Supercopa de España: Raphinha Scores Brace As Barcelona Beat Real Madrid Lift Trophy

 

Barcelona are the winners of the Supercopa de España for the second consecutive time, following the defeat of Real Madrid at the King's Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

Real Madrid lost 3-2 to their counterparts, who defeated them at last year's edition. Barcelona snatched the victory from Raphinha's effort that ricocheted off Raul Asencio to beat Thibaut Courtois to the net. 

Moments after Vinicius' effort following a break was saved by Garcia, Raphinha darted into the box, beating Aurelien Tchouameni's challenge and slotted the ball into a difficult angle. Vinicius leveled the terms in the added minutes of the first half. The Brazilian star dribbled past three defenders and curled the ball into the net. 

Barcelona did not wait for too long to retake the lead. They responded immediately with Pedri playing a through pass down the centre to Robert Lewandowski, who chipped the ball over Courtois into the net. Madrid responded almost immediately with Gonzalo Garcia nodding home Rodrygo's goal in the 45th+7 minute. 

Shortly after Dani Olmo replaced Fermin Lopez midway through the second half,  he played in Raphinha in front of Madrid's box, and the striker hit a side-footed shot into the top of the post. 

Barcelona have now defeated Madrid back-to-back this season. They lost 2-1 in the La Liga El Clásico in October, having a 1-1 head-to-head tie this season.

Overview

It was a disappointing loss for Real Madrid. They were impressive but opened up too quickly for Barcelona to penetrate. They had done everything right after the interval, before a decisive moment from Raphinha's strike would snatch the game. 

Despite the loss, Vinicius has now equalled Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferenc Puskas, and Karim Benzema’s record of most goal contributions in Finals in Real Madrid History. Marcus Rashford, who later replaced Raphinha, won his first trophy with the side he joined from Manchester United in the summer.