Barcelona reigned supreme once more over Real Madrid, defeating Los Blancos 3-2 in an incredibly frantic match that saw Hansi Flick's men lift the Supercopa de España.
It was Raphinha who opened the scoring on the evening with a wonderfully-placed shot into the far corner. Vinicius Jr. hit back ahead of half-time with a fantastic solo effort.
An intense end to the first half saw Robert Lewandowski restore his side's lead before Real Madrid went straight up the other end to find the equaliser again, this time via Gonzalo Garcia.
It was a deflected effort from Raphinha that ensured the trophy would be going in the direction of La Blaugrana, a result that was no less than Barcelona deserved.
Story of the match
Contests between these two sides always bring fireworks, and the fast-paced start suggested that more of the same was to be expected from the latest edition of this historic rivalry.
Barcelona showed their intent in the opening stages of the encounter. Hansi Flick's men looked confident and efficient in their build-up play, remaining patient with the ball and not wasting their possession.
Despite having to survive off scraps of the ball, Vinicius Jr used his pace to break through the Barcelona backline and charge towards goal. To his right was an onrushing Gonzalo Garcia, but the Brazilian opted to go for it alone.
His effort was simply collected by Joan Garcia, who may have left the winger considering whether he made the right decision in the moment that mattered.
Xabi Alonso's men were getting frustrated, and it was visible. A late challenge inflicted on Lamine Yamal by Alvaro Carreras summarised how Los Blancos were feeling, although the 22-year-old escaped the referee's book on this occasion.
Barcelona's build-up play in the opening had been a joy to watch as their opponents were finding it hard to cope, continuing to scramble for a solution to their lack of control thus far.
Gonzalo Garcia was the next in white who managed to get in and behind the Barcelona backline. His effort, however, was tame and unconvincing as the Spaniard never looked sure of himself as he darted towards goal.
A moment of quality saw Yamal pick out Raphinha in space down the right wing. It was a sumptuous ball from an 18-year-old, whose pass ultimately did not get the finish it deserved as the Brazilian was all out of shape and hooked his effort well wide of goal.
Only moments later, Raphinha ensured that his prior miss would not haunt him. The winger picked the ball up in a similar area to before but made no mistake in his finish, firing a wonderful left-footed effort in at the far post.
Flick's men had their tails up now, producing another scintillating piece of play. Yamal, once again the architect, slipped a smart pass through to Fermin Lopez, who blazed an effort at Thibaut Courtois, forcing the Belgian to push it out for a corner.
It had been a very long 45 minutes for Barcelona, who just could not get out of their half. The worry for Alonso would have been the potential for fatigue as his men had been chasing the ball for the majority of the half.
With Kylian Mbappé looking on from the bench, the answer to whether he was fit enough to play was a highly anticipated one amongst the fans of Los Blancos.
Real Madrid may well have been without one of their stars, but another one in Vinicius Jr, made his mark on proceedings on the stroke of half-time. It was a special goal from the Brazilian, who left all his markers in the dust, curling the ball in at the far post to end his 16-game goal drought.
In a frantic end to the half, there were still more twists in the tale as Pedri slipped the all-reliable Robert Lewandowski through on goal. The Pole inevitably put his side back into the lead, dinking the ball over Courtois to restore his side's lead.
Unbelievably, in the dying embers of the half, Real Madrid drew level once again. This time, it was Gonzalo Garcia, the Spaniard, reacting quickest to get a foot to the ball that hit the crossbar and post before rolling over the line.
It was a chaotic end to the opening 45 minutes as both managers would have almost certainly been looking to restore the calmness ahead of the second half.
The 15-minute interval certainly did nothing to harm the pace of the match as both teams came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half, looking to tighten their grip on proceedings.
Vinicius Jr. continued to be the man who pulled the strings for Real Madrid, calling Joan Garcia into action and coming close on multiple occasions as he looked to make himself the hero of the evening.
A real end-to-end encounter, resembling the ever-changing momentum of a basketball match at times, this game was very much hanging in the balance.
With around twenty minutes left to play, it was clear that Barcelona were starting to get in that rhythm of build-up play that they were in for the majority of the first half, as they looked to remind their opponents what they can do when they have control.
This provided a good opportunity for Lamine Yamal, whose outstretched leg managed to get on the end of Frenkie De Jong's ball into the box. The effort was straight down the throat of Courtois, who ensured that the game remained level.
Flick's side had reasserted themselves and bore fruit for doing so when Raphinha's deflected effort caught Courtois out. The attempt took a cruel deflection off Raul Asencio and looped over the Belgian to put Barcelona in front for the third time on the night.
Kylian Mbappé was introduced by Xabi Alonso in the hopes of producing a moment of magic to draw his side level once more. However, time was swiftly running out for Real Madrid.
On the stroke of injury time, Barcelona were reduced to ten men. A rather uncontrolled and reckless challenge from De Jong on Mbappé was punished with a straight red card, as they would now have to see out five minutes of added time with a man disadvantage.
Madrid had a golden opportunity in the final seconds of proceedings to draw level, but it was not meant to be as Barcelona retained the Super Cup.
Xabi Alonso would know that he would have plenty of questions to answer in the wake of this, but on the other end of the spectrum, it was another glorious night for Barcelona.
Player of the match-Raphinha
As he so often has done for Barcelona, Raphinha turned up in a colossal way for his team on the night, providing two monumental goals for his team.
The first, a beautifully taken effort. The second, aesthetically quite the opposite, but undeniably memorable for all the right reasons, as the Brazilian fired his side into the lead, this time a sustained lead.
A constant menace for his opposition to try and contain, this is what the Brazilian does so well, and this is why he is widely regarded as one of the world's best.