RIYADH
\nBarcelona 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.
\nInspired 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.
\nHaving 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.
\nKarim 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.
\nMadrid 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.
\n\u201cWe 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,\u201d Barca captain Sergio Busquets told Movistar.
\n\u201cYou know how (Gavi) competes, he\u2019s very young \u2014 most players at his age would be in the youth team \u2014 and he\u2019s playing at an incredible level, giving assists, getting goals.
\n\u201cHe has a brilliant future ahead of him and a lot of room to improve. I hope he\u2019s a player who marks an era at Barca.\u201d
\nXavi 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.
\nToni Kroos played as Madrid\u2019s deepest midfielder with Aurelien Tchouameni out injured, and he was overrun.
\nMadrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a brilliant early save to deny Lewandowski, tipping his low drive against the post, while Benzema headed narrowly off-target.
\nBarcelona broke the deadlock when Busquets pressed well after a loose Antonio Rudiger pass, leading to Lewandowski feeding Gavi, who slotted home confidently.
\nPedri and Ousmane Dembele were also involved in an exchange of slick passes before Lewandowski teed up Gavi, whose clever run went untracked.
\nGavi turned provider for the second, running onto De Jong\u2019s pass and sliding the ball across for Lewandowski to finish clinically.
\nThe Catalans\u2019 dominance brought back memories of their 4-0 win over Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu last season, which had been the highlight of Xavi\u2019s time in charge, until now.
\nReal \u2018weaknesses\u2019
\nGavi, who won the Golden Boy award in 2022, was the game\u2019s outstanding performer and showed Barcelona are in good hands both now and for years to come.
\nMadrid\u2019s own young star Vinicius Junior was shackled by Ronald Araujo, the Uruguayan playing at right-back to directly subdue the Brazilian\u2019s threat.
\nCourtois denied Dembele after a brilliant Alejandro Balde run and the overworked Belgian stopper was keeping Madrid\u2019s slim hopes alive.
\nBy contrast, Barcelona\u2019s Marc-Andre Ter Stegen went untested until the 70th minute, when he collected a long-distance Kroos effort, by when his side had netted their third.
\nLewandowski released Gavi, who crossed for Pedri to tap home at the back post as Barcelona romped to a compelling victory.
\nPedri, 20, also won the Golden Boy award in 2021 and is another emblem of the maturing young talent at Xavi\u2019s disposal.
\nThe only blot on Barcelona\u2019s copybook was a late Benzema strike, finishing after his first effort was blocked.
\n\u201cWe have to learn, it\u2019s a difficult moment and that\u2019s it,\u201d Ancelotti told Movistar.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have to do too much. We knew before the game the team wasn\u2019t at its very best.
\n\u201cThe game exposed some weaknesses, it\u2019s a blow, we have to recover and prepare for the next game.\u201d
\nThe biggest blow for Madrid may prove to be the morale boost the victory is for their rivals.
\nAlthough Xavi will ultimately be judged on his performance in major competitions \u2014 and Barcelona has already been eliminated from this season\u2019s Champions League \u2014 he will take heart from this victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-307996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n