BARCELONA HAMMERED rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in a wild Spanish Super Cup Clasico final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the first trophy of the Hansi Flick era.
Kylian Mbappe put Madrid ahead but a dominant Barcelona hit five in response before their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the second half.
Madrid were hoping to avenge their 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona in October’s La Liga Clasico but instead were left battered and bruised by their arch-rivals in Jeddah.
After Mbappe’s opener, Lamine Yamal levelled and Robert Lewandowski sent Barcelona ahead from the penalty spot, with Raphinha bagging a brace and Alejandro Balde also on target.
Rodrygo Goes pulled one back for Madrid with a free-kick, but they could not capitalise further on their numerical advantage in a humiliating defeat for the European champions.
“It’s really nice, it had been a season since we won a trophy, it’s always special and on top of that in a Clasico against Real Madrid,” Barcelona defender Jules Kounde told Movistar.
“We had a lot of calm and patience, knowing that if we applied the plan we would win.
“I’m very proud and happy with the team… right after the red card, we got together and said we were going to have to suffer, and sit back, but we had a big advantage and this can’t escape us.”
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said his team’s poor defending was the main reason for the heavy defeat.
“We defended badly and that cost us the game — they found their goals quite easily,” Ancelotti told Movistar.
“We’re sad, like all our fans, it’s disappointing and we don’t have to hide that… we have to look forward, there’s nothing else we can do.”
Both coaches opted to maintain the same line-ups they started with in the semi-finals.
Yamal issued Madrid an early warning with a curling effort from the right which forced Thibaut Courtois into a fine save.
The Belgian goalkeeper also produced a strong stop to keep a Raphinha header at bay after the Brazilian evaded Lucas Vazquez with ease.
Despite Barcelona’s opening salvo, it was Real Madrid who took the lead in the fifth minute with Mbappe’s brilliant goal on the counter-attack.
The French forward, frustrated numerous times by the offside flag in the league defeat by the Catalans, broke loose on the halfway line after Vinicius won the ball back and, after bursting into the area, clipped past Szczesny.
It took a stunning individual goal from 17-year-old Yamal to level the scoreline, with the Spanish winger cutting in from the right before stroking home a low finish inside the near post in a similar style to former Barca great Lionel Messi, to whom he is often compared.
- Szczesny red card -
Barcelona kept pushing and moved ahead through Lewandowski’s penalty after Eduardo Camavinga arrived late and carelessly clattered Gavi.
Raphinha soon added Barcelona’s third with a header from Kounde’s cross from deep and they grabbed their fourth before half-time on the break.
Yamal and Raphinha combined and the latter slipped in Balde, who slotted past Courtois.
Barcelona continued in the same vein after the break and Raphinha netted the fifth with a neat dribble and finish after Marc Casado played him in.
The Catalans were reduced to 10 men when Mbappe sped in at the other end, rounding goalkeeper Szczesny, who brought him down outside the area and after a VAR review was dismissed.
Rodrygo, who earlier hit the post, rifled home the free-kick past Szczesny’s replacement Inaki Pena.
Mbappe brilliantly teed up Jude Bellingham but the England international was denied by a superb Kounde challenge in stoppage time.
The French forward also came close to scoring again himself on a fine individual display but Pena tipped away his effort.
Advertisement
“He was the best (Madrid player),” said Ancelotti, noting an improvement after Mbappe’s hit-and-miss start to life at the club following his switch from Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona brought on midfielder Dani Olmo for his first appearance since he was registered to play for the club on a temporary basis, a controversial issue which overshadowed the semi-finals earlier in the week.
However, their five-star display offered a host of other talking points as Barca won a record-extending 15th Spanish Super Cup.
Meanwhile, Julian Alvarez’s strike helped Atletico Madrid move top of La Liga with 1-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday.
Diego Simeone’s side climbed one point clear of champions Real Madrid and six ahead of third-placed Barcelona at the halfway mark in the Spanish league season.
Atletico claimed a 14th consecutive victory across all competitions, a new club record, and have lost just one top-flight game all season.
It was their eighth straight league win and a fifth clean sheet from those matches, with Simeone’s side back to their miserly best in defence.
Napoli players celebrate. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Elsewhere, Napoli extended their lead at the top of Serie A to four points on Sunday after beating lowly Verona 2-0 as champions Inter Milan moved second with a 1-0 success at Venezia.
An early own goal from Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s second-half rocket ensured that Napoli took advantage of Atalanta being held to a goalless draw at Udinese on Saturday and strengthened their bid for a second league title in three seasons.
Napoli’s lead isn’t as imposing as it looks, however, as Inter have two games in hand, the first of which is against Bologna at the San Siro on Wednesday.
Atalanta, who are a further point back in third, also have an extra fixture to play due to their participation in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia and host Juventus on Tuesday before Napoli travel to Bergamo for a huge clash next weekend.
