Concert from Real Madrid and Atlético and Barcelona's victory in the class

The Spanish Super Cup has long turned into an independent full-fledged tournament. If in most countries the trophy is played in one match by the reigning champion and the winner of the Cup, then in the Pyrenees the strongest in the Final Four is revealed. The competition was held according to this formula for the fifth time in a row.

And in the fourth, it was hosted by Saudi Arabia, where there is now a football boom and fans come to the stands with great interest to watch the stars of the Primera División. This time, Barcelona, who won gold medals in the national championship last season, Atletico, who won bronze medals, as well as Real Madrid and Osasuna, winners and finalists of the Cup, respectively, came to Riyadh.

The very first semi-final gave the crowd an amazing Madrid derby. They saw eight goals, an incredible comeback from Carlo Ancelotti's men and an unexpected final denouement in extra time.

Moreover, the defenders set the tone for the effective confrontation. Mario Hermoso and Antonio Rudiger scored after corners. And then, inspired by the example of his colleagues, Ferland Mendy, who had not scored since May 2022, put the cream ahead. Moreover, he did it not at a set piece, but during a positional attack, neatly closing the cross in touch.

But even before the break, Antoine Griezmann restored the balance with an accurate shot from the semicircle of the penalty area. This helped him surpass Luis Aragonés with 174 goals and become the top scorer in the club's history.

In the second half, the teams were not so active and seemed to save their strength. But they saved all the most interesting things for last. First, Kepa Arrizabalaga made a mistake on the way out of the battle with Alvaro Morata, trying to interrupt a cross from the flank, and the projectile from Rudiger jumped into the net. The goalkeeper tried to convince the referees that he had been fouled, but they remained adamant.

However, Real Madrid wouldn't be themselves if they didn't escape. Moreover, at a difficult moment, Daniel Carvajal came to the aid of his star partners. The Creamy lacked three attempts in one attack to break through Jan Oblak, and after a shot by Jude Bellingham, the projectile was cleared off the line by the opponent. But the defender, who joined in, did not miss his chance.

As a result, viewers actually witnessed a remake of the 2014 Champions League final. Then the victory from Atletico in the 93rd minute was stolen by another defensive leader - Sergio Ramos, and in extra time the royal club pressed his vis-à-vis.

Now the situation has exactly repeated. Moreover, luck came to the aid of Ancelotti's squad. When it seemed that the teams agreed to a penalty shootout, a curious goal was scored by substitute Joselu. Once again, Carvajal came to the fore with an amazing cross from the flank. The striker, with a ricochet off the turf, sent the projectile into the net. In injury time, Diego Simeone's team struggled to win back. Even Oblak went to the other half. But that only led to a goal by Brahim Diaz. The relatively fresh midfielder ran away from the Slovenian and hit the empty net.

This is how Real Madrid made it to the final of the Super Cup for the third time in a row. It was also the first time he had beaten Atlético Madrid in a non-lottery tournament. Moreover, since 1963, the cream team has not prevailed in the capital's derby if they have conceded three times.

But in the match between Barcelona and Osasuna, the fight did not work out. Although the Pamplonians did everything to keep the intrigue as long as possible. The first half ended without a goal, and the sides created approximately the same number of chances. For example, the episode when Ante Budimir mockingly beat his opponent in the penalty area, but Iñaki Peña closed the distance in time and saved his teammates.

The fate of the meeting was decided by the mercilessly criticized Robert Lewandowski. After receiving a pass from Ilkay Gundogan, he worked the ball for his shot and sent it into the net. But after the final whistle, it was not the goal itself that was discussed more, but the challenge that preceded it in the middle of the field. Andres Christensen dropped Jose Arnaiz to the turf, but the referees considered that there was no foul. This provoked an angry reaction from the coach of the nominal guests, Hagoba Arrasate, who said that his wards had been treated unfairly.

They could not recover from the blow and had almost no chance of escape. And in the 93rd minute, Lamin Yamal put an end to it. Such an outcome could not but please both the organizers and the fans, because everyone dreamed of seeing El Clasico in the final.

Vinicius' benefit and Araujo's torment

It was Real Madrid who were considered the favorite of the derby, who had the opportunity to take revenge for the painful defeat in the previous decisive match of the Super Cup. The Creamy have scored a great move: they have won 11 victories in the last 12 meetings in all competitions and have taken the lead in La Liga. Even Xavi, on the eve of the fight, admitted that the opponents have become stronger than last season.

