Barcelona breeze past Real Madrid to clinch the Spanish Super Cup
A dominant Barcelona side took advantage of three costly errors to beat bitter rivals Real Madrid 3-1 and clinch the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
In a fixture brimming with some of football’s biggest stars, it was teen sensation Gavi who shone brightest.
Los Blancos were unable to handle the 18-year-old, whose first-half goal saw him become the youngest scorer in a Spanish Super Cup, surpassing the record of his current boss Xavi.
Gavi opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 33rd minute, after Antonio Rudiger’s loose pass helped the Catalan side win-back possession in the attacking third. Robert Lewandowski showed a cool head outside the box to set up the midfielder who struck the ball neatly past Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The provider turned scorer just 12 minutes later when a cutting Barca counterattack culminated in Lewandowski tapping home a Gavi assist from close range.
Real Madrid were toothless in the first half, registering no shots on target. After the break, it seemed Carlo Ancelotti’s men aimed to keep the scoreline respectable – but another error, this time by substitute Dani Ceballos, set Gavi sprinting goalwards, before setting up Pedri to make it three.
Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema did pull one back for Madrid in injury time, but it wasn’t enough to stop Xavi’s men from lifting their first trophy since the Copa Del Rey in 2021, and their first Super Cup title since 2018.
