Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup with a 4-1 win over Barcelona with 10 players down in the Riyadh final, thanks to three goals from Vinicius Junior in the first half.
The Brazilian took advantage of Barcelona’s careless high line twice to put Real ahead 2-0 in the first 10 minutes. Just after the half-hour mark, Robert Lewandowski cut the lead in half.
However, Vinicius scored his hat trick from the penalty spot in the 39th minute after Ronald Araujo was brought down in the area. After the break, Rodrygo sealed a lopsided win.
To make things even worse for Barcelona in the Saudi city, Araujo was sent off in the 71st minute for another foul on Vinicius.
Real Madrid led 3-2 with five minutes left in the semi-final match against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday but won 5-3 in extra time, continuing their recent dominance over their rivals.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team won the October El Clasico matchup and are seven points ahead of Barcelona in the middle of the LaLiga season.
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In this game, Barcelona had a chance to make their own blow, but Xavi’s risky choice to use a high defensive line failed badly, and Real scored first after just seven minutes.
At the end of the game, Jude Bellingham celebrated winning his first title with Real. He did this by sending a beautiful pass that let Vinicius go around Inaki Pena and score into an empty net.
It was a good move by Real and Vinicius, who took advantage of the extra space behind them to score from Rodrygo’s pass.
After taking two hits, Barcelona did a good job of responding. Ferran Torres’ shot hit the bar, and then both he and Lewandowski made important stops against Andriy Lunin to keep Real ahead by two goals.
Within 33 minutes, Lewandowski’s powerful shot from the edge of the area brought Barcelona back into the game. However, the Catalans soon caused their own demise.
Araujo was sent off for putting his arm around Vinicius’s neck, which caused him to fall. The Barcelona defender was given a penalty and given a yellow card.
Vinicius scored again from 12 yards out to give Real a two-goal lead at the break.
Just after the hour mark, Xavi made three substitutions: Joao Felix, Fermin Lopez, and Lamine Yamal. It didn’t make a difference, though, as Real went ahead again in the 64th minute.
In the second half, Vinicius played a part again. His bad cross was easily blocked by Jules Kounde, setting Rodrygo up to score from inside the area.
After Araujo missed a clearance attempt and instead tackled Vinicius, things got worse for Barcelona. The Uruguayan had to be carried off the field for a second yellow card offense.
Ancelotti was able to take Vinicius and Bellingham off near the end of the game. The job was done, and the focus quickly turned to Wednesday’s Copa del Rey match against Atletico.
