JEDDAH: Barcelona hammered rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in a wild Spanish Super Cup Clasico final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the first trophy of the Hansi Flick era.
The electric Kylian Mbappe sent Madrid ahead but a dominant Barcelona hit five in response before their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the second half.
Madrid were hoping to avenge their 4-0 defeat by Barcelona in October’s La Liga Clasico but instead were left battered and bruised by their arch-rivals in Jeddah.
After Mbappe’s opener, Lamine Yamal levelled and Robert Lewandowski sent Barcelona ahead from the penalty spot, with Raphinha bagging a brace and Alejandro Balde also on target.
Rodrygo Goes pulled one back for Madrid with a free-kick but they could not capitalize further on their numerical advantage in a humiliating defeat for the European champions.
Both Flick and his opposite number Carlo Ancelotti opted to maintain the same line-ups they started with in the semifinals.
Yamal issued Madrid an early warning with a curling effort from the right which forced Thibaut Courtois into a fine save.
The Belgian goalkeeper also produced a strong stop to keep a Raphinha header at bay after the Brazilian evaded Lucas Vazquez with ease.
Despite Barcelona’s opening salvo it was Real Madrid who took the lead in the fifth minute with Mbappe’s brilliant goal on the counter-attack.
The French forward, frustrated numerous times by the offside flag in the league defeat by the Catalans, broke loose on the halfway line after Vinicius won the ball back and, after bursting into the area, clipped past Szczesny.
It took a stunning individual goal from 17-year-old Yamal to level the scoreline, with the Spanish winger cutting in from the right before stroking home a low finish inside the near post in a similar style to former Barca great Lionel Messi, whom he is often compared to.
Inigo Martinez hobbled off injured and Flick sent on Ronald Araujo in his place, amidst heavy transfer speculation the Uruguayan defender wants to leave the club.
Barcelona kept pushing and moved ahead through Lewandowski’s penalty after Eduardo Camavinga arrived late and carelessly clattered Gavi.
Raphinha soon added Barcelona’s third with a header from Jules Kounde’s cross from deep and they grabbed their fourth before half-time on the break.
Yamal and Raphinha combined and the latter slipped in Balde, who slotted past Courtois.
Barcelona continued in the same vein after the break and Raphinha netted the fifth with a neat dribble and finish after Marc Casado played him in.
The Catalans were reduced to 10 men when Mbappe sped in at the other end, rounding goalkeeper Szczesny, who brought him down outside the area and after a VAR review was dismissed.
Rodrygo, who earlier hit the post, rifled home the free-kick past Szczesny’s replacement Inaki Pena.
Mbappe brilliantly teed up Jude Bellingham but the England international was denied by a superb Kounde challenge in stoppage time.
The French forward also came close to scoring again himself on a fine individual display but Pena tipped away his effort.
Barcelona brought on midfielder Dani Olmo for his first appearance since he was registered to play for the club on a temporary basis, a controversial issue which overshadowed the semifinals earlier in the week.
However their five-star display offered a host of other talking points as Barca won a record-extending 15th Spanish Super Cup.
Five-star Barcelona smash Real Madrid to win Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah
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Five-star Barcelona smash Real Madrid to win Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah
- Kylian Mbappe put Madrid ahead but dominant Barcelona hit five in response
Davidson wins dramatic play-off with eagle at Address Marassi
- Welshman completes remarkable turnaround after opening-round 71 to claim maiden MENA Golf Tour title
- Adam Elshamy is leading amateur and leading Egyptian for second consecutive week
AL-ALAMEIN: Welshman Jack Davidson holed an eagle putt on the first play-off hole to beat Spain’s Juan Salama and claim victory at the Egypt Golf Series Address Marassi Golf Resort 2.
Both players finished regulation play at 14 under par after matching four-under 68s, setting up a dramatic conclusion on the par-five 18th.
Returning to the 18th for the play-off, both players found the fairway off the tee. Davidson went first with his approach and found the center of the green in two. Salama’s second shot finished just off in the fringe, and with the pin removed he backed himself to hole the eagle chip, but the lie was not ideal and he caught it slightly heavy, leaving it short of the hole. Davidson then stepped up and rolled in his eagle putt from 25 feet to seal a remarkable victory.
The triumph caps an incredible week for the Welshman, who was one over par after an opening 71 before firing a course record-equaling 63 in Round 2 to propel himself into contention.
“It’s been a bit of a journey over the last few days, and really over the last couple of years," Davidson said. “I wasn’t really in the tournament after the first round, but shooting 63 put me right back in it and gave me a chance going into the final day with so many players close together.
“I was giving myself chances all day and even though the putts weren’t dropping late on, I stayed patient and managed to get myself into the play-off. From there it was just about having no fear and committing fully to every shot. If I was going to win, I wanted to do it by trying my best, not by hoping.”
Davidson’s final round of 68 featured birdies at the fourth, seventh and ninth to turn in three-under 33, with a steady back nine and a closing birdie at the last to force extra holes.
The Welshman spoke emotionally about his difficult journey to reach this point.
“The last couple of years haven’t been easy for me, and towards the end of last year my relationship with golf was in a really poor place,” he said. “Over the past few months I’ve made some big changes and built an amazing support team around me, and they’ve completely turned both my game and my mindset around. I genuinely wouldn’t be standing here without them.
“The return of the MENA Golf Tour has come at the perfect time for me. I was starting to see improvements in my game but didn’t have anywhere to play, and this tour has given me the chance to compete against strong international fields on fantastic golf courses.”
Salama, who led or shared the lead after each of the first two rounds, was gracious in defeat despite coming agonizingly close to victory.
“My game is in really good shape and I played some very solid golf all day,” said the Spaniard, who turned in four-under 32 with birdies at the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth. “It was almost a bogey-free round, which gives me a lot of confidence.
“In the play-off, I was just off the green in two and tried to hole the eagle chip but the lie was not great and got it a little heavy. I still felt I had a really good chance to make birdie but Jack holed a great eagle putt. I tried my best, and that's all you can do.”
Scotland’s Michael Stewart finished alone in third at 13 under after a closing 68, while the Czech Republic’s Dominik Pavoucek and England’s Curtis Knipes shared fourth at 11 under.
MENA Golf Tour Rankings leader Chris Wood finished in a tie for 15th at eight under, while Egypt’s Adam Elshamy claimed the leading amateur and leading Egyptian honors for the second consecutive week, finishing one under par.
“It was an incredible experience, especially to win again and playing the final round alongside Chris Wood,” Elshamy said. “He's such a professional and the way he carries himself on the course is really admirable. That’s something I’ll definitely try to take into my own game going forward.
“What really stood out was how consistent he is with his process. Every shot looks the same, regardless of what happened before or what’s coming next. It made me realize I need to be more process-driven and less reactionary, and that’s something I’ll be working on.”
Davidson collected $18,000 from the $100,000 prize fund along with Official World Golf Ranking points as the MENA Golf Tour's Egypt swing continues.
The tour now heads to Madinaty Golf Club in Cairo for the Egypt Golf Series Madinaty (Feb. 3-5), the final event of the four-tournament Egypt swing.
