Barcelona handed Real Madrid their second clinching blow of the season on Sunday, winning 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final to restore coach Hansi Flick’s confidence in his leadership by lifting his first trophy at the club.
Kylian Mbappe gave Real Madrid the first goal in the 5th minute of the first half. However, back-to-back goals late in the first half put them ahead 4-1, with Raphinha’s goal in the second half also adding to the success. Wojciech Szczesny’s red card in the 56th minute combined with Rodrigo’s goal in the 60th made things a bit more complicated for Barcelona, ​​but they were unable to do enough damage to change the lead.
Contrasting performances have been a hallmark of both teams’ seasons so far. Barcelona appeared to have rejuvenated themselves under Flick, but Real Madrid are yet to make any meaningful progress since adding Mbappe to an already star-studded squad last summer. There’s a lot of season left, but Sunday’s Super Cup final felt like a sign of just how high Barcelona can fly and how much Real Madrid have to work to come close to last season’s success.
Here are some takeaways from the Spanish Super Cup final:
Hansi Flick’s Barcelona did it (again)
After the ups and downs at Barcelona last season, it was really difficult to know what to expect from them this time, regardless of who the new manager is. Five months into Flick’s tenure, it’s safe to say that hiring him was the right choice. This is not only because he has already won his first winners’ medal in his new job.
The German manager is trying to get the best out of his players, which is sometimes harder than it seems. Although he has the advantage of working with Lamine Yamal, a generational talent who successfully graduated from the academy to the first team, the overall improvement in productivity is impressive. Lewandowski is enjoying a banner campaign at the age of 36, but the star of the season is Raphinha, who scored 19 goals with a brace in Sunday’s final. Their success, and the performances of other young players such as Pau Kubassi and Gabi, have allowed Barcelona to remain competitive despite Real Madrid’s deep pockets and well-documented financial difficulties.
Flick’s Barcelona also combined big wins with strong form, an important indicator of trophy-winning aspirations. They have now had two multi-goal wins against Madrid this season. The first was a 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in October, and the other was a one-sided victory over Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona haven’t always been perfect this season, but Flick’s side continue to rise above every big test placed before them. This makes them one of the most attractive teams in Europe this season, and speaks highly of their manager’s winning track record.
Real Madrid’s defensive nightmare
The result was as much a reflection of Barcelona’s attacking prowess as it was Real Madrid’s defensive sloppiness, which was difficult to ignore on Sunday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side aren’t exactly known for their defense-first strategy, but players like Antonio Rudiger, Aurelin Chouameni and Lucas Vázquez were exposed on several occasions as Barcelona scored five goals. The Brazilian international scored the first goal, as the opposition took advantage of foolish mistakes such as Eduardo Camavinga’s foul which led to a penalty kick, the space left by the centre-back and the complete lack of awareness of Raphinha right behind him.
This is not the first time this season that Real Madrid have paid for defensive mistakes. A 4-0 loss to Barcelona earlier this season followed by a 3-1 loss to AC Milan in the Champions League shows a potentially worrying habit in big games, which may not bode well for La Liga’s second-placed side. . Fierce title competition.
Galacticos hasn’t clicked yet.
Real Madrid established themselves as a near-invincible team last season by winning the domestic title and the Champions League, surviving the imperfections thanks to an effective group of goalscorers who bailed them out of trouble. With Mbappe at the helm this season, Madrid simply looked like they had a winning strategy in place, but midway through the campaign things didn’t go exactly the way they wanted.
On the one hand, players like Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo have performed well this season and even got on the scoresheet in Jeddah on Sunday. They haven’t exactly found a way to repeat last season’s trick of scoring on days when Real Madrid didn’t deserve to win, and they are just a few members of an attack that has struggled on several occasions this season. For example, after Mbappe’s goal they did not manage much in terms of attacking opportunities and Rodrigo’s strike came from a set piece which Szczesny conceded when he received a red card. They attempted to add an extra attack when they had the match at 11 v 10, but Barcelona’s strategy of improving their defense meant that there was little Real Madrid could do.
Los Blancos’ high-profile striker has had a surprising habit of keeping quiet this season, as evidenced by the defeat to Barcelona in October and the defeat to Lille in the Champions League. It feels like the other shoe has finally dropped for an unbalanced Madrid, which could make it difficult for them to win trophies this season.
