Barcelona hammered rivals Actual Madrid 5-2 in a wild Spanish Tremendous Cup Clasico last in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the primary trophy of the Hansi Flick period.
Kylian Mbappe put Madrid forward, however a dominant Barcelona hit 5 in response earlier than their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was despatched off within the second half.
Madrid have been hoping to avenge their 4-0 residence defeat by Barcelona in October’s LaLiga Clasico however as a substitute have been left battered and bruised by their archrivals in Jeddah.
After Mbappe’s opener, Lamine Yamal levelled and Robert Lewandowski despatched Barcelona forward from the penalty spot, with Raphinha bagging a brace and Alejandro Balde additionally on track.
Rodrygo Goes pulled one again for Madrid with a free-kick however they might not capitalise additional on their numerical benefit in a humiliating defeat for the European champions.
“It’s very nice, it had been a season since we received a trophy. It’s at all times particular and, on high of that, in a Clasico in opposition to Actual Madrid,” Barcelona defender Jules Kounde instructed Movistar.
“We had a number of calm and endurance, figuring out that if we utilized the plan we’d win.
“I’m very proud and proud of the group… proper after the purple card, we obtained collectively and stated we have been going to need to endure, sit again, however we had an enormous benefit and this will’t escape us.”
‘Unhealthy defending’ price Actual Madrid the sport
Actual Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti stated his group’s poor defending was the primary motive for the heavy defeat.
“We defended badly and that price us the sport – they discovered their objectives fairly simply,” Ancelotti instructed Movistar.
“We’re unhappy, like all our followers, it’s disappointing, and we don’t have to cover that… we’ve got to look forwards, there’s nothing else we will do.”
Each coaches opted to take care of the identical lineups they began with within the semifinals.
Yamal issued Madrid an early warning with a curling effort from the correct which pressured Thibaut Courtois right into a high-quality save.
The Belgian goalkeeper additionally produced a robust cease to maintain a Raphinha header at bay after the Brazilian evaded Lucas Vazquez with ease.
Regardless of Barcelona’s opening salvo, it was Actual Madrid who took the lead within the fifth minute with Mbappe’s good purpose on the counterattack.
The French ahead, pissed off quite a few instances by the offside flag within the league defeat by the Catalans, broke free on the midway line after Vinicius received the ball again and, after bursting into the world, clipped previous Szczesny.
Barcelona bounce again from a purpose down
It took a surprising particular person purpose from 17-year-old Yamal to degree the scoreline, with the Spanish winger chopping in from the correct earlier than stroking residence a low end contained in the close to submit in the same fashion to former Barca nice Lionel Messi, with whom he’s typically in contrast.
Barcelona saved pushing and moved forward by means of Lewandowski’s penalty after Eduardo Camavinga arrived late and carelessly clattered Gavi.
Raphinha quickly added Barcelona’s third with a header from Kounde’s cross from deep, and so they grabbed their fourth earlier than half-time on the break.
Yamal and Raphinha mixed and the latter slipped in Balde, who slotted previous Courtois.
Barcelona continued in the identical vein after the break and Raphinha netted the fifth with a neat dribble and end after Marc Casado performed him in.
The Catalans have been decreased to 10 males when Mbappe sped in on the different finish, rounding goalkeeper Szczesny, who introduced him down exterior the world and after a VAR evaluation was dismissed.
Rodrygo, who earlier hit the submit, rifled residence the free-kick previous Szczesny’s alternative Inaki Pena.
Bellingham and Mbappe depart Actual questions for Madrid
Mbappe brilliantly teed up Jude Bellingham however the England worldwide was denied by an excellent Kounde problem in stoppage time.
The French ahead additionally got here near scoring once more himself on a high-quality particular person show however Pena tipped away his effort.
“He was the very best [Madrid player],” stated Ancelotti, noting an enchancment after Mbappe’s hit-and-miss begin to life on the membership, following his change from Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona introduced on midfielder Dani Olmo for his first look since he was registered to play for the membership on a short lived foundation, a controversial problem which overshadowed the semifinals earlier within the week.
Nonetheless, their five-star show supplied a bunch of different speaking factors as Barca received a record-extending fifteenth Spanish Tremendous Cup.
