Super Cup Final: Barca Trounce Real Madrid 3 – 1

• Gavi shines as Benzema scores consolation goal

Coach Xavi Hernandez claimed his first trophy as FC Barcelona manager after his team convincingly romped to comfortable 3-1 victory over bitter rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday night.

Displaying obvious dominance in the match hosted by Saudi Arabia, the Spanish La Liga leaders took the lead early when 18-year-old Gavi fired past Keeper Thibaut Courtois from Robert Lewandowski’s pass.

Then it was Lewandowski’s turn to clinically make it two for the Catalan giants as he cleverly struck home from Gavi’s pass just before half time.

Inspirational Gavi got another assist in the second half as he set up Pedri, before Karim Benzema got a late consolation for the reigning La Liga champions.

The late goal from the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner proved a face saver for Real, who were unfortunately a distant second best throughout the encounter.

Los Blancos certainly have Keeper Courtois to thank because the Belgian international clearly prevented Barcelona from winning by an even bigger margin with a couple of brilliant saves

The former Chelsea goalkeeper was tested early when he turned Lewandowski’s sweeping effort onto the post and he also kept out Ousmane Dembele’s powerful strike.

But after Pedri got his side’s third midway through the second half with a tap-in there was never any doubt about the result as Barcelona won the Super Cup for the first time since 2018.

Real Madrid were just unable to handle the brilliance of Gavi who, alongside his two assists, became the youngest scorer in a Spanish Super Cup, with his goal surpassing the record of his current manager Xavi.

In October 2022, both sides had confronted each other in the first El Clasico meeting of the season, with Real Madrid easing to a 3-1 victory. Since then, Barcelona have since only gone from strength-to-strength and currently top La Liga, three points clear of Real, with this win extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games.

The Catalans’ dominance in this encounter brought back memories of their 4-0 win over Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu last season, which had been the highlight of Xavi’s time in charge, until now.

Having enjoyed great success as a player at Barca, Xavi returned in November 2021 and after a summer of heavy spending this emphatic victory is a sign his project is moving in the right direction.

For the records, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti suffered his first defeat in a final since 2014, with Los Blancos surrendering the trophy they earned last season to Barcelona, who have now won the Super Cup a record 14 times.

“We knew it was a chance we had to take, we have lived through an era of changes at the club and in the dressing room, and this will reinforce us to keep fighting for more titles.”

Commenting on their victory, Barcelona’s captain Sergio Busquets told Movistar; “You know how (Gavi) competes, he’s very young — most players at his age would be in the youth team — and he’s playing at an incredible level, giving assists, getting goals.

“He has a brilliant future ahead of him and a lot of room to improve. I hope he’s a player who marks an era at Barca.”

Xavi crucially deployed four central midfielders, with 18-year-old Gavi drifting inside off a nominal starting position on the left and frequently giving Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal the slip while Toni Kroos played as Madrid’s deepest midfielder with Aurelien Tchouameni out injured, and he was overrun. – With agency reports