“There’s been a big change in the team since the summer… I can see the machinery starting to work better and better and that’s a point of pride for me and the boys,” said Napoli coach Antonio Conte.
Unfortunate Montipo could do nothing about giving Napoli the lead in the fifth minute as Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s shot crashed out off the post, hit his back and then crept over the line.
It was partly down to Montipo that Napoli didn’t win by more, as the 28-year-old made a couple of fine stops on Scott McTominay and David Neres in an attacking barrage from the hosts at the start of the second half, while defender Amir Rrahmani also had a header cleared off the line.
Napoli are a different team to the one hammered 3-0 by Verona on the opening day of the season, even without star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who has asked the club to be sold amid reports of a €80-million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
Neres is usually Matteo Politano’s replacement on the right wing but proved to be a decent substitute for the Georgian on the other flank, helping Napoli stay on the front foot and ahead of the chasing pack.
- Inter on a roll -
Matteo Darmian shot injury-hit Inter to victory on the Venetian Lagoon with the only goal of the game in the 16th minute.
Italy defender Darmian tapped home his second goal of the season on the rebound after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was kept out by Venezia goalkeeper and Inter loanee Filip Stankovic.
“We work on getting up the pitch and it doesn’t matter who gets there. I found myself in front of goal, and thankfully I managed to score and help the team win,” said Darmian.
Inter have had problems closing out matches this season and Sunday’s narrow win, their sixth on the bounce in Serie A, came after Simone Inzaghi’s side threw away a two-goal lead in the Italian Super Cup final against AC Milan.
The away side dominated and should have won by more despite having Italy defender Francesco Acerbi and key midfielders Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out injured, with Marcus Thuram, Benjamin Pavard and Federico Dimarco all starting on the bench.
But Stankovic, the son of Inter legend Dejan, was excellent between the sticks and his brilliant save from Davide Frattesi in the 67th minute almost paid off moments later when the post denied USA midfielder Gianluca Busio and allowed Inter to escape with all three points.
“It wasn’t easy after losing the final the way we did, but the boys were brilliant because we came here tired with a host of players out and we played really well,” said Inzaghi.
Earlier, Genoa continued their revival under Patrick Vieira with their first home win of the season, 1-0 over relegation rivals Parma, in front of new majority shareholder Dan Sucu.
Genoa are up to 11th on 23 points, a point behind Roma who snatched a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Bologna thanks to a controversial Artem Dovbyk penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
16 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Barcelona thrash Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia to win Super Cup
Updated at 22.02
BARCELONA HAMMERED rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in a wild Spanish Super Cup Clasico final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the first trophy of the Hansi Flick era.
Kylian Mbappe put Madrid ahead but a dominant Barcelona hit five in response before their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the second half.
Madrid were hoping to avenge their 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona in October’s La Liga Clasico but instead were left battered and bruised by their arch-rivals in Jeddah.
After Mbappe’s opener, Lamine Yamal levelled and Robert Lewandowski sent Barcelona ahead from the penalty spot, with Raphinha bagging a brace and Alejandro Balde also on target.
Rodrygo Goes pulled one back for Madrid with a free-kick, but they could not capitalise further on their numerical advantage in a humiliating defeat for the European champions.
“It’s really nice, it had been a season since we won a trophy, it’s always special and on top of that in a Clasico against Real Madrid,” Barcelona defender Jules Kounde told Movistar.
“We had a lot of calm and patience, knowing that if we applied the plan we would win.
“I’m very proud and happy with the team… right after the red card, we got together and said we were going to have to suffer, and sit back, but we had a big advantage and this can’t escape us.”
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said his team’s poor defending was the main reason for the heavy defeat.
“We defended badly and that cost us the game — they found their goals quite easily,” Ancelotti told Movistar.
“We’re sad, like all our fans, it’s disappointing and we don’t have to hide that… we have to look forward, there’s nothing else we can do.”
Both coaches opted to maintain the same line-ups they started with in the semi-finals.
Yamal issued Madrid an early warning with a curling effort from the right which forced Thibaut Courtois into a fine save.
The Belgian goalkeeper also produced a strong stop to keep a Raphinha header at bay after the Brazilian evaded Lucas Vazquez with ease.
Despite Barcelona’s opening salvo, it was Real Madrid who took the lead in the fifth minute with Mbappe’s brilliant goal on the counter-attack.
The French forward, frustrated numerous times by the offside flag in the league defeat by the Catalans, broke loose on the halfway line after Vinicius won the ball back and, after bursting into the area, clipped past Szczesny.
It took a stunning individual goal from 17-year-old Yamal to level the scoreline, with the Spanish winger cutting in from the right before stroking home a low finish inside the near post in a similar style to former Barca great Lionel Messi, to whom he is often compared.
- Szczesny red card -
Barcelona kept pushing and moved ahead through Lewandowski’s penalty after Eduardo Camavinga arrived late and carelessly clattered Gavi.
