Barcelona lift Spanish Super Cup

AFP

Riyadh, Jan 17 : Barcelona convincingly beat Real Madrid 3-1 in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the Spanish Super Cup, their first trophy since coach Xavi Hernandez took over. Inspired by teenager Gavi, who scored himself and set up goals for Robert Lewandowski and Pedri Gonzalez, the Catalans produced one of their best performances in years against their bitter Clasico rivals.

Having enjoyed great success as a player at Barca, Xavi returned in November 2021 and after a summer of heavy spending this emphatic victory is a sign his project is moving in the right direction.

Karim Benzema netted a late consolation for Madrid, who have been far from their best since the World Cup break and also fell three points behind Barcelona in La Liga last weekend.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti suffered his first defeat in a final since 2014, with Los Blancos surrendering the trophy they earned last season to Barcelona, who have now won the Super Cup a record 14 times.

"We knew it was a chance we had to take, we have lived through an era of changes at the club and in the dressing room, and this will reinforce us to keep fighting for more titles," Barca captain Sergio Busquets told Movistar.

Xavi crucially deployed four central midfielders, with 18-year-old Gavi drifting inside off a nominal starting position on the left and frequently giving Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal the slip. Barcelona broke the deadlock when Busquets pressed well after a loose Antonio Rudiger pass, leading to Lewandowski feeding Gavi, who slotted home confidently.

Gavi turned provider for the second, running on to De Jong's pass and sliding the ball across for Lewandowski to finish clinically. Courtois denied Dembele after a brilliant Alejandro Balde run and the overworked Belgian stopper was keeping Madrid's slim hopes alive.

By contrast, Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen went untested until the 70th minute, by when his side had netted their third.

Lewandowski released Gavi, who crossed for Pedri to tap home at the back post as Barcelona romped to a compelling victory. "To say it was humiliation is disrespectful," Ancelotti told a news conference. "We lost a game against Barcelona like we beat them in the league. They played better and they deserved it, full stop."

Atletico drop more points

Atletico Madrid dropped two more points in an increasingly frustrating campaign with a 1-1 draw at Almeria on Sunday in La Liga.

The visitors went ahead through Angel Correa but El Bilal Toure pegged back Diego Simeone's side, fourth and 13 points behind leaders Barcelona.

Atletico should have won the game in the second half but Almeria goalkeeper Fernando Martinez made stunning saves to deny Alvaro Morata and Correa.

Sergio Reguilon, who came on as a substitute, was sent off for Atletico for two yellow cards in under five minutes in the final stages.

Simeone's side have now won just one of their last six league games, against bottom-of-the-table Elche, and could not bounce back from their defeat by Barcelona last weekend.

Atletico had taken the lead in the 18th minute after a clever dummy by Antoine Griezmann allowed Correa to run on to Geoffrey Kondogbia's pass.

The Argentine fired home at the near post to record his 50th league goal for the Rojiblancos.

Eventually the hosts levelled before the break through Toure, netting his fourth league goal of the season with a powerful header from Lucas Robertone's cross.

The Mali international found space behind Axel Witsel and capitalised brilliantly.

Earlier Espanyol won 2-1 at Getafe, with striker Joselu scoring from around 40 yards out.

Espanyol's win means Sevilla drop provisionally to 18th after their defeat at Girona on Saturday.