The Spanish Supercopa final between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday promised to be quite dramatic, but Carlo Ancelotti’s team easily defeated their opponents 4-1, giving Xavi and company even more problems to deal with the rest of the season.
Watch the Supercopa final replay of Barcelona vs. Real Madrid on ESPN+.
Vinícius scored a first-half hat trick – one of the fastest in the history of this rivalry – as Barcelona struggled to cope with Real’s pace, and even though Robert Lewandowski scored with a fine strike from the edge of the box to give Barca a chance, a late red card for Ronald Araújo compounded the Blaugrana’s issues and ensured a tough trip back to Spain.
Real Madrid: Following a quiet season, Vinicius Junior finally makes an impression
Vinícius Júnior has had an unusual season, being overshadowed by Real Madrid’s newest star, Jude Bellingham, and struggling with ailments that have left him sidelined for a total of two and a half months for the first time in his career. He could not be ignored in Riyadh on Sunday, though, as his 39-minute first-half hat trick—the third-fastest goal a Real Madrid player has ever scored in an El Clásico—put Madrid ahead to win. The best weapon Vinicius has is his pace; he and Rodrygo Goes create a fast-moving, deadly front two that is perfect for taking advantage of a high defensive line like Barcelona’s. His finishing has also significantly improved, as Madrid’s first goal in the seventh minute aptly demonstrated. Vinicius had to work hard to stop Bellingham’s ingenious through-ball since defender Andreas Christensen had moved to close him down, but he made it seem easy by circling goalkeeper Iñaki Peña and finishing coolly and simply from an angle. He slipped in to bundle Rodríguez’s cross into the net for his second goal, which came in just three minutes later, but his third goal, which came from the penalty spot on 39 minutes, was another excellent finish. Although Vinicius missed a penalty during the preseason last summer, along with Rodrygo, Joselu, and Luka Modric, this time there was no error as Vinicius stammered during his run-up before firing hard and low into the corner. The great Brazilian was crucial to Real Madrid’s fourth goal; with 20 minutes remaining, Ronald Araujo challenged him for a red card. Rodrygo finished the goal after Julius Koundé intercepted his cross. Vinicius was a part of every important incident in the game. Four goals in 11 La Liga games and two goals in three Champions League starts this season are not particularly impressive, at least not for him, but this wasn’t his best game yet. Vinicius was superb as he scored twice in Madrid’s 5-1 triumph over Valencia three days after the team’s 3-0 Champions League group stage victory over Braga on November 8. But this was a semifinal, a Clásico, in a prestigious competition that signifies the midway point of the season, when the real work starts. After being replaced after 82 minutes, he had completed his task, won the first trophy of the season, and was now looking forward to more challenges, including this Thursday’s Copa del Rey Madrid Derby, the Champions League knockout round, and defeating Girona to win La Liga. Good news for Madrid and bad news for any opponent standing in their way is a fit and productive Vinicius.
Barcelona: Xavi and company need to work hard to reclaim the club’s lofty ideals
This week, Barça coach Xavi Hernández has defended his team against criticism, even asserting that they are playing greater football than they did the year before, when they won the championship by a score of ten points. However, his arguments seem to be more and more grounded in the past. Speaking prior to the championship game, Xavi pledged that Barça will defeat Madrid by upholding the values that Johan Cruyff ingrained in them thirty years prior. He cited the 3-1 rout of Madrid in the previous year’s final as reason for hope. He even went back to playing a midfield four in Riyadh, which was the formation that produced that outcome. However, the players were not as good; in comparison to the starting lineup from the previous season, Iñaki Peña, Sergio Roberto, Ilkay Gündogan, and Ferran Torres replaced Marc-André ter Stegen, Sergio Busquets, Gavi, and Ousmane Dembélé. As a result, the team’s weaknesses were mercilessly exposed. In actuality, Barça’s standards have declined since winning the league in May of last year—they have struggled to regain them ever since, losing three of their next four games following the victory. That is based on their body of work over several months, not just one Clásico whooping in the Middle East. They are now eight points behind the leaders in the league after losing to Madrid and Girona in La Liga. They also suffered defeats to Shakhtar Donetsk and Antwerp in the Champions League, which brought attention to their issues even if they had little bearing on their ability to advance to the round of sixteen.