January 13 – Not many neutrals saw this coming given the respective form of the two teams.
But Barcelona hammered rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup Clasico final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the first trophy of the Hansi Flick era, coming from behind to do so.
Barca had only won one of their last seven La Liga games and sit five points behind Real in the table – with Atletico Madrid top by one point. Carlo Ancelotti’s Real, meanwhile, had won their last five games in all competitions and were last beaten on December 4.
Kylian Mbappe put 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 home defeat by Barcelona in October’s La Liga Clasico but instead were left battered by their arch-rivals in Jeddah.
“I think today is a good day because we beat one of the best teams in the world, for the second time this season, Real Madrid, and this is unbelievable,” Flick said after Barca won a record-extending 15th Spanish Super Cup.
“We can’t always win, if we have to lose a cup, it’s better that it’s this one,” said Real’s veteran midfielder Luka Modric.
Contact the writer of this story at andrew.warshaw@insideworldfootball.com