Barcelona avenged their La Liga defeat to Real Madrid from last October with a thrilling 3-2 victory in the Spanish Super Cup final at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. The win made Barcelona the first club in 14 years to successfully defend the Super Cup title, underlining their dominance in El Clasico finals.
The match exploded into life late in the first half, with four of the five goals coming before the break, three of them during stoppage time. After a balanced opening, Barcelona took control midway through the half when Raphinha broke the deadlock with a low strike in the 36th minute.
Real Madrid responded dramatically in stoppage time through a stunning solo goal, but Barcelona immediately hit back. Robert Lewandowski calmly finished inside the box to restore Barca’s lead before chaos followed again.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇, 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕.
A goalmouth scramble from a corner saw Gonzalo García’s effort ricochet off the bar and post before crossing the line, sending both teams into halftime tied at 2-2.
Raphinha Decides El Clasico as Barcelona Make History
Barcelona regained control in the second half and found the decisive goal in the 73rd minute. Raphinha’s attempted shot deflected off defender Raúl Asensio and wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois, sealing the win.
Kylian Mbappé returned from injury as a substitute three minutes later, but Real Madrid failed to find an equaliser. Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García produced crucial late saves to preserve the lead.
The game turned tense in stoppage time when Frenkie de Jong was sent off for a foul on Mbappé. Despite the numerical advantage, Real Madrid could not capitalize.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕,” 𝒂 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆.
Barcelona lifted their 16th Spanish Super Cup, repeating last year’s triumph over Real Madrid and becoming the first side to retain the trophy since 2011.
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