Barcelona have won the 2026 Spanish Super Cup and secured the first piece of silverware of the season thanks to a hard-fought 3-2 win over Real Madrid in a wild _El Clásico_ in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The _Blaugrana_ were the superior team in the first half and were clinical when it mattered in the second half, and survived wild finishes to both halves to seal the victory and win the _Supercopa_ over their rivals for the second year in a row and the third time in the last four years.
* The biggest surprise to start the game was Madrid’s tactical setup: Xabi Alonso made a ton of positional changes and his team ended up playing with a back five for pretty much the entire half, defending in a very low block and trying to create danger on the counter. It was strange to see a Madrid team so defensive in a _Clásico_, but the plan worked as Barça didn’t really create much in the first 30 minutes.
* Madrid had two good chances with Vinicius and Gonzalo Garcia on the counter, but neither could trouble Joan Garcia who made a couple of comfortable saves. The game was played at a slow pace with not much quality, but things quickly changed after a cooling break at the half-hour mark.
* Raphinha scored a beautiful opener after a sensational play by Fermín López, who intercepted a pass in midfield and found the Brazilian in a perfect position to score, and the floodgates opened as Barça created chance after chance and forced Thibaut Courtois to make a couple of strong saves.
* The Catalans were by far the superior team, but everything changed in an absolutely wild finish to the half: three goals were scored in a five-minute period in added time, with Vinicius scoring a great individual goal for the equalizer before Robert Lewandowski found the net in glorious fashion after an assist from Pedri, but there was still time for Gonzalo to equalize again after a crazy scramble in the box following a corner, and the score was somehow 2-2 at the break.
* The corner that led to Madrid’s second equalizer should never have happened since Jude Bellingham fouled Eric Garcia in the buildup, but that was one of the many poor decisions made by referee Munuera Montero in the first half.
* Lamine Yamal had a difficult start to the game as he was too focused on winning his individual battle against Álvaro Carreras, who had the upper hand in the opening half-hour. But as soon as Lamine started playing for the team by getting rid of the ball quickly and looking to set up his teammates, he had much more influence and was excellent in the final 15 minutes.
* Pedri and Eric Garcia were outstanding for the entire period as they controlled the tempo in possession and made some big interventions to get the ball back, but they somehow weren’t on the winning side at the break thanks to two poor defensive moments by others on the team.
* The chaos from the end of the first half carried over into the start of the second, as both teams ignored the midfield and played a game of non-stop transitions. Madrid had the better opportunities as the crazy pace suited them better, with Vinicius increasingly dangerous as he constantly won his battles against Jules Kounde and Pau Cubarsí.
* The fouls also started to rack up on both sides, and Madrid were allowed to walk the line between physicality and violence with little punishment, and Raúl Asencio was extremely lucky not to be sent off for blatantly kicking Pedri’s leg at the halfway line to stop a Barça counter.
* Hansi Flick tried to help his team regain some control by sending on Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres, and the two were heavily involved in a nice passing exchange through the middle that ended with a shot by Raphinha that deflected off Asencio and went over the head of Courtois to put Barça back in front with 20 minutes to go.
* Real Madrid came back from the cooling break after conceding the third with Kylian Mbappé coming off the bench to try and rescue a late comeback. Barça came back from the cooling break with the clear objective of keeping possession and trying to kill off the game with a fourth goal, and the stage was set for a dramatic finish in Jeddah.
* Barça did a pretty good job of not allowing Madrid any chances late, but things changed when Frenkie de Jong was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Mbappé and Barça went down to 10 men.
* Madrid had two monster chances to equalize deep in stoppage time through Asencio and Carreras, but Joan Garcia proved why he’s Barça’s wall and made two huge saves to make sure of the victory and seal the title for the Catalans.
* This was just as dramatic and wild as expected, with a crazy finish to each half and a win that Barça ultimately deserved on the balance of play. They’ve now won three of the last four Super Cups against their biggest rivals, and this one feels just as sweet as the 5-2 from last year.
* VISCA EL MOTHERFUCKING BARÇA!!!!!!!!!
See More:
* [Barcelona Match Recaps](/barcelona-match-recaps)
* [Barcelona: Spanish Super Cup](/barcelona-spanish-super-cup)
Comments
Getting the conversation ready...