Barcelona was crowned champion of the Spanish Super Cup in football by defeating arch-rivals Real Madrid 3-1 on Sunday at King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh.
The title is the first won by the Catalan club since it was supervised by former star Xavi.
It is also Barcelona’s fourteenth title in this cup, which is a record. The last time Barcelona won this title was in 2018, led by Argentine star Lionel Messi, by defeating Sevilla 2-1.
On the other hand, Real Madrid won it in 2020 and 2022. Real Madrid coach, Italian Carlo Ancelotti, suffered his first loss in a final since 2014, with the royal team losing the title it won at the expense of Barcelona itself last season.
Young midfielder Gavi imposed himself as a star in the match, opening the scoring after 33 minutes had passed, and he had the upper hand in the second and third goals by Polish Robert Lewandowski (45) and Pedri (69), and Real Madrid responded with an honorary goal by his French scorer Karim Benzema 90 + 3.
Gavi, the winner of the “Golden Boy” award for the year 2022, was not only the star of the meeting, but also gave a clear indication that Barca is in safe hands at the present time and for the coming years.
Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets said: “We knew it was an opportunity that we had to seize. We have lived through an era of changes in the club and in the dressing room, and this will strengthen us to continue fighting for more titles.”
“You know how Gavi competes, he’s so young – most players his age would be in the youth team – he plays at an incredible level, gives assists, scores goals,” added the veteran international.
He continued, “He has a bright future ahead of him and a lot of room for improvement. I hope he is a player who represents an era in Barcelona.”
Barcelona, which leads the Spanish Championship by 3 points from Real Madrid, was the better side for most of the match, so that Real did not hit between the three woods until the 70th minute.
It was the first dangerous opportunity for Barcelona, through its top scorer, Lewandowski, but the Belgian Real goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, threw his creeping shot, so he pushed it away, and it hit the post and went out.
But Gavi opened the scoring after a perfect pass from Lewandowski inside the area, after a forward pass from Busquets, to shoot it into the net.
Then Gavi returned the favor to the Pole, passing him a wonderful ball in the last minute of the first half, so that the latter strengthened the lead of his team.
Real Madrid’s weaknesses
Barcelona continued its advantage in the second half and finally decided the result in its favor when Pedri scored for him, investing a cross from Gavi, 21 minutes before the end.
The first real opportunity for Real Madrid was when German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen blocked a powerful ball from his compatriot Toni Kroos (70), then another for the Brazilian Rodrigo.
Benzema, who won the Golden Ball for the best player in the world in 2022, responded in the third minute of time, instead of with an honorable goal.
“We have to learn, it’s a difficult moment and that’s it,” said Ancelotti’s coach.
“We don’t have to do much. We knew before the match that the team was not at its best.”
Ancelotti explained, “The match revealed some weaknesses, it is a blow, we have to recover and prepare for the next match.”
