- It’s record 16th title for Barca
- As Madrid rue lost opportunity in 3-2 defeat
Brazilian international Raphinha scored twice and Robert Lewandowski also found the back of the net as FC Barcelona claimed a record-extending 16th Spanish Super Cup title defeating Real Madrid 3-2 in the second Clasico of the season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Interestingly, the match witnessed a feverish end to the first half with three stoppage-time goals scored before the break, two by Los Blancos and one by Barcelona.
As Raphinha remained relentless in his attacking forays, the Hansi Flick’s side were dominant on the way to securing a fifth victory in their last six meetings with Xabi Alonso’s side.
Confronting themselves for the fourth successive season in the Super Cup final, it was Real who had the first sniff at goal when Vinicius Jr broke Barcelona’s shaky offside trap, before shooting straight at Joan Garcia.
However, with Lamine Yamal and Pedri also dazzling in this breathless final between Spain’s two greatest clubs, the defending champions stepped up to enjoy the lion’s share of ball possession as expected.
Consequently, it was not long before Barca began turning the screw, with in-form Raphinha somehow firing wide after latching onto a stunning through ball from Lamine Yamal.
However, the Brazil star made amends just moments later when, from the same left-sided position inside the penalty area, he latched onto Fermin Lopez’s cute pass to steer the ball beyond Thibaut Courtois after 35 minutes.
Yet in the most magnificent, breathless, utterly mind-boggling end to the first half, Vinicius restored parity with an incredible solo effort, which saw him nutmeg Jules Kounde before firing past a helpless Garcia.
Robert Lewandowski then unwrapped his trademark finish once again, dinking the ball over Courtois to make it 2-1 in the fourth minute of additional time, only for Real to level the scoreline two minutes later when Gonzalo Garcia saw an effort strike the underside of the bar before dramatically bouncing over the line.
In a bitty second 45 minutes which brought plenty of stoppages as both teams grappled for control, Vinicius continued to cause Kounde all sorts of problems as he raced in behind to sting the palms of Garcia, before the Barcelona goalkeeper comfortably gobbled up Rodrygo’s tame effort on goal.
Similar to the first half pattern, Barcelona soon started to click in the final third, and they took the lead for the third time in a fortuitous manner when Raphinha, slipping as he got his shot away, received a stroke of luck as his effort deflected off Madrid defender Raul Asencio to fool Keeper Courtois in the 73rd minute.
And in a nail-biting end to the game for Barcelona, Frenkie de Jong was shown a straight red for a high challenge on substitute Kylian Mbappe who made his return to the team following a recent knee injury.
But redemption for Real faded when defender Alvaro Carreras missed a glorious chance to make it 3-3 by shooting straight at Garcia, as Barcelona held on to claim their first piece of silverware in 2025-26.
The victory was also the second successive Super Cup crown for the Blaugrana, now on course to repeat last season’s efforts by winning all three domestic trophies this term.
In last year’s final, Barcelona also overwhelmed Madrid 5-2 with Raphinha scoring twice on that occasion.
Speaking during a post-match chat with reporters, Raphinha said: “We gave all we had. I was emotional at the end of the match, we needed a win like this.”
It was the 16th Super Cup title for Barcelona, more than any other club in Spanish football history. Madrid occupy the second spot with 13 titles.
