Vinicius Jr scored a first-half hat-trick as Real Madrid overcame Barcelona to win the Spanish Super Cup.
In the opening ten minutes, the winger scored twice to give Carlo Ancelotti’s team the lead in Saudi Arabia.
With an incredible volley, Robert Lewandowski gave Barca a response, but Vinicius’ penalty kick in the 39th minute gave Los Blancos their two-goal advantage back.
In the second half, Rodrygo added a fourth goal before Ronald Araujo was sent off to end Barca’s suffering.
Recently back from a November hamstring rupture, Vinicius celebrated his first goal in Al Nassr’s King Saud University Stadium with Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic “SIU” goal celebration—where the former Real Madrid player presently plays.
He stated: “The celebration was dedicated to Cristiano Ronaldo, because he is my idol and now he plays here.”
With the win, Madrid won the Super Cup for the third time in a row and moved one win shy of Barcelona’s record 14 titles.
Jude Bellingham was instrumental in the first goal, slipping the ball past Barcelona’s high line so Vinicius could sprint on to it and beat goalie Inaki Pena to score.
After three minutes, Vinicius was able to slip in at the back post as Rodrygo perfectly timed his run in behind to expose Xavi’s side.
When Alejandro Balde’s cross was only headed out to the edge of the box, Lewandowski was able to hammer in a first-time finish, and Barca rallied to get back into the match.
Araujo, however, was ruled to have brought down Vinicius in the box as he attempted to get on the end of a cross by the referee a few minutes later.
The 23-year-old Brazil international calmly tucked the penalty kick home to seal his second Madrid hat-trick, ignoring Barcelona’s protests.
Madrid continued to pose a threat on the break as Barca sent players forward in an attempt to tie the score after the break. Rodrygo scored the fourth goal by taking advantage of some careless defending.
With 20 minutes remaining, Araujo’s anger got the better of him, and he scythed down Vinicius, earning himself another yellow card.
As Madrid attempted to score a fifth goal, Bellingham’s attempt was stopped, but Barca was spared more damage in the last moments.
“We have not shown the level required for a match like this,” Barcelona Xavi said.
“We played our worst game. We weren’t comfortable at any point. Madrid hurt us on the counter. I apologise to the fans because it was hard for us to compete and we showed our worst side.”