Real Madrid successfully took revenge on FC Barcelona for last year’s defeat in the final and won the Supercopa for the 13th time in total. The outstanding man for the Whites was three-pointer Vinicius Junior
Real Madrid wanted revenge for the 3-1 defeat in last year’s Supercopa final. To achieve this, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti made two changes after the 5-3 n.V. win over Atletico Madrid in the semi-final. Lunin started in goal instead of Kepa and Kroos replaced Modric in the starting line-up.
Barcelona coach Xavi kept almost the same starting XI from the 2-0 win over CA Osasuna. Only the injured Raphinha had to be replaced. Pedri started in place of the Brazilian.
Barça’s backline twice thwarted
The game began with chances for both sides. First, Rodrygo failed to hit the ball properly (3rd) and two minutes later Ferran Torres had two chances to score. Barça were relatively high up the pitch with their final line, which proved to be twice the Catalans’ undoing: first, Koundé made a mistake, allowing Vinicius Junior to run clear and score the opener (8′), and just two minutes later it was Rodrygo who was on the run after a long ball and only had to cross for Vinicius Junior to score twice.
Real then pulled back, leaving the ball to the Catalans and relying on the two quick Brazilians up front to switch possession. However, Barça also had chances, with Ferran Torres first missing the crossbar (12′) and then twice from almost identical positions on the right (21′, 27′). In the 33rd minute, Lewandowski’s powerful volley gave the Blaugrana a deserved equalizer.
However, the one-goal deficit did not last long. Real started to attack more again and were awarded a penalty after Araujo was fouled by Vinicius Junior. The fouled player stepped up and scored his third goal of the game (39′). After that, the picture was similar to the previous one, with Real pulling back a little. Pedri had another chance to reduce the deficit almost on the stroke of half-time, but missed narrowly (45.+5).
Rodrygo with the preliminary decision – Araujo is sent off
After the break, the picture was unchanged compared to large parts of the first half, but Barça could hardly develop any danger in front of goal. However, because the defensive cover initially worked better, there were hardly any chances worth mentioning. Real almost increased the lead to 4:1 with their first chance after Koundé cleared a pass from Vinicius Junior straight to the feet of Rodrygo – 4:1 (64′). Barcelona were broken, at the latest when captain Araujo was sent off with a yellow card after a foul on Vinicius Junior (71′).
With Barça short-handed, they were unable to create anything going forward and the Whites even had a few more chances to score goal number five (73′, 79′). Only Joao Felix showed his technical finesse once again with his finish (80′). Real kept the ball moving in the final minutes and easily held on to their lead. Real successfully gained revenge for last year’s defeat in the final and celebrated Supercopa title number 13.
Neither team will have much time to take a deep breath. The round of 16 in the Copa del Rey is already scheduled for this week. Barcelona visit third-division side Unionistas Salamanca on Thursday (7.30pm), while Real Madrid host Atletico Madrid two hours later in a repeat of the Derbi madrileno.
