'It's unbelievable'

Barcelona boss Flick admits 5-2 rout of Real Madrid in Spanish Super Cup final was unexpected; Real manager Ancelotti rues poor defensive framework

Barcelona hammered rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in a wild Spanish Super Cup Clasico final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the first trophy of the Hansi Flick era. 

Kylian Mbappe put Madrid ahead but a dominant Barcelona hit five in response before their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the second half. 

Madrid were hoping to avenge their 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona in October’s La Liga Clasico but instead were left battered and bruised by their arch-rivals in Jeddah.

Also Read: We didn’t get what we deserved: Mikel Arteta

The dejected Madrid players

After Mbappe’s opener, Lamine Yamal levelled and Robert Lewandowski sent Barcelona ahead from the penalty spot, with Raphinha bagging a brace and Alejandro Balde also on target. Rodrygo Goes pulled one back for Madrid with a free-kick but they could not capitalise further on their numerical advantage in a humiliating defeat for the European champions. 

“I think today is a good day because we beat one of the best teams in the world, for the second time this season, Real Madrid, and this is unbelievable,” Flick told reporters. “We won a title here and we are really happy... today is a day to look positively at this team.” 

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said his team’s poor defending was the main reason for the heavy defeat. “We defended badly and that cost us the game — they found their goals quite easily,” Ancelotti told Movistar. 

“We’re sad, like all our fans, it’s disappointing and we don’t have to hide that,” added the veteran manager.

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