Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Raphinha was Barcelona’s hero as his side retained the Spanish Super Cup with a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in Jeddah on January 11. The Brazilian scored his side’s first goal and then netted the winner in the second half with a touch of fortune to decide a thrilling game where Madrid looked for an equalizer until the final moments.
Madrid started with Kylian Mbappe in the bench and Dean Huijsen in for Antonio Rudiger in defense, with coach Xabi Alonso adopting a pragmatic policy of getting his side to defend deep and look to hit Barcelona on the break, reports Xinhua.
With Barcelona careful not to give the ball away to allow Madrid the chance to break, the first half hour was a cautious affair, although both Vinicius – who had an excellent game after having been criticized on Thursday – and Gonzalo Garcia had chances to put Madrid ahead, only for both to hit weak shots at Joan Garcia in the Barcelona goal.
Barcelona gradually pushed Madrid further back, with Fermin Lopez denied by Thibaut Courtois before Raphinha fired wide after 35 minutes when put though by Lamine Yamal. A minute later the Brazilian drilled Barca ahead with a low shot, and with Yamal springing to life, Barca could have killed the game with Courtois denying Fermin again and Yamal going close with a near-post effort.