Real Madrid triumphed over Barcelona in Sunday’s Spanish Supercopa final with a 4-1 victory with Vinícius that left their rivals struggling to keep up. Despite the potential for high drama, Carlo Ancelotti’s team delivered a dominant performance that gave Xavi & Co. plenty to consider for the rest of the season.
Vinícius was the show’s star, scoring a first-half hat-trick that set the tone for the match. His performance was one of the fastest in the history of this rivalry, and Barcelona couldn’t keep up with Real’s pace. While Robert Lewandowski’s goal gave Barca a glimmer of hope, a late red card for Ronald Araújo sealed their fate and ensured a problematic journey back to Spain.
Real Madrid: Vinicius Junior finally makes some noise after a quiet season.
Vinicius Junior has had a quiet season so far, but he made a statement in the Supercopa de Espana final against Barcelona. The Brazilian forward has been overshadowed by Real Madrid’s latest star, Jude Bellingham, and has been dealing with injuries that kept him out of action for two and a half months, the first time in his career.
Vinicius’ greatest weapon is his pace, and he formed a high-speed, lethally mobile front two with Rodrygo Goes. This partnership is ideally suited to exploiting a high defensive line like Barcelona’s. Vinicius’ finishing has improved dramatically, too, as showcased by Madrid’s opening goal in the seventh minute. Bellingham’s clever through-ball left Vinicius with a lot to do, but he made it look easy, rounding goalkeeper Iaki Peña before a straightforward, excellent finish from an angle.
Vinicius scored his second goal three minutes later, sliding in to bundle Rodrygo’s cross into the net. His third goal, from the penalty spot on 39 minutes, was another convincing finish. Vinicius stuttered his run-up before shooting hard and low into the corner.
Vinicius was involved in each of the game’s significant incidents, including Madrid’s fourth goal, where his cross was intercepted by Jules Koundé and rebounded for Rodrygo to finish. He also received Ronald Araujo’s red card challenge with 20 minutes left.
Vinicius’ numbers so far this campaign have been unremarkable, at least for him, with four goals in 11 La Liga appearances and two in three Champions League starts. However, this wasn’t his first excellent performance this season. Vinicius was impressive in Madrid’s 3-0 Champions League group stage win over Braga on Nov. 8 and outstanding in scoring twice in their 5-1 victory over Valencia three days later.
Overall, Vinicius’ performance in the Supercopa de Espana final was a statement and a reminder of his potential. His pace, finishing, and partnership with Rodrygo Goes make him a vital player for Real Madrid. A fit, scoring Vinicius is good news for Madrid and bad news for any opponent who stands in their way.
Barcelona: Xavi & Co. must fight to rediscover the club’s high standards.
Barcelona’s coach, Xavi Hernández, faces criticism after his team’s woeful performance against Real Madrid in the Supercopa final. Despite claiming that his team is playing better football this season than last year, when they won the title by 10 points, his arguments are increasingly based on the past.
Xavi promised that his team would dominate Madrid by being loyal to the principles instilled by Johan Cruyff 30 years ago. He even returned to a midfield four in Riyadh, the formation responsible for the team’s victory in last year’s final, but the personnel were not as good, and the team’s flaws were ruthlessly exposed.
The truth is that Barcelona’s standards have dropped after winning the league last May, and they have struggled to recover ever since. Losses to Madrid and Girona in La Liga have seen them slip eight points off the pace, while Champions League defeats to Shakhtar Donetsk and Antwerp further highlighted their problems, even though they did not impact their progress to the last-16.
One of the team’s significant issues has been slow starts to games. Madrid took advantage of this weakness in the Supercopa final, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes. Granada, Alaves, and Antwerp also scored early goals against them. At the same time, Mallorca, Las Palmas, Celta Vigo, Rayo Vallecano, and Girona all opened the scoring in the first 20 minutes of their respective matches.
Before the 2-0 Supercopa semifinal win over Osasuna, the Blaugrana had gone 20 games without winning by more than one goal, indicating that this was not a full-flow team. The absence of key players like Ter Stegen, João Cancelo, Gavi, and Raphinha through injury has also affected the team’s performance.
Barcelona’s poorly judged high line gifted Madrid their first two goals in the Supercopa final. They then took over the ball, but aside from Lewandowski’s brilliant strike, Madrid was happy to let them have it and wait for a chance to counter. There were other moments, often created by Pedri, but the chances fell to Torres, who lacked any killer instinct.
Xavi must now brush off the nature of this Clásico defeat. He credited last year’s success in the competition as the catalyst for winning La Liga. Barcelona is still alive in three other competitions: La Liga, the Champions League, and the Copa del Rey, but if things don’t improve quickly, this loss may be looked back on as the catalyst for something entirely different in the coming months, and his position will be under constant scrutiny.
Barcelona must rediscover their high standards quickly if they are to compete for titles this season. Xavi and his team need to work on their slow starts, tighten their defence, and improve their finishing in front of goal. They must also find a way to cope with the absence of key players due to injury. With the pressure mounting on Xavi, he needs to find a way to get the best out of his players and turn their fortunes around.
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