The Catalans, on the other hand, are going through a difficult period. In the last two rounds of the national championship, they barely broke the resistance of Almeria and Las Palmas, who were inferior in class, and faced difficulties even in the game with modest Barbastro in the Copa del Rey.

In addition, they are haunted by an epidemic of injuries. Marc-André ter Stegen, Gavi and others, who have been in the infirmary for a long time, were accompanied by Raphinha, who was injured during the semi-final against Osasuna. And João Cancelo did not have time to recover. As a result, the Brazilian's place in the attacking trio was taken by Pedri, who started the first game on the bench. Ancelotti also made several substitutions. At the last line was Kepa, who did not make a mistake in the semifinals, and Andrey Lunin. And Luka Modric's place in the center was taken by another experienced performer, Toni Kroos.

However, few could have imagined that the meeting would start so unsuccessfully for the blue-garnets. Madrid gave the initiative to the opponents (during the first half, the current trophy holder controlled the ball more than 60% of the time), but they were happy to use their own weapon - high-speed counterattacks.

Barcelona's high-rise defensive line only contributed to this. The fast Vinicius and Rodrygo regularly ran behind the backs of the defenders. Moreover, Ronald Araujo was personally assigned to the first one on the left side, but such a move did not work at all. The Uruguayan tried, but his teammates did not support him, and the warded constantly found free zones.

Already in the seventh minute, he opened the scoring. Bellingham made a superb cutting pass from the middle, and Vinicius raced away from Jules Kounde, who made a gross positional error, mockingly beat Peña and shot into an empty net. Just three minutes later, the Brazilian doubled the lead. This time there was a cross from deep to Rodrigo, who made a well-timed cross to the far post to his compatriot.

Only after that, the creamy ones relaxed and allowed the opponents to create several good approaches. However, for the time being, Lunin was reliable. But after half an hour, he was powerless when Lewandowski fired a powerful shot from the edge of the box. The Ukrainian's view was blocked by his own defender, and he was clearly late with the jump.

But Ancelotti's wards instantly demonstrated that they are simply stronger today. Turning on again for a short period, they soon earned a penalty. Moreover, it was done by the unstoppable Vinicius, who was not allowed to close the partner's cross at the cost of a yellow card by the unfortunate Araujo. The victim himself converted a penalty kick and scored a hat-trick in just 33 minutes, the fastest in the XXI century in El Clasico.

The second half, in fact, turned into an empty formality. After the teams returned to the field, the blue-garnet managed to press their vis-à-vis to the goal for some time. However, their attacks were rather guileless, and all transfers into the penalty area became easy prey for Rudiger and Nacho Fernandez. Even when it came to blows, Lunin was reliable. The Ukrainian played a high-quality game and made a bid to become Real Madrid's number one.

At the end of the hour, Xavi performed a triple castling, throwing Yamal, Joao Felix and Fermin Lopez Martin into the fight, but this did not help either. Madrid just enjoyed what was happening on the field and delighted the fans with beautiful receptions. So, the audience greeted a couple of backheel passes performed by Bellingham with a standing ovation. And Vinicius, flashing a snow-white smile, ran away from Araujo again and again.

It is not surprising that in the end he forced the Uruguayan to earn a second yellow card. The angry defender aggressively went to the tackle in the opponent's half and hit his vis-à-vis on the shin.

And shortly before that, the Brazilian helped Rodrygo to score. Taking advantage of Federico Valverde's cross from the right, he made a cross into the goalkeeper's area. Kounde intercepted it, but the ball bounced right to the striker, who calmly shot low and put the ball to the point. Real Madrid could well have increased the lead in the score to a more indecent one. For example, a defender cleared the ball off the line after a shot from the active Bellingham.

But most importantly, the cream won a big victory and won the Super Cup for the 13th time, reducing the gap from the principal opponent, who has 14 trophies to a minimum. We also managed to take revenge for the defeat in last year's final. In addition, after that misfire, they beat Barça three times in a row with a total score of 10:2, achieving two defeats.

For Ancelotti, this success turned out to be quite special, as he got the 11th trophy in his career with the creamers and caught up with Zinedine Zidane in this indicator. Only Miguel Muñoz (14) is ahead of them.