Barcelona rallied from a spectacular opening goal by Kylian Mbappe and a 56th-minute dismissal of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to crush Real Madrid and win the Spanish Super Cup at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
Madrid forward Mbappe charged almost half the length of the pitch to score his first goal in the game known as El Clasico, but Lamine Yamal equalized 17 minutes later, pouncing on Robert Lewandowski’s clever first pass and coolly slotting in after entering the box.
Lewandowski converted a penalty, Rafinha buried an emphatic header from Jules Conte’s cross and Alejandro Balde completed a brilliant counter-attack as Hansi Flick’s side raced into a 4-1 half-time lead, with the Brazilian winger firing again three minutes later the rest.
When Szczesny was shown a straight red card for denying Mbappe a clear goal-scoring opportunity, midfielder Gavi made his way through for Inaki Pena – who was dropped ahead of Barca’s semi-final late on.
Pena barely managed to settle before Rodrigo responded for Madrid with a superb free-kick. It proved to be only modest consolation as the reigning European champions’ five-match winning streak came to an end and Barca took stylish revenge for their 4-1 defeat in last season’s final.
The first half in one picture. #ElClásico pic.twitter.com/DVH74c22CX
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 12, 2025
Barcelona storm for Spanish Super Cup glory
Barcelona have had an extremely poor run against Spanish opposition since they won 4-0 at Madrid in La Liga on October 26 and beat Espanyol 3-1 at home a week later.
Flick’s side were top of the table at that point in his first season in charge, but four defeats and one win in seven league games made such results potentially decisive for his players’ confidence.
That they bounced back from Mbappe’s dazzling run and first-half trickery made it all the more impressive, and their depleted runs didn’t matter much thanks to the four-goal cushion they had built up thanks to Balde’s goal 10 minutes from time. addition of the first half.
In his second game back from injury after scoring in Wednesday’s 2-0 semi-final win over Athletic Bilbao, Yamal collected a stray pass near the edge of the penalty area and found Rafinha as part of a full-length move. of the field and ended with Balde finding the net.
🔆 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oNI37RtVUZ
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 12, 2025
Matches Madrid, Barcelona
Madrid, who beat Mallorca 3-0 in their semi-final, are five points clear of second-placed Barcelona. The Leaguewith leading Atletico Madrid one point ahead.
There is now a quick turnaround for both teams after their trips to Saudi Arabia for the deciding Super Cup matches, starting when Barca host Real Betis in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday (8.30pm GMT ).
Madrid are at home to Celta Vigo a day later (8.30pm), with 14th-placed Las Palmas hosting in the league on Sunday (3.15pm).
On Saturday (8pm), Barcelona will aim for their first league win since December 3 when they travel to 15th-placed Getafe, who have scored the joint-fewest goals in the division.
