Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Raphinha and Lamine Yamal shone in Barcelona’s 5-2 thrashing of Real Madrid on Sunday, clinching the Spanish Super Cup title played in Saudi Arabia.
Yamal leveled the score in the 22nd minute with a superb strike, while Raphinha stood out with a brace at 39 and 48. Lewandowski (from a penalty in the 36th) and Alejandro Balde (45+10) also contributed to the rout.
Kylian Mbappé put the visitors ahead at the five-minute mark; Rodrygo made the defeat look a bit more respectable by scoring from a free kick in the 60th.
Barcelona played the final half hour with ten men after referee Jesús Gil Manzano consulted the video to send off goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny for a foul on Mbappé.
The Barça dethroned the Whites as Spanish Super Cup champions, a competition staged in Saudi Arabia since 2020.
With their second crown on Saudi soil, the Blaugrana reached 15 titles, two more than the Merengues in the all-time tally. This is the first trophy for the team in the era of coach Hansi Flick.
“I am very proud of what happened; today we played a great match and, in the end, everything went very well for us. We don’t look at the past; we take it one game at a time, and they already know that we’re a big team, a team that is ready,” Flick said. “We played an outstanding match.”
Real Madrid lost their first final of the season, after having clinched the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup titles, in a campaign that began with seven trophies up for grabs. The strategist Carlo Ancelotti adds 15 with the Whites.
“This makes us very sad, very disappointed, but this is football, and with sadness we have to go home,” Ancelotti said. “We have to look ahead, because there’s no other option, and regain the good run.”
For the first time, Barcelona stitched together Clasicos in which they score at least four goals after their 4-0 win in the first league meeting at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Mbappé scored for the third time in finals against Real Madrid, following a counterattack launched from his own area by Vinícius Júnior, who fed him to run into the box and beat Szczęsny.
Before taking the lead, Thibaut Courtois had been the hero with a couple of saves on a Yamal shot and a Raphinha headed attempt headed for the goal.
Yamal underscored Barcelona’s superiority on the field by leveling with a fantastic individual move, cutting in from the left wing into the area and finishing with a smooth shot from the heart of the box that found the net near the post.
With the leveller came the onslaught, and the Blaugrana took the lead after Gil Manzano consulted the video to award a penalty on Eduardo Camavinga for a foul on Gavi, which Lewandowski converted.
Raphinha widened the margin with another defensive lapse, arriving in the box to head home a precise cross from Jules Kounde.
The fourth goal came after a corner in which Camavinga lost the ball to Yamal and the Blaugrana stormed forward. Raphinha set up Balde to seal a rout for the final before halftime.
Raphinha reached 19 goals for the season with his second strike, a burst from his own half down the left side that he finished expertly after arriving at the box in the early minutes of the second half.
Madrid relieved the pressure when they were reduced to 10 after Szczęsny’s sending-off, whose foul near the edge of the area on Mbappé sent Rodrygo to the net.
Midfielder Dani Olmo came on in the 59th minute for Barcelona. It was his first game since the club obtained a precautionary ruling from the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) after La Liga and the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) removed his registration, along with Pau Víctor, because the Catalan side had not met the economic requirements to justify his registration this season.
Country-by-country schedules and where to watch Barcelona vs. Real Madrid on TV and streaming
The match promises not only on-field thrills but also a global event. If the score is tied after 90 minutes, there will be no extra time, and the champion will be decided by a penalty shootout.
- Mexico: 1:00 PM (Sky Sports / Izzi Go)
- United States: 2:00 PM ET (ESPN Deportes, ESPN 2 / ESPN+, Fubo)
- Peru, Colombia, Ecuador: 2:00 PM (DSports / DGo)
- Venezuela, Bolivia: 3:00 PM (DSports / DGo)
- Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay: 4:00 PM (DSports / DGo)
- Spain: 8:00 PM (Movistar Deportes / Movistar Plus+)
The 2025 Spanish Super Cup final is shaping up as a vibrant clash between two football giants eager to continue writing history in the sport’s crown.
