JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia – In the historic center of Jeddah, in the ancient heart of the city, there is a Football field. It’s not much: an uneven, synthetic turf surface and two undersized goals. There are spotlights and white lines on the ground, but there are no seats for spectators. It is surrounded by crumbling walls, semi-abandoned buildings and a few palm trees. This is football, as always and everywhere.
But the game has changed. The 2034 FIFA World Cup is approaching. Cristiano Ronaldo plays here in the Saudi Pro League and also Karim Benzema at Al Ittihad in Jeddah. And 20 miles north of that ground – an hour’s drive on a good day for traffic – there is another: inside the 62,000-capacity Al Jawhara stadium, in the King Abdullah Sports City, home of the Spanish Supercopa of 2025.
This tournament has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020 – with a one-year break due to the pandemic – moving between Jeddah and the capital Riyadh. Its latest iteration pits last season’s top two La Liga finishers and Copa del Rey finalists against each other in a “final four”. The contract, signed until 2029, is worth around 40 million euros per year to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). Half goes to the clubs.
Everyone here, apart from the fans of the other two teams involved, wants a Real Madrid-Barcelona final. This is the raison d’être of an improved tournament: to bring competitiveness Classicowith the trophy up for grabs, towards Saudi Arabia, with all the attention – and profit – it generates.
“Are you going to the game?” a baggage handler at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport asked excitedly. “I hope it’s Real Madrid-Barcelona. It would be a beautiful final.”
And there it is, the third Classico Consecutive Super Cup finals, following Barça’s 3-1 win in 2023 and Real’s 4-1 win in 2024. Barcelona’s 5-2 win on Sunday had All. Seven goals. Sorry. Red card. These matches are inherently unpredictable, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti explained the day before.
“Quality prevails,” said Ancelotti. “There is so much individual quality to overcome a team that is predominantly defensive.
As it turns out, that wasn’t a bad summary. Individual quality? Meant for Barcelona Lamine Yamal, RafhinhaAnd Roberto Lewandowski. For Madrid: Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Vinicio the Younger.
Defend yourself? Not so much.
Mistakes from both teams only added to the drama. Barcelona had two scoring chances in the first five minutes, Thibaut Courtois saving Yamal’s curling shot and then Raphinh’s header. But less than a minute later, Real Madrid were back on the counterattack, Mbappé sprinting from the halfway line and twisting Alessandro Balde in knots before firing over goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Mbappé’s first Classicoin October’s La Liga it failed: Real lost 4-0 and Mbappé experienced a mini-crisis of confidence, caught in Barcelona’s merciless offside trap a record eight times. Here his confidence was high. Real Madrid have played in three finals this season: the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. Mbappé scored in all of them. He soon shrugged off Ronald Nazario-style challenges before being knocked down and injuring his ankle.
But Barcelona’s dominance in possession was already clear, with 83% of ball possession in the first 20 minutes. And it wasn’t long before they were level, a quick transition ending with Lewandowski playing into Yamal, doing what he does: cutting inside, Lionel Messi-like and finishing left-footed past Courtois. The goals kept coming. In the 35th minute penalty for Barça, awarded after the VAR review Edoardo Camavinga caught Gavi with his studs. Lewandowski scored to make it 2:1.
This was exactly the show the federation and the Saudis wanted, a clash between the two biggest clubs in the world. But then Barcelona found another speed and Real Madrid collapsed.
“They scored goals easily,” Ancelotti said afterwards. “We lost many duels… I don’t have to name anyone, I’m talking about the whole team, we defended badly.
Two more Barcelona goals followed before half-time, Raphinha scoring Courtois and Balde scoring in the last of nine minutes of added time. It was 4-1 and the Barcelona bench was blowing up in celebration. Ancelotti changed and brought in Dani Ceballos for Camavinga, Rodrygo was booked and gave Real Madrid hope by hitting the crossbar from an offside position. But a minute later Rafhinha scores again. 5-1.
The Real Madrid fans in the stadium sat in stunned silence. Even Barcelona couldn’t believe what was happening. The game ended as a contest, but the action kept coming. Mbappé beats Szczesné and is brought down on the edge of the area, the goalkeeper is sent off, Barça are left with 10 men. Rodrygo converted the free kick. There was time for that too Daniele Olmo – whose availability for the tournament was uncertain until the Spanish Sports Ministry (CSD) decided he should be temporarily re-registered as a Barça player – played the final half Now. By the final whistle, many Real Madrid fans had already left their seats and headed towards the exits.
Barcelona’s 5-2 win is emblematic of a season that has so far been characterized by uncertainty. Barça looked unstoppable from the start, leading La Liga; then their form fell apart as Real slowly found themselves and Bellingham started to score. But Barça did not always play badly after defeat and Real Madrid often failed to convince in victory. And right now there is not a single team at the top of La Liga, halfway through the season: it is Atletico Madrid, who comfortably beat Osasuna 1-0 in the league on Sunday.
Nobody knows what will happen in the second half of the season, but this was a night of triumphal rebirth for Barcelona, for coach Hansi Flick and his players, and a blow for Real Madrid, who don’t lose many finals, certainly not allowing five. goals.
And it was a great evening for the Spanish Football Federation. Selling such a product is easy.
“For us (the Saudis), football belongs to two countries: Brazil and Spain,” Fahad, a driver and security guard, told me before the match. It is a famous company. After winning Euro 2024, Spain is back, the image of the national team has been restored. After this Supercopa, there is also Barcelona.
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