CHRONICLE | FC Barcelona wins its 14th Spanish Supercopa with authority (1-3)

One year and two days after almost making it to the previous final of the Spanish Supercopa with a defeat in extra time against Real Madrid, FC Barcelona celebrated this Sunday, at the same Rey Fahd stadium, a trophy that has been declared theirs.

The team led by Xavi Hernández -six times winner of the tournament as a player and who has thus won his first trophy as a Barça coach- has prevailed with authority on the Riyadh pitch, dominating possession of the ball from the start and taking advantage of every opportunity.

With the four defenders renewed compared to those in the semifinals and with the sole exception of Real Madrid player Mendy, Barça came out decisively for the match, finding a great save by Courtois after ten minutes within a shot of an insatiable Lewandowski, who he had already warned just before with a tight header.

Benzema responded with another header immediately afterwards and a strong shot repelled by Ter Stegen, but the pressure from Barcelona as Real Madrid released the ball was finally going to pay off after half an hour.

An error in the delivery of Rüdiger to Camavinga meant the culé recovery with a quick turn from Lewandowski and a fatal pass of necessity for a Gavi who would not forgive

The goal from the young Barça star, chosen as Man Of The Match after all, made his team gain even more confidence, whose second wind was to come before the break with an exchange of favours: this time Gavi assisted Lewandowski so that the polish player could keep the advantages going for Xavi's men.

With 0-2 at the break, Ancelotti brought on Rodrygo for Camavinga, although the tone would not change at the restart with a brilliant Barcelona in its rapid transitions and Courtois avoiding more Catalan goals.

With just over twenty minutes to go, a new recovery in the opposite field was going to mean the repeated combination between Gavi, Lewandowski and Pedri's final shot to certify the sentence of the match.

Despite the correction, Real Madrid would not give up and in the last play captain Karim Benzema would score the goal of honor for Ancelotti's team.

The outstanding refereeing performance put the icing on the cake for a great final with captain Sergio Busquets raising the Spanish Supercopa trophy to heaven, the 14th trophy in the history of an FC Barcelona that extends its advantage in the list of winners of a tournament that continues to grow in edition after edition.

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