Spanish Super Cup: Vinicius scores hat-trick as Real Madrid thrash Barcelona to win title

Vinicius Junior struck a first-half hat-trick to fire Real Madrid to Spanish Super Cup glory in a thumping 4-1 win over rivals Barcelona on Sunday in Saudi Arabia. Robert Lewandowski scored for Barcelona, who had defender Ronald Araujo sent off in the second half on what coach Xavi Hernandez described as the team’s “worst” night. Rodrygo rounded off Real Madrid’s rout as they won the competition for the 13th time, avenging last year’s final defeat by record 14-time winners Barcelona.

📺 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗡 | El @realmadrid recupera su corona en la #superSupercopa.

⚽ Vinicius Jr. | 1-0 (7')
⚽ Vinicius Jr. | 2-0 (10')
⚽ Lewandowski | 2-1 (33')
⚽ Vinicius Jr. | 3-1 (39')
⚽ Rodrygo | 4-1 (64')

✍️ https://t.co/NCyuBsudRi pic.twitter.com/Zflegia8Mm

— RFEF (@rfef) January 14, 2024

“(Vinicius) needed two or three games to get back to his best level, and he’s back to it,” said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian has now gone level with Zinedine Zidane on 11 trophies won at the helm of Los Blancos, behind only Miguel Munoz on 14. “I’m happy, but now we’ve got to go for the 12th,” Ancelotti told Real Madrid TV. Spanish champions Barcelona were hoping a victory could kick-start their season, as it did last year, but were left soundly beaten, after Vinicius netted two early goals. “(I’m) disappointed, sad … this is football and today we have to deal with the bitter side of the game,” Xavi told Movistar. “We had a lot of hope and excitement going into the final and we’ve had our worst game of all of them.”

☺️ Abrazos, muchos abrazos. También gritos, sonrisas y mensajes para todo el madridismo.

🔥 ¡¡Esta es la celebración de los 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦!!

❝Quiero que esto se repita más veces❞

❝Estoy en el equipo de mi vida❞

🤍 @realmadrid 🤍#superSupercopa pic.twitter.com/cBlOxPktKu

— RFEF (@rfef) January 14, 2024

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Xavi turned to a four-man midfield to try and keep the ball to reduce Madrid’s opportunities to counter attack with flying wingers Vinicius and Rodrygo — it didn’t work. Spain international Pedri started in place of winger Raphinha, who suffered a hamstring injury in the semi-final win over Osasuna. Ancelotti brought in midfielder Toni Kroos, who like in the thrilling semi-final derby win over Atletico Madrid, was jeered by spectators at the Al-Awwal Park stadium in Riyadh, for criticising players moving to the Saudi league from Europe. One of the first was Cristiano Ronaldo and Vinicius’ celebration brought him to mind after opening the scoring in the seventh minute. The Brazilian, recently back after injury, was sent through by a perfect pass by Jude Bellingham and he slickly rounded Inaki Pena before slotting home. Vinicius imitated Ronaldo’s classic jump and spin celebration in homage to Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer. Three minutes later, Vinicius pounced again, this time set up by Rodrygo who exploited Barcelona’s high line and cut the ball across for his compatriot to slide in. ‘Reset’

El momento más esperado por toda la afición del @realmadrid... 🤍🏆

¡@nachofi1990 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔 𝗟𝗔 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗣𝗔 𝗗𝗘 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰!

