A brace from Raphinha inspired Barcelona to a dramatic 3–2 victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, as the Catalans successfully retained the trophy and extended their winning run to 10 matches across all competitions, scoring at least twice in each.

In a vibrant atmosphere at the stadium known as the “Jewel,” Real Madrid began on the front foot. Vinícius Júnior was the main early threat, firing straight at goalkeeper Joan Garcia when well placed. Barcelona soon settled into their familiar passing rhythm, though Álvaro Carreras was fortunate to escape a red card following a studs-up challenge on Lamine Yamal.

Raphinha was Barcelona’s most dangerous outlet throughout the opening period. The Brazilian first tested Thibaut Courtois with a tame effort before dragging another shot wide after a superb team move initiated by Yamal. Real Madrid failed to heed those warnings, and Raphinha made no mistake moments later, sliding calmly past Courtois to give Barça the lead.

Los Blancos responded positively and found an equaliser against the run of play in stoppage time, as Vinícius produced a moment of brilliance to restore parity. The drama continued before the break, however, with Robert Lewandowski timing his run perfectly to beat the offside trap and loft the ball over Courtois. Real struck back almost immediately, as Gonzalo Garcia scrambled home from a corner while falling backwards to make it 2–2 at half-time.

Real Madrid emerged with greater purpose after the interval and went close to taking the lead, only for Joan Garcia to deny Vinícius with a sharp save. Raphinha then sent a free-kick narrowly over the bar before a fiercely contested spell followed, featuring numerous fouls, yellow cards, and a flurry of substitutions as both managers sought a decisive edge.

Courtois produced a stunning point-blank save to keep the scores level as Barcelona regained control, but the Belgian could do nothing to prevent the decisive moment. Raphinha’s low right-footed effort appeared harmless until it took a cruel deflection off Raúl Asencio, looping into the net to hand Barcelona the lead for a third time.

The contest remained frantic to the end as Real Madrid pushed for another equaliser. Even the late loss of Frenkie de Jong following a challenge on Kylian Mbappé failed to derail Barcelona, who held firm to lift the Spanish Super Cup for the first time since 2011.