Vinícius Jr. scores first-half hat-trick as Real Madrid dominates Barcelona to win Spanish Super Cup
By Sam Joseph, CNN
(CNN) — Real Madrid claimed its 13th Spanish Super Cup with a comprehensive 4-1 demolition of arch-rival Barcelona in El Clásico on Sunday.
Young superstar Vinícius Jr. scored a hat-trick inside the first 40 minutes of the game to allowed Real to race into an early lead before a second-half strike from Rodrygo put the game to bed.
The result was sweet revenge for Madrid, which was defeated 3-1 by Barcelona in the 2023 edition of the tournament.
“We wanted to win the final,” said Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti after the game. “We deserved to win it. We got off to a good start and took advantage of the high line at the beginning.
“Vinícius was in extraordinary form and, from there, another game started.”
It was back-to-back wins against Los Blancos rivals after defeating Atlético Madrid in the semifinal of the competition.
Robert Lewandowski scored Barça’s only goal of the game as the Blaugrana slipped to the humbling loss, which became even more painful when center-back Ronald Araújo was sent off in the second half.
“This was a very hard defeat to take,” Barcelona coach Xavi said after the game. “But there is a long season still ahead and we now have to keep battling for the trophies that are left. We need to stay strong. We’ll be back.”
Madrid wasted no time in taking the lead; Vinícius latched on to a through ball from English phenom Jude Bellingham seven minutes in before rounding Barça goalkeeper Iñaki Peña and slotting the ball into an empty net.
The 23-year-old Brazilian hit Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘siu’ celebration after scoring in front of a packed crowd at King Saud University Stadium – the home of Ronaldo’s current side Al Nassr – in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“The celebration was for Cristiano, who is my idol and is playing here now,” Vinícius told the media.
Real doubled its advantage three minutes later when Vinícius scored his second, sliding in to meet a low Rodrygo cross to leave Barcelona reeling.
The Blaugrana had their chances after going behind, with a looping effort from Ferran Torres crashing off the bar before Lewandowski’s follow-up was saved by Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.
Torres was also denied by Lunin later in the half before the defending league champion made a breakthrough in the 33rd minute. Lewandowski fired in a sweet volley from the edge of the box to make it 2-1 and get Barça back into the game.
However, the moment of hope turned out to be fleeting as Vinícius completed his hat-trick only minutes later. Araújo was adjudged to have pulled the Brazilian down inside the penalty area and Vinícius duly converted the subsequent spot-kick to give Real a 3-1 lead.
Barcelona sought a way back into the match and tried its luck from long-range, but efforts from Pedri and Lamine Yamal either side of the half respectively were unable to find the back of the net.
With Barça committing players forward, Real continued to threaten on the break and scored their fourth through Rodygo with just over an hour gone in the game, with the forward firing a first time shot past Peña.
Things went from bad to worse for Barcelona when Araújo received his second yellow card for a foul on Vinícius, bringing the reigning La Liga champion down to 10 men.
Bellingham had an effort saved and one cleared off the line as Madrid chased a fifth, while substitute João Félix was denied by Lunin at the other end.
Real’s defense held firm until the final whistle and gave the Merengues their first trophy of the season in Riyadh.
The focus for both sides now switches back to league competition. Madrid is currently second in La Liga – one point behind league-leading Girona with a game in hand – while Barcelona sits in fourth, eight points adrift of the surprise leader, but also with one less game played.
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