- It’s Barca 5 vs Madrid 2
This was a match in which brilliant Brazilian forward, Raphinha acquitted himself as a Real Ballon d’Or contender inspiring a brutal Spanish Super Cup final romp while Lamine Yamal continues to look every inch Lionel Messi’s heir in the making.
Both Blaugrana’s superb wingers put on a magnificent display to help claim their first piece of silverware since 2023 at Los Blancos’ expense.
The Hansi Flick’s men ran rampant against Real Madrid for the second time this season, smashing their rivals 5-2 to win the Spanish Super Cup.
In true El Clasico fashion, there was barely a second to breathe from start to finish. It only took five minutes for Madrid to take the lead and it was that man Kylian Mbappe who sent the stands screaming with wild cheers for the vocal Real Madrid supporters.
Los Blancos broke away on the counter and Vinicius Junior threaded a pass through to the Frenchman, who dinked his effort over Wojciech Szczesny.
The goal was a shock to the system for Barca, who responded very quickly. Raphinha immediately fired a shot wide of Thibaut Courtois’ net and a few minutes later the Blaugrana had their equaliser thanks to a goal from Lamine Yamal that Lionel Messi would have been proud of.
The young Spaniard weaved through the Madrid defence and into the box before slotting the ball with precision into the bottom corner.
From there it was a disaster for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as the floodgates truly opened and Courtois had to pick the ball out of his net three more times before half-time.
Robert Lewandowski first converted from the spot after Eduardo Camavinga put in a clumsy tackle on Gavi in the box. Three minutes later, Raphinha had his goal, powerfully heading home from a pinpoint cross from Jules Kounde. And just seconds before the break, Madrid lost the ball from their own corner and Barca countered with perfection, Alejandro Balde the man to finish the move off and score their fourth.
The second half followed a similar electric pattern and it was 5-1 as Raphinha was at it again, using his pace to break through the Madrid line and finish in a cool fashion to the despair of their floundering opponents’ backline.
However, things did take an interesting turn when Szczesny was sent off after taking Mbappe out as the striker was through on goal. Rodrygo buried the subsequent free-kick in a moment that substitute goalkeeper Inaki Pena will not want to watch back.
Despite having the man advantage, Madrid never really looked threatening after Barca’s fifth goal, though. Seven goals, and still there was half an hour left, which is often an age for Madrid.
There was a wonderful Pena save from Mbappé, in the 96th minute. That though was the only real effort Madrid had mustered, a team which didn’t have a clear plan failing to take advantage against 10 men that certainly did have, and there was no comeback.
This Clásico was mad, but not that mad, and it belonged to Barcelona. Flick’s men were happy to see the game out and claim their first piece of silverware in nearly two years.
In the last 10 meetings between these two great rivals, there has been 35 goals and seven more in this year’s final of the Spanish Super Cup.
In October last year, Barca had put four past Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu and on Sunday they went one better on their way to an extraordinary 5-2 victory, 5,000km away in Jeddah.
On the victorious night, Barcelona played with two goalkeepers ending with a third, the injured captain Marc Andre ter Stegen, lifting the trophy.
