Hat-trick champion Vinicius dug a bottomless hole for Barcelona in ten minutes, Araujo smashed the ladder to pieces – Soccernet.ee

Real Madrid dominated the Spanish Super Cup final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, beating arch-rivals Barcelona 4-1. The foundations for the victory were laid with a good start and a first half in which Vinicius Junior managed to score a hat-trick.

The Madrid team started the final so quickly that Barcelona didn’t realize they were already two goals down. An important role was played by the very risky behavior of the Catalans themselves: the defensive line was raised high and then in the seventh minute Jude Bellingham sent Vinicius Junior running with an excellent pass. Inaki Pena’s excessive play is no longer a problem for the Brazilian and the ball ends up in the net for the first time – 1:0.

Just three minutes later, Barcelona’s defensive line had again moved to the center line, and this time Rodrygo had moved in behind. A precise pass left Vinicius with the opportunity to push the ball into an empty net and Real were quick 2:0 in front of. But Barcelona didn’t give up, Ferran Torres immediately hit the crossbar and a moment later Andrii Lunin had to block Robert Lewandowski’s sharp shot from the corner.

Lunin, who replaced Kepa, who failed in the semi-final, continued to work as Barcelona continued to attack. The Ukrainian anticipated Torres’ next shot, but when Lewandowski ended Barcelona’s sustained pressure with a powerful bomb in the 33rd minute, he too was helpless – 2:1.

However, Barcelona’s ray of hope only shone for a few minutes. Ronald Araujo was unable to stop Vinicius in front of goal other than snatching him by the neck, and Juan Martinez Munuera conceded the penalty without hesitation. Vinicius went to shoot, and although Pena withstood a little nerve control during the swing and jumped in the right direction, the Brazilian’s shot was too strong and accurate. With the goal to make it 3-1 Vinicius also became the 24th player of all time to score The classicThe last time Karim Benzema did it last April.

1- At @RealMadridit’s ⚪️⚪️ @vinijr 🇧🇷 is the first player to score a hat-trick #ElClásico in the first 39 minutes of a match in any 21st century competition. Hungry. pic.twitter.com/9TyZJad4a7
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 14, 2024

With the last shot of the first half, Barcelona had the opportunity to reduce the gap to a minimum, but Pedri’s sharp shot went just a few centimeters over the crossbar. Xavi looked for new moves in the second half, brought three new men onto the pitch half an hour before the end, but a few minutes later Real Madrid once again broke down Barcelona’s defense in exemplary fashion. Jules Kounde, who tried to block Vinicius’ low pass, placed the ball exactly on Rodrygo’s foot, and the Real forward did not let himself be asked twice: 4:1.

The frustration of the team of Barcelona players was expressed in Araujo’s stupid move in the 71st minute, which ended the Catalans’ hopes. The central defender, who had already received a yellow card in a penalty situation in the first half, tried to hit Vinicius from behind along the legs, he only hit him, but Munuera looked for the yellow card again and Barcelona remained with ten men .

Real celebrated even more, Bellingham managed to hit the post and then go out to applause, although the biggest ovation was heard just before the living legend Luka Modric intervened from the bench. The superiority of the capital club was so evident that referee Munuera did not even grant extra minutes to the match, but blew the whistle to end the 90 minutes.

The Super Cup was won by Real for the 13th time, but Barcelona still have one more title in their tally. However, Carlo Ancelotti has become Real Madrid’s second longest-serving manager of all time in terms of matches played – only Miguel Munoz, who led Madrid in a whopping 605 matches, has played more matches than him. Ancelotti, who won his 264th match, left Zinedine Zidane on this list.

Carlo Ancelotti will play his 264th match for the club today, the second in Real Madrid’s history. pic.twitter.com/MEQqo5qflY
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) January 14, 2024

Real Madrid – Barcelona 4:1 (3:1)
7., 10., 39. pen. Vinicius Junior, 64. Rodrygo – 33. Robert Lewandowski

Elimination: 71. Ronald Araujo (Barcelona)