Barcelona staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Real Madrid 5-2 in a thrilling Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday, clinching their first trophy in over a year. Despite an early goal from Kylian Mbappe that put Real Madrid ahead in the fifth minute, Barcelona responded with a dominant first-half performance, scoring four goals to turn the tide of the match.
Young talent Lamine Yamal leveled the score in the 22nd minute, igniting a Barcelona surge. Robert Lewandowski then put Barcelona ahead in the 36th minute, converting a penalty after Eduardo Camavinga fouled Gavi. Raphinha extended the lead just before halftime with a stunning header from a long cross by Jules Kounde. Deep into first-half stoppage time, Alejandro Balde added a fourth goal, finishing off a swift counter-attack initiated by Yamal’s precise pass.
“Real made many mistakes, and we knew how to take advantage of them to control the match,” Barcelona’s coach Hansi Flick said after securing his first trophy with the club. “A goal for big clubs is always to win titles, that’s why we work hard. But now we have to show it in the next games.”
Real Madrid attempted to rally in the second half, with Rodrygo striking the bar early on. However, Raphinha sealed the victory for Barcelona in the 48th minute, slaloming past the Real Madrid defense to make it 5-1.
The match took a tense turn when Barcelona’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the 56th minute for fouling Mbappe. Rodrygo converted the resulting free kick, bringing the score to 5-2. Despite being reduced to ten men, Barcelona’s defense, bolstered by substitute goalkeeper Inaki Pena, held firm to deny any further Real Madrid advances.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti expressed his disappointment with his team’s performance. “In the first half we didn’t play football, we hit long balls and that wasn’t the idea,” Ancelotti said. “I told the players that they can lose games, but not in the way we played in the first half.”
The victory marks Barcelona’s record-extending 15th Spanish Super Cup trophy and denies Real Madrid their third title of the campaign. The two giants of Spanish football have now met in the competition’s final for the third consecutive time, each having secured one victory in the previous encounters.
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Barcelona thrash Real Madrid 5-2 in Spanish Super Cup thriller
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