👏👏👏👏#superSupercopa pic.twitter.com/XrYGj0jYfk

— RFEF (@rfef) January 14, 2024

Xavi’s side scrambled furiously for a response and Ferran Torres hit the crossbar before Andriy Lunin tipped Lewandowski’s follow up over. The Ukrainian goalkeeper could do nothing, however, to keep Lewandowski’s vicious volley out in the 33rd minute, hammered in hard and low from the edge of the box. However instead of fighting back, Araujo swiftly gifted Vinicius a chance to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot by tugging back the forward in the box. Vinicius drilled his penalty into the bottom left corner for his first Clasico hat-trick to double his goal tally against Barcelona – he had previously scored only three in 15 games. Xavi rolled the dice in the second half with an attacking triple substitution but Madrid soon had their fourth. Araujo completed a dismal night by earning a red card as he hacked Vinicius in frustration. Rodrygo was in the right place at the right time to convert after Jules Kounde blocked a Vinicius cut-back searching for Bellingham. Kounde cleared a low effort from England international Bellingham off the line as Madrid sought another to rub salt in their rivals’ wounds late on. “We need to reset ourselves and fight for the three trophies we have left,” added Xavi. “Football is a game of errors and we did not minimise ours and we maximised Madrid’s strengths.” Vinicius admits to being ’no saint’ but trying to improve

🌟 𝗠𝗩𝗣!
🌟 𝗠𝗩𝗣!
🌟 𝗠𝗩𝗣!#superSupercopa https://t.co/KbNzJadG9Q pic.twitter.com/yjMuj0speG

— RFEF (@rfef) January 14, 2024

Vinicius Junior admitted he was “no saint” after inspiring Real Madrid to win the Spanish Super Cup. The Brazilian winger, 23, is often criticised by opponents for going down easily, confronting officials and humiliating them with dribbles. Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo was sent off for two yellow cards, both for fouls on Vinicius. Players and staff on Barcelona’s bench, including midfielder Sergi Roberto, appeared to remonstrate with Vinicius in the second half. “I’m very sad because everyone wants to fight with me because they know it will come out in the media,” Vinicius told reporters after the game. “I try to focus on the game to do the best for my team-mates (but) I am not a saint, sometimes I talk too much, do dribbles I shouldn’t do, but I am here to improve. “I want to improve, my team-mates and the coach are showing me what I have to do.” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said he took Vinicius off in the final stages because he was tired. “I took off Vinicius for all the effort he’d put in, not to avoid problems,” the Italian told reporters. “I took him off for the last 10 minutes. Vinicius has to do his job, which is to make people excited and bring trophies to Real Madrid.” Vinicius was by far the best player on the pitch as Real Madrid crushed their rivals to avenge last year’s Super Cup final defeat. The Brazilian’s hat-trick doubled his tally of goals against Barcelona, now six in 16 appearances. Vinicius celebrated his first goal in the style of Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Real Madrid striker and the club’s all-time top goalscorer, who now plays in Saudi Arabia. “The celebration was for Cris, because he’s my idol, and now he is playing here,” said Vinicius. “The people in Saudi Arabia have a special love for me, I am very happy for what we did today. “To beat Barcelona 4-1 is very hard and today we had an almost perfect game.” Xavi admits Barcelona lacking in every way in Real Madrid thrashing

Por vuestra lucha.
Por vuestro esfuerzo.
Por no bajar nunca los brazos.

💙❤️ Gracias, @FCBarcelona_es.#superSupercopa pic.twitter.com/Z5wPOecmpO

— RFEF (@rfef) January 14, 2024

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez criticised his team for their inadequate performance. Xavi said his team gave a bad account of themselves. “We were lacking in every way and have to apologise to the fans, we did not show the level to compete in a final,” Xavi told reporters. “It’s a heavy defeat, as a Barca fan I’m disappointed, we put on one of our worst displays of the season. “This is not the image that Barca have to show, especially in a final against Real Madrid.” “We did not stop counter-attacks and runs, we started in the worst way in a final, we were trailing for the whole game,” added Xavi. “We reacted well with Robert’s goal and then with the penalty, the game basically ended there.” Xavi said his team had to work on their mistakes after the defeat, but that three trophies were still at stake this season. Barcelona visit third-tier Unionistas de Salamanca in the Copa del Rey last 16 on Thursday. “It’s a trophy lost, we have to be self-critical (but) I still believe in the project and we can still have a great season,” said the coach. “I think we can turn the situation around … everything continues, I’ve been in these situations many times, there’s nothing for it but sucking up the criticism.”