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The Arab classic, the final for the first title of the season, the Spanish Super Cup, was the classic in the show of Vini, who had fought with the sticks and the penalty spot in Dallas the previous season, and in de Montjuïc was deranged by Araújo and saved by Bellingham. In Riyadh, the Brazilian put in an impressive performance with a hat-trick in 38 minutes and an overwhelmed Araújo, who gave him a penalty and ended up being sent off for another foul on Vinicius. The Brazilian is once again a nuclear threat in a Real Madrid side that dictated the match against a vulnerable Barcelona that lacked any element of surprise in attack.
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Andriy Lunin, Ferland Mendy, Nacho, Dani Carvajal, Rüdiger, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde (Dani Ceballos, Min. 86), Jude Bellingham (Joselu, Min. 85), Kroos (Modric, Min. 81), Vinicius Junior (Camavinga ). , Min. 81) and Rodrygo (Brahim Diaz, Min. 76)
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Iñaki Peña, Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Alex Balde, A. Christensen, Ferrán Torres (João Félix, min. 61), Pedri (Lamine Yamal, min. 61), Gündogan, Sergi Roberto (Fermín López, min. 61), Frenkie De Jong and Lewandowski
Goals 1-0 Min. 7: Vinicius Junior. 2:0 minutes. 10: Vinicius Junior. 2-1 min. 32: Lewandowski. 3-1 min 38: Vinicius Junior. 4-1 min 63: Rodrygo.
referee Juan Martinez Munuera
Yellow cards Ronald Araújo (min. 36), Sergi Roberto (min. 39), Jude Bellingham (min. 42) and Rüdiger (min. 62)
Xavi's team had a plan until Vinicius' first race through a deserted meadow. Bellingham turned, sent the ball into space through the middle, and the Brazilian ran alone to a date with Iñaki Peña after an indecision from Koundé. He dribbled past the goalkeeper and broke up the game that had lasted barely six minutes. Madrid's gunpowder had been revealed and just seconds later they were about to repeat it with a shot from Rodrygo which Peña parried. The final seemed to fall apart right from the start.
Xavi had decided to push the defensive line well and Ancelotti's team welcomed the invitation to run behind it. The next to explore the option was Carvajal on his right wing, where he launched Rodrygo with an open world. The Brazilian advanced on that side while Vinicius flew into the box from the other side. From Brazilian to Brazilian: The seventh player slipped while sitting on the green and scored the second goal.
After Barcelona was overwhelmed, Madrid calmed down and partly encouraged the Blaugrana to continue to give up property behind them. Xavi's team advanced pass by pass, around De Jong, Gündogan and Pedri, finally getting into the starting lineup after his latest injury. With the canary, Barça gains control, order and determination. And so Madrid withdrew, feeling no more threat from Barça than the loss of ground. It was a harmless domain. Real waited comfortably without worrying, always looking at the back of the opposition defense out of the corner of their eye. With this panorama of a boring Barça and a Madrid with a bad idea, the final hung by a thread. And that thread was Ronald Araújo, the guard of Vinicius, and also Bellingham, when they were chasing Rüdiger's diagonals. Always on the verge of being alone in front of the goalkeeper again.
Controlling Barcelona, and the advanced troops trying to encircle Madrid posed a huge risk. Always on the verge of disaster, unable to figure out where to threaten Lunin, Ancelotti's goalkeeper after Kepa's uncertainty in the semi-final against Atletico. The balance of the competition in goal seems to be another point in favor of the Ukrainian, who Carletto has already announced for Thursday's cup round of 16 against Atlético in the Metropolitano. The play did not result in Lunin's goal for Barcelona, which came after a poor save from Mendy and an exquisite volley from the edge of the box from Lewandowski. An unattainable cannon shot that opened a brief moment in which Madrid seemed within reach again. But not.
Ancelotti's battalion was in command, giving the impression that it had been handed over to Barça. Lewandowski's goal, which he scored for the third time in a row, responded with an advance into opponent's territory. The Blaugrana watched the tide change rather thoughtfully. Bellingham, Kroos and Tchouameni always had time and space to maneuver.
In one of them the Frenchman saw Vinicius crossing the area, as he almost always did, accompanied by Araújo. As the throw was about to reach the Brazilian, the Uruguayan knocked him down with his arm. The penalty was requested by Vini himself while the team was still trying to get out of the confusion caused by the maximum penalties. The Brazilian had already failed against Barça in Dallas in July. But in Arabia he did it right and completed the hat-trick before the break. Then Madrid rested again.
The duel returned to the previous balance, with the Blaugrana playing with a little more Pedri each time, closer to the Lunin area but not closer to the goal. Barça had the ball, but the ball didn't work like the stone on which this cathedral of control was once built. He barely threatened to bring in Lamine Yamal, João Félix and Fermín.
The helm rested with Madrid and in particular with Vinicius, who after the first two muscle tears of his career can fly like never before, especially when he finds a field in front of him. That's how he designed the room. He took the area and looked for Bellingham, but Koundé cleared and Rodrygo closed out the night. Although Madrid didn't lower the blinds. With another goal from Araújo's dismissal, Brahim came into play, a guy with an insatiable appetite who, as soon as he entered the pitch, left a groove with a brutal braking maneuver that obliterated the defense, although Iñaki Peña disabled the shot. Real were hoping for a memorable victory but the scoreboard remained at four and the team is euphoric heading into their next big stop, another derby on Thursday in the Copa del Rey round of 16.
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