but he flew away after another error from the Blaugrana defense .
It was again Vinicius, caught by the neck by Araujo in the area, who allowed Real to regain a two-goal lead on a penalty (37th, 3-1), signing a resounding hat-trick in one half. Barcelona’s ordeal continued in the second half despite the entries of Joao Félix, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal, Jules Koundé despite himself pushing the ball back into the feet of Rodrygo, who added a fourth goal from close range (64th, 4-1).
Faulty on the 3-1 penalty, Araujo was finally sent off for another foul on Vinicius (71st). Peña then Koundé then prevented Brahim Diaz and Bellingham from scoring a “manita” (a victory with five goals scored), a sign of ultimate humiliation in Spain.