“I don’t know what’s going on with the clásicos but they have been a bit mad recently,” Carlo Ancelotti had said and here was another one. There had been 35 goals in the last 10 meetings between these two great rivals and there were seven more in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. The only pity was that it happened in the wrong place. FC Barcelona had put four past Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in October; now they went one better on their way to an extraordinary 5-2 victory, 5,000km away in Jeddah, a night when they played with two goalkeepers ending with a third, the injured captain Marc Andre ter Stegen, lifting the trophy.
Barcelona had finished a man down and started a goal down, Wojciech Szczęsny beaten early and sent off later, but ultimately it didn’t matter. Hansi Flick’s side were just too good. Exceptional in fact, Raphinha tireless until he was withdrawn, cramp clawing at his calf, Lamine Yamal for ever sending opponents the wrong way and Pedri gliding across another stage. For an hour they dominated and then, for half an hour, once Szczęsny had been shown a red card, they controlled with a coolness that made light of how long was left and the history and talent of the team before them.
Ultimately, Barcelona were the better side from from start to finish. Madrid’s opening goal had come against the run of play, which is a weird thing to say when it also came inside five minutes. It might also seem strange to suggest that to many watching it felt somehow inevitable. But back then both things felt true.
When Kylian Mbappé guided the ball past Szczęsny, it was less than ten seconds since a Barcelona corner, only 43 since Thibaut Courtois had saved at the other end, and that had already been the second superb stop the Real Madrid goalkeeper had made. The first, from Lamine Yamal’s deflected effort after 1.23 was good, the second, from Raphinha’s header on 3.51, was astonishing, a familiar wall erected.
Madrid were under pressure already, although that tends to be when they slip the knife in. The resulting corner came out to Marc Casado on the edge of the area, Vinícius Júnior took it off him and suddenly he and Mbappé were running into space, the Frenchman getting beyond Alex Balde to finish a goal that was so very like Madrid. Sufficiently like them that the start might have seemed like a plan – sit deep, rob and run – rather than them being overrun. Reality, though, would tell a different story, that wall torn down.
Despite the lead, Madrid could not get a foothold here, Jude Bellingham unable to influence as he has of late, only Mbappé ever really a threat. By the time this game reached the 20th minute, Barcelona’s share of possession was up at 82%; by the time they reached the 21st, they had equalised and deservedly so. Raphinha had flashed one shot wide, Lamine had almost wriggled through, Pedri’s shot had deflected over and Antonio Rüdiger had cut out an opportunity for Gavi, all before Lamine Yamal made it 1-1.
It was a lovely goal too, so calmly taken that it became another of those moments that demand a reminder that he’s still 17. Robert Lewandowski’s pass to release him was exceptional and Lamine Yamal cut back past Ferland Mendy and Rüdiger from right to left then hit it back in the direction he had come from, the ball almost gently evading Courtois by the post.
Szczęsny saved from Aurélien Tchouameni’s header soon after but Barcelona were in control and when Eduardo Camavinga sent Gavi tumbling in the area they had the lead too. The challenge was imprudent and indisputable, although it took a call to the VAR screen for Jesús Gil Manzano to see it. From the spot, Lewandowski beat Courtois.
The lead was extended swiftly when a wonderful diagonal from Jules Koundé set up Raphinha to guide in a header. And then, deep in additional time, after Courtois had saved from Balde, Barcelona did to Madrid what had been done to them: from a dreadful short corner Rodrygo gave the ball away and Lamine Yamal and Raphinha set off, accompanied by Balde who provided the finish. Amazingly, three minutes into the second half it was five. Again, Barcelona found space to run into, Raphinha beating Tchouameni to score.
Somehow, there was a chance that this might not be over. On the hour Szczęsny, a long way out of his goal, took out Mbappé as he dashed through. At first Gil Manzano booked the Frenchman for diving, but the reply showed the contact, the Pole was sent off and the first thing his replacement Iñaki Peña did was feel Rodrygo’s fantastic free-kick flick off the tips of his fingers and fly into the net via the post.
Seven goals, and still there was half an hour left, which is often an age for Madrid. There was a wonderful Pena save from Mbappé, in the 96th minute. That though was the only real effort Madrid had mustered, a team who didn’t have a clear plan failing to take advantage against 10 men that certainly did have, and there was no comeback. This clásico was mad, but not that mad, and it belonged to Barcelona.
