A series of injuries and the visit of Ronaldo

Real Madrid approached the final match for the Spanish Super Cup not in the best condition and could hardly be considered a favorite of the confrontation.

First, in his debut game in 2023 in the Example, he sensationally lost to Villarreal with a score of 1: 2 and allowed Barcelona to climb to a clean top spot in the table.

Let the wards of Carlo Ancelotti conceded the decisive ball from a rather controversial penalty kick, they themselves looked rather faded.

Some of the leaders don't look good either.

For example, Vinicius, after returning from the World Cup, did not score once and did not assist his partners.

After another nondescript meeting in the semi-final of the Super Cup with Valencia, in which the Brazilian rarely successfully dribbled and also missed a 100% moment, the fans subjected him to harsh criticism.

At the same time, the headquarters continues to release him at the start, despite the state of the winger.

Regularly brings partners and left-back Ferland Mendy.

It was he who, in the game with Villarreal, made a rough cut in his own half, which led to the first goal.

After an hour, the Frenchman was replaced.

And it was no coincidence that rumors appeared in the media about the possible departure of a football player due to regular blots.

In addition, on the eve of the derby, Madrid faced a series of injuries.

Due to various damages, David Alaba and Aurélien Tchouameni did not even fly to Saudi Arabia.

Plus, in the semi-finals, Lucas Vazquez was eliminated for a month.

Finally, the participation of three more people was in question: Eduardo Camavinga, Alvaro Odriozola and Eder Militao.

He supported the team in difficult times Cristiano Ronaldo.

On the eve of the final in Saudi Arabia, the Portuguese unexpectedly showed up at the location of the cream.

The five-time winner of the Golden Ball took a picture with his partners and wished them good luck in the upcoming match.

Leadership in the Example and impenetrable defense

Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, are on the right track.

Xavi was so dissatisfied with the draw with Espanyol in the last round of the national championship in 2022 that, according to the local press, he canceled the day off for the charges on January 1.

Moreover, he was determined to do this in the event of a defeat from Intercity in the 1/16 finals of the Cup of the country.

As a result, the blue garnet, although not without difficulty, managed to win in extra time and go further.

But a few days later they scored a major victory over Atlético thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembele and broke away from Real Madrid by three points.

Let the team under the guidance of a young specialist does not yet show such bright football as under Josep Guardiola, but methodically takes its toll and acts very reliably in defense.

In 16 matches of the Examples, she missed only six times, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen spent the 12th match to "zero", although last season he had only 11 of them in his asset.

And unlike counterparts, Xavi has an almost optimal composition at hand.

The only question was the participation of Frenkie De Jong and Dembele, who left the field ahead of schedule in the semi-final with Betis, but in the end both got into the base.

Could enter the field and Robert Lewandowski, whose disqualification does not apply to the Super Bowl.

Thus, the Spaniard had a great opportunity to win a debut trophy as a coach at the head of Barcelona.

But for this, he needed to break the cup character of the experienced Ancelotti, who had not lost a single final in his career since 2010.

The exception was the defeat in the Spanish Super Cup in 2014, but it is not taken into account, since the decisive stage consisted of two meetings, and not one.

At the same time, both on the eve of an important game spoke about each other with emphatic respect.

The Spaniard called the counterpart an extraordinary person and a gentleman from the world of football.

In turn, the Italian wished his colleague to start taking trophies as soon as possible, since this is the main thing for the fans.

By the way, both teams could not have been in the final at all.

Blue garnet with great difficulty put the squeeze on the current owner of the Spanish Cup "Betis".

Seviltsy twice compared the score, in extra time and regular time, but lost in the penalty shootout.

According to a similar scenario, the meeting between Real Madrid and Valencia developed.

120 minutes did not reveal the strongest, but in the "lottery" the favorite put the squeeze on the opponent.

As for the starting lineups, then Xavi did without surprises.

The media assumed that he would allegedly abandon the usual arrangement of 4-3-3 in favor of 4-2-2, but this did not happen.

As already mentioned, all the strongest entered the field.

Ancelotti's staff at least managed to put Militao, Camavinga and Odriozola in order.

The Brazilian took a place in the center of defense paired with Antonio Rüdiger, the Frenchman settled in the support zone, and Odriolosa remained in reserve.

Madrid also did not abandon the 4-3-3 formation.

Concert from Gavi and Benzema's goal at the end

Barcelona were expected to dominate, but in the end they outdid themselves.

The Catalans from the first minutes took the ball under their control and kept it in their own half, stretching someone else's defense with cross passes.

And already in the 12th minute they missed the first 100% chance.

Thibault Courtois miraculously deflected Lewandowski's shot from the penalty area into the post, while Alex Balde struck much higher on the rebound.

And Real Madrid practically did not go beyond the center.

The only chance he had was even with an equal score, when Benzema, using the feed from the left, almost sent the ball into the far corner.

However, the rest of the Frenchman was cut off from his partners, as was Vinicius on the flank, who was reliably guarded by Ronald Araujo.

As a result, zero cream shots on target in the first half.

And the main character in the composition of the blue garnet suddenly became Gavi.

The 18-year-old midfielder, who had not scored a single point in the Clasico before, opened the scoring and gave an assist.

First, Xavi's wards caught the opponents on an unsuccessful exit from the defense.

Sergio Busquets pressed Camavinga in the opponent's half and forced him to make a mistake.

In turn, another child prodigy, Pedri, performed a timely forward pass to Lewandowski, who found Gavi in ​​the penalty area.

And shortly before the break, Barcelona doubled the lead.

This time, Real Madrid failed defensively.

De Jong managed to push the ball to Gavi, who ran to the other side's goal along with Lewandowski.

The young Spaniard was not greedy and rolled into the empty gates of the Pole - 2:0.

Despite the disastrous course of the game, it seemed that Real Madrid in the second half was able to show their signature character and add.

Yes, and Ancelotti began to actively carry out replacements.

Immediately after the break, he threw Rodrigo into battle instead of Rodrigo, who played Kamavingi unsuccessfully.

The Brazilian took a place on the right edge of the attack, and Federico Valverde moved to the center.

But it did little for the team.

Now she had more possession of the ball, but the opponents took advantage of this and ran into dangerous counterattacks.

If not for Kurt, the intrigue in the confrontation would have disappeared much earlier.

First, the Belgian parried Dembele's shot with his foot to the far bottom, and then timely left the gate and did not allow Lewandowski to push the ball between his legs from an acute angle.

But in the 69th minute, the Catalans still put an end to it, and it is symbolic that Gavi again made a significant contribution to the goal.

The midfielder made an interception in someone else's half and ran to the penalty area.

And having received a pass from Lewandowski, he, without hesitation, completed a perfect cross to the far post, which was closed by Pedri.

The judges took a break to watch the replay, but the offside was not recorded.

Only after that, Real Madrid finally managed to land the first shot on target and force Ter Stegen into the game several times.

And in stoppage time, they even reduced the gap.

The German coped with the first shot of Benzema, but was powerless on finishing.

However, this hardly consoled the Madrid residents.

But Xavi rejoices, because the young specialist won his debut trophy at the head of Barcelona, ​​having worked with her for just over a year.

In turn, Ancelotti suffered his first defeat in the final since 2010.

In addition, the Catalans have improved their own record for the number of wins in the Super Cup - 14. Real Madrid has 12 successful outcomes.