The Supercopa de Espana belongs to Barcelona for a record 14th time. The Catalans defeated Real Madrid in the final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night, claiming a comfortable 3-1 that, if anything, flattered Los Blancos. Gavi was the star of the night, scoring the opener and then assisted for both Robert Lewandowski and Pedri to rub salt into Los Blancos' wounds. The Catalans were very prepared and used the weaknesses of Real Madrid in the best way. The Spanish champions never entered the game despite having a few decent chances. Maybe an early goal would have been a life saver making the players concentrate.
Real Madrid started on the back foot, and Barcelona looked the better team from the off. Barcelona had the first attempt after 13 minutes with a well-struck effort from Lewandowski from the edge of the area which saw Courtois produce a great save, with the ball crashing against the post. Ancelotti's side then put together a good team move five minutes later, ending with Mendy's cross which Benzema nodded inches wide.
Barcelona got themselves in front through youngster Gavi, who finished excellently after a swift, lethal move from the Blaugrana. Ferland Mendy gave the ball away cheaply and was punished, with Barcelona moving it nicely until Gavi went through and finished past Courtois. The second wasn't too much later, with Lewandowski the time netting his first Clasico goal. His finish was a little easier than Gavi's, tapping in from very close ranger after being perfectly found in front of goal.
It was always going to be tough for Real Madrid to fight back from two goals behind, but the second half started with Barcelona as on top as they had been before the break. With the beginning of the second half, the team looked to press high and Barcelona almost took advantage of that in the 51st minute but Courtois came out on top in a one-on-one with Dembélé.
Carlo Ancelotti's side were seriously left wanting, while Gavi continued to orchestrate everything that happened for Barcelona. Having scored and assisted in the first half, Gavi proved his second assist of the night for Pedri to score the third and put the game to rest. Real Madrid looked to reduce the deficit with long-range strikes from Kroos and Asensio, but their efforts were well caught by Ter Stegen. Rodrygo went close on 79’, but his cushioned header was superbly tipped away by the German goalie. The madridistas kept searching for a consolation goal until the dying seconds and got their reward when Benzema pulled one back on rebound, finishing an action started from the left wing.
Barcelona were surely the better than Real Madrid, but Los Blancos helped a lot with the goals. The first goal was a chain of errors that started with Thibaut Courtois' pass to a player who had just taken a blow to the head, Antonio Rudiger. The German made a bad choice of pass and Pedri, Robert Lewandowski and Gavi made the most of it.
In the second goal, another collective failure of the whole Madrid backline, starting with the poor pressing of Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal, showing that the right-back is still far from his best. And the third, more of the same with a gift from Dani Ceballos and Lewandowski, Gavi and Pedri who didn't forgive.
Rudiger’s performance: Real Madrid's entire defense was a mess, but Rudiger features in the scene for every goal. In the first one he failed to get the ball out of the box, in the second one he closed down Gavi's pass to Lewandowski and in the third one he should have stepped up to leave the teenager offside. The German is an extraordinary defender, but he has yet to find more consistency at Real Madrid.
The Blaugrana, who, as always gives the absolute best against Real Madrid, went for the win and knew very well its strong features and the opponent’s problems. The Supercopa de Espana final showed somehow that Barcelona are hungrier. At the end, Real Madrid only won the battle of the fans and Saudi Arabia finally had their dream final and the people of Riyadh went all out for the Whites, with a 70-30 ratio in the stands in their favor.
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