Barcelona retain Spanish Supercup crown as El Clasico bragging rights taken back from Real Madrid

Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid

Barcelona have won the 2026 Spanish Supercup, having defeated Real Madrid in a five-goal thriller at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.

The opening stages of the first half saw few chances, but each side have had at least one each. Vinicius was sent in behind, but his tame effort was easily saved by Joan Garcia, while at the other end, Raphinha wasted a golden opportunity after being played in by a wonderful pass from Lamine Yamal.

However, the Barcelona man made up for that miss with the opening goal. After collecting the ball from Fermin Lopez, Raphinha drove into the Real Madrid box, and on this occasion, he picked out the far corner of Thibaut Courtois’ net. That had been coming for Barcelona, who have controlled proceedings for the most part.

However, their lead lasted only 10 minutes, with Vinicius firing home an equaliser late in the first half for Real Madrid. It was a spectacular solo goal from the 25-year-old, who beat Jules Kounde all ends up before firing into the far corner.

Remarkably, there were two more goals before the half time whistle was blown. Immediately after Vinicius’ equaliser, Robert Lewandowski fired Barcelona back in front. Pedri did well to move away from Real Madrid’s midfield, and he slipped the ball through to the Polish striker, who made no mistake from inside the penalty area.

However, Real Madrid got a quick response of their own as Gonzalo Garcia netted his fourth goal in three matches to make it 2-2. Dean Huijsen’s header came back off the crossbar, but the young striker was on hand to turn the ball home.

Barcelona struggled to match their performance levels in the second half, but in the end, they got the decisive goal. The ball broke Raphinha’s way on the edge of the area, and his deflected effort flew past Courtois.

Barcelona begin 2026 with a bang

Frenkie de Jong was shown a straight red card late on for a high challenge on substitute Kylian Mbappe, but in the end, it mattered little as Barcelona come away with the victory. They can celebrate, but it is a bitter pill to swallow for Real Madrid, who had big chances to equalise in stoppage time courtesy of Alvaro Carreras and Raul Asencio.

The post Barcelona retain Spanish Supercup crown as El Clasico bragging rights taken back from Real Madrid appeared first on Football España.