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Barca defeats Real Madrid with a score of 3-1 to win the Spanish Super Cup 2022, the first title under coach Xavi, thanks to a brilliant performance by Gavi.
In this season's La Liga match, Real beat Barca 3-1 at the Bernabeu Stadium. In the previous Spanish Super Cup, the royal team defeated Barca 3-2 in the semifinals and then defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in the final to win the title for the second time in three years.
But with a 3-1 victory at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia yesterday, Xavi's team avenged their loss and claimed the first title of the 2022-2023 season. Barca also extended their record of winning the Spanish Super Cup to 14 times, two more than Real.
Xavi claimed the first title as Barca's head coach. As a player, he scored 85 goals in 767 matches, winning eight La Liga titles, three King's Cups, six Spanish Super Cups, four Champions Leagues, two European Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups.
In 2019, the RFEF reached an agreement of $43 million for a 10-year contract with the Saudi Arabian Sports Authority to increase the number of teams in the Spanish Super Cup from two to four and to hold the tournament in the Middle East. According to the rules, the two teams that finish first in La Liga and reach the previous King's Cup final will participate in the Spanish Super Cup held on King Fahd's field in Saudi Arabia.
Real and Barca have always participated in the new version of the Spanish Super Cup, but yesterday's game was the first time the two teams met in the final. They met in the Cup final in the same scenario, when Barca defeated Betis, while Real defeated Valencia in a shootout after a 2-2 draw in 120 minutes.
Compared to the semifinals, coach Carlo Ancelotti made many changes in the lineup. Luka Modric returned to play in the midfield with Toni Kroos and Eduardo Camavinga. Federico Valverde was pushed up to play as a forward with Karim Benzema and Vinicius, while Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy took turns playing as wing-backs, replacing Lucas Vazquez and Nacho Fernandez.
On the opposing side, Xavi showed caution by using four central midfielders: Gavi, Pedri, Frenkie De Jong, and Sergio Busquets. As a result, Busquets played in his 45th El Clasico match in his career across all competitions, equalling the records of Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos. Barca's attack was a combination of Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele, with Raphinha and Ansu Fati on the bench as substitutes.
In the first half, Barca dominated with 54% possession, creating seven scoring opportunities with three shots on target, while Real only had one shot off target. The first chance came in the 13th minute when Lewandowski took a shot from outside the box that was saved by Thibaut Courtois, but the rebound was hit in by Alejandro Balde.
The difference was created in the 33rd minute when Eduardo Camavinga lost the ball near his own goal. The ball was passed through Dembele, Pedri, and Lewandowski, and finally reached Gavi inside the box. The Spanish midfielder faked a shot and then chipped the ball into the upper corner of the goal. At 18 years and 163 days old, Gavi is the youngest player to score in El Clasico since Ansu Fati in October 2020 at 17 years and 359 days old.
In the 45th minute, Gavi assisted by crossing the ball for Lewandowski to tap into the empty net, doubling the lead. This is the fifth time Barca has scored at least two goals in the first 45 minutes against Real since the 2005-2006 season. They won all four previous times, with scores of 4-3 in March 2014, 3-0 in November 2015, 5-1 in October 2018, and 4-0 in March 2022.
In the second half, Barca continued to dominate and created many scoring opportunities. In the 51st minute, Balde speeded up from his own half and took a shot that was saved by Courtois. Four minutes later, Lewandowski had a chance to shoot inside the box, but Courtois again saved it.
Barca's dominance was reflected in the third goal in the 69th minute. Gavi passed to Pedri who tapped the ball into the empty net. This is the 57th time Barca scored at least three goals in a match against Real, more than any other team. Second, in this statistic is Athletic Bilbao with 38 matches.
Real's late efforts only led to a single goal, scored by Karim Benzema after two consecutive shots inside the box.
The starting lineups were:
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