Vinicius’s hattrick blows sorry Barcelona away

Barcelona’s hopes of extending their Spanish Super Cup record to 15 titles were dashed just 45 minutes into the Spanish Super Cup final against Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

While Barcelona easily got past Osasuna 2-0 in the semi-final, Real Madrid had to labour to a 4-3 win over city rivals Atletico Madrid after extra time.

Perhaps that was a pointer to who the strongest side was on Sunday as Real Madrid quickly got into the lead through Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior, who took the opportunity created by Barcelona’s defensive highline to run through on goal and slot the ball past Inaki Pena in Barcelona’s goal for the opener.

Three minutes later, Rodrygo was in a similar situation as Vini was, and he dragged the ball down the right-hand side before sending the ball across the face of the goal for his compatriot to sweep in.

Robert Lewandowski pulled one back for Barcelona with a long-range strike in the 33rd minute, but Vinicius Junior completed his hattrick and restored Real Madrid’s two-goal lead just before halftime with a penalty six minutes later.

Rodrygo got a goal of his own in the 64th minute of the game to make it 4-1, and Barcelona were reduced to 10 men just moments later when Ronald Araujo was shown a second yellow card.

Real Madrid are now one Spanish Super Cup away from equalling Barcelona’s record number of Spanish Super Cup titles. 

The game was record-breaking for Ancelotti as Real’s manager, as it is his 264th match as the coach of Los Blancos, surpassing the 263 games overseen by Zinedine Zidane. This makes him the second most-capped manager in the history of the club behind Miguel Muñoz, who managed 605 matches over 16 seasons, including 14 consecutive ones.

Meanwhile, Los Blancos can now turn their attention back to La Liga, where they are currently second after Girona’s 0-0 draw at Almeria on Sunday. Real Madrid will host Almeria next in La Liga, while Barcelona will travel to Real Betis.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu