Barca beat Real to win Spanish Super Cup

Coach Carlo Ancelotti said Real had learned many lessons from the 0-4 loss to Barca in La Liga in October 2024. But in reality, Real did not have much difference in the El Clasico match at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the evening of January 12.

After Mbappe scored a superb solo goal to open the scoring, Barca's attack showed off its strength by scoring five goals in a row. Real only scored one more goal after goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off and continued to lose heavily to their arch-rivals.

The 5-2 victory helped Barca extend their record to 15 Spanish Super Cup wins. Real followed with 13, then Bilbao and Deportivo with three wins. This is also the second time Barca has won the title since the tournament changed its format, after beating Real to win the championship in 2023.

Barca have scored nine goals in their last two games against Real, more than they have scored in their previous six El Clasicos in all competitions. This is also the first time in history that Barca have scored at least four goals in two consecutive El Clasicos in all competitions. Real achieved this feat in 1963, when they beat Barca 5-1 and 4-0 respectively.

At King Abdullah Sports City yesterday, Barca started the game better when Lamine Yamal and Raphinha continuously fired at Real's goal in the first four minutes, but were both blocked by Thibaut Courtois. In the corner kick situation that followed, Barca lost the ball and let Real score. Receiving a pass from Vinicius, Mbappe drove straight from home field to the opponent's penalty area and then shot diagonally past Szczesny.

The French forward became the first Real player to score in their first three finals in all competitions since the 2013-14 season. Previously, Mbappe scored in both the 2-0 win over Atalanta to win the European Super Cup and the 3-0 win over Pachuca in the Intercontinental Cup final. This time around, there was no such scenario.

In the 22nd minute, Robert Lewandowski made a one-touch pass for Yamal to break free, dribble across the goal and shoot diagonally. The ball went lightly but dangerously, making Courtois fly as far as he could but still couldn't block it.

10 minutes later, VAR intervened, determining that Eduardo Camavinga had kicked Gavi in ​​the thigh in the penalty area and awarded Barca a penalty. On the 11m mark, Lewandowski shot hard to the right corner, making Courtois guess the right direction but still could not touch the ball.

Then it was the turn of the remaining Barca star, Raphinha, to speak up. In the 39th minute, Jules Kounde passed the ball from the right wing for the Brazilian striker to head the ball into Real's net. In the 48th minute, Raphinha continued to shine with a sprint from midfield into the penalty area and then turned to his left foot to score a cross-corner goal. In between the two goals, Raphinha also created an assist for his junior Alejandro Balde to run up and score a cross-corner goal past Courtois in the 10th minute of injury time of the first half.

Real had a glimmer of hope in the 55th minute, when Mbappe broke free and went down after colliding with Szczesny outside the box. Initially, the referee did not blow the whistle and even booked Vinicius for overreacting. But after going to the sidelines to review the footage, he showed Szczesny a straight red card.

From this free kick, Rodrygo fired a powerful shot into the far corner, conceding Inaki Pena just seconds after coming on. The Brazilian striker scored his seventh goal in all competitions this season, but could not help Real come back.