Barcelona claimed a 3–2 victory over Real Madrid in a thrilling Spanish Super Cup final at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on Sunday evening.
The La Liga defending champions took the lead in the 36th minute through Raphinha, who picked out the far corner from inside the penalty area.
Thibaut Courtois then kept Madrid in the contest, producing two saves to deny Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal from extending Barcelona’s lead.
Vinicius levelled the scores for Madrid, as the forward received a pass from Gonzalo Garcia, beating his markers before smashing the ball home to end his 16-game goal drought.
Moments later, Robert Lewandowski restored Barcelona’s lead, receiving a line-breaking pass from Pedri and dinking the ball over the onrushing Courtois.
However, the Blaugrana were unable to carry the advantage into the break, as Garcia restored parity for Madrid with a brilliant finish to cap a frantic first half.
Shortly after the restart, goalkeeper Joan Garcia made two brilliant stops in quick succession to prevent Vinicius from putting Madrid ahead.
Raphinha eventually made it 3–2 with a deflected effort following a fine team move, taking his tally to four goals in the competition.
The Brazilian has now become the second player to score four goals in a single edition of the Spanish Super Cup since Aritz Aduriz did the same in 2015.
Frenkie de Jong was given his marching orders late on, but Barcelona held on to clinch the victory.
