With Spain’s two greatest clubs meeting in the Super Cup final for the fourth successive season, it was Real who had the first sniff at goal when Vinicius Jr broke Barcelona’s shaky offside trap, before shooting straight at Joan Garcia.
However, the defending champions - enjoying the lion’s share of possession as expected - soon began to turn the screw, with in-form forward Raphinha somehow firing wide after latching onto a stunning through ball from Lamine Yamal.
However, the Brazil star made amends just moments later when, from the same left-sided position inside the penalty area, he latched onto Fermin Lopez’s cute pass to steer the ball beyond Thibault Courtois after 35 minutes.
Yet in the most magnificent, breathless, utterly mind-boggling end to the first half, Vinicius restored parity with an incredible solo effort which saw him nutmeg Jules Kounde before firing past a helpless Garcia.
But then after Robert Lewandowski unwrapped his trademark finish once again, dinking the ball over Courtois to make it 2-1 in the fourth minute of additional time, Real levelled the scoreline once more when Gonzalo Garcia saw an effort strike the underside of the bar before dramatically bouncing over the line.
In a bitty second 45 minutes which brought plenty of stoppages as both teams grappled for control, Vinicius continued to cause Kounde all sorts of problems as he stung the palms of Garcia, before the Barcelona goalkeeper comfortably gobbled up Rodrygo’s tame effort moments later.
However, in a similar pattern to the first half, Barcelona soon started to click in the final third, and they took the lead for the third time when Raphinha - slipping as he got his shot away - received a stroke of luck as his effort deflected off Raul Asencio and flew beyond Courtois after 73 minutes.
And in a nerve-shredding end to the game for Barcelona, captain Frenkie de Jong was first sent off for a high challenge on Kylian Mbappe - who made his return following a recent knee injury - before Real defender Alvaro Carreras missed a glorious chance to make it 3-3 by shooting straight at Garcia, as Barcelona held on to claim their first piece of silverware in 2025-26.
GOAL rates Barcelona's players from King Abdullah Sports City Stadium...