Raphinha soon added Barcelona’s third with a header from Kounde’s cross from deep and they grabbed their fourth before half-time on the break.
Yamal and Raphinha combined and the latter slipped in Balde, who slotted past Courtois.
Barcelona continued in the same vein after the break and Raphinha netted the fifth with a neat dribble and finish after Marc Casado played him in.
The Catalans were reduced to 10 men when Mbappe sped in at the other end, rounding goalkeeper Szczesny, who brought him down outside the area and after a VAR review was dismissed.
Rodrygo, who earlier hit the post, rifled home the free-kick past Szczesny’s replacement Inaki Pena.
Mbappe brilliantly teed up Jude Bellingham but the England international was denied by a superb Kounde challenge in stoppage time.
The French forward also came close to scoring again himself on a fine individual display but Pena tipped away his effort.
“He was the best (Madrid player),” said Ancelotti, noting an improvement after Mbappe’s hit-and-miss start to life at the club following his switch from Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona brought on midfielder Dani Olmo for his first appearance since he was registered to play for the club on a temporary basis, a controversial issue which overshadowed the semi-finals earlier in the week.
However, their five-star display offered a host of other talking points as Barca won a record-extending 15th Spanish Super Cup.
Meanwhile, Julian Alvarez’s strike helped Atletico Madrid move top of La Liga with 1-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday.
Diego Simeone’s side climbed one point clear of champions Real Madrid and six ahead of third-placed Barcelona at the halfway mark in the Spanish league season.
Atletico claimed a 14th consecutive victory across all competitions, a new club record, and have lost just one top-flight game all season.
It was their eighth straight league win and a fifth clean sheet from those matches, with Simeone’s side back to their miserly best in defence.
Elsewhere, Napoli extended their lead at the top of Serie A to four points on Sunday after beating lowly Verona 2-0 as champions Inter Milan moved second with a 1-0 success at Venezia.
An early own goal from Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s second-half rocket ensured that Napoli took advantage of Atalanta being held to a goalless draw at Udinese on Saturday and strengthened their bid for a second league title in three seasons.
Napoli’s lead isn’t as imposing as it looks, however, as Inter have two games in hand, the first of which is against Bologna at the San Siro on Wednesday.
Atalanta, who are a further point back in third, also have an extra fixture to play due to their participation in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia and host Juventus on Tuesday before Napoli travel to Bergamo for a huge clash next weekend.
“There’s been a big change in the team since the summer… I can see the machinery starting to work better and better and that’s a point of pride for me and the boys,” said Napoli coach Antonio Conte.
Unfortunate Montipo could do nothing about giving Napoli the lead in the fifth minute as Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s shot crashed out off the post, hit his back and then crept over the line.
It was partly down to Montipo that Napoli didn’t win by more, as the 28-year-old made a couple of fine stops on Scott McTominay and David Neres in an attacking barrage from the hosts at the start of the second half, while defender Amir Rrahmani also had a header cleared off the line.
Napoli are a different team to the one hammered 3-0 by Verona on the opening day of the season, even without star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who has asked the club to be sold amid reports of a €80-million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
Neres is usually Matteo Politano’s replacement on the right wing but proved to be a decent substitute for the Georgian on the other flank, helping Napoli stay on the front foot and ahead of the chasing pack.
- Inter on a roll -
Matteo Darmian shot injury-hit Inter to victory on the Venetian Lagoon with the only goal of the game in the 16th minute.
Italy defender Darmian tapped home his second goal of the season on the rebound after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was kept out by Venezia goalkeeper and Inter loanee Filip Stankovic.
“We work on getting up the pitch and it doesn’t matter who gets there. I found myself in front of goal, and thankfully I managed to score and help the team win,” said Darmian.
Inter have had problems closing out matches this season and Sunday’s narrow win, their sixth on the bounce in Serie A, came after Simone Inzaghi’s side threw away a two-goal lead in the Italian Super Cup final against AC Milan.
The away side dominated and should have won by more despite having Italy defender Francesco Acerbi and key midfielders Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out injured, with Marcus Thuram, Benjamin Pavard and Federico Dimarco all starting on the bench.
But Stankovic, the son of Inter legend Dejan, was excellent between the sticks and his brilliant save from Davide Frattesi in the 67th minute almost paid off moments later when the post denied USA midfielder Gianluca Busio and allowed Inter to escape with all three points.
“It wasn’t easy after losing the final the way we did, but the boys were brilliant because we came here tired with a host of players out and we played really well,” said Inzaghi.
Earlier, Genoa continued their revival under Patrick Vieira with their first home win of the season, 1-0 over relegation rivals Parma, in front of new majority shareholder Dan Sucu.
Genoa are up to 11th on 23 points, a point behind Roma who snatched a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Bologna thanks to a controversial Artem Dovbyk penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
– © AFP 2025
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Jeddah kylian mbappe Saudi Arabia Soccer Barcelona Real Madrid too good