Barcelona clip Real Madrid to lift Spanish Super Cup

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP):

Raphinha scored twice in Saudi Arabia as Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2 yesterday in the final of the Spanish Super Cup.

Raphinha's 73rd-minute winner came in a fortuitous manner after he slipped while shooting and the shot deflected off Madrid defender Raul Asencio to fool goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

The clasico final featured a hectic end to the first half when three stoppage-time goals were scored before the break, two by Real Madrid and one by Barcelona, who beat Madrid 5-2 in last year's final.

Kylian Mbappe, who had missed the semifinals of the mini-Super Cup tournament because of a knee issue, entered the match in the 76th minute but couldn't do enough to help Madrid equalise. The France forward missed Madrid's win over Atletico Madrid in the semifinals on Thursday but then travelled from Spain to Saudi Arabia to be available for the final of the mini-tournament.

Robert Lewandowski also scored for Barcelona. Madrid's goals were scored by Vinicius Junior and Gonzalo Garcia.

The Catalan club opened the scoring with Raphinha in a breakaway in the 36th minute. Madrid equalised with a superb goal from Vinicius two minutes into first-half added time, with the Brazil forward capping a nice run by splitting a couple of defenders before scoring from inside the area.

Vinicius hadn't scored in 16 matches with Madrid, since October.

Lewandowski put Barcelona back ahead two minutes after Vinicius' goal, and Garcia evened the game again three minutes later at the end of the first half.

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong was sent off in second-half stoppage time.

Barcelona reached the Super Cup semifinals by routing Athletic Bilbao 5-0, while Madrid defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1.

NEW VENUE FOR 2027

The president of the Spanish football federation, Rafael Louzan, said yesterday that the final of next year's edition will be played either in Qatar or Kuwait because Saudi Arabia will be hosting the Asian Cup.

The final will return to Saudi Arabia in 2028 and will be played there until at least through 2030.