Barcelona recovered from a stunning opening goal to beat Real Madrid at Jeddah's King Abdullah Sports City after goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the 56th minute.
Madrid striker Mbappe charged across almost half the pitch to score his first goal in the fixture known as El Clasico. Lamine Yamal He equalized after 17 minutes, calmly slotting home Robert Lewandowski's clever first-time cross into the box.
Lewandowski converted a penalty, Rafinha buried an emphatic header from Jules Kounde's cross, Alejandro Baldi counter-attacked to give Hans Flick a 4-1 extra-time lead, and the Brazil winger fired again three minutes from time.
When Szczesny was shown a straight red card for clearly denying Mbappe a goal, midfielder Gavi made way for Inaki Pena, who was brought down late on ahead of Barca's semi-final clash.
Pina didn't have much time to settle before Rodrigo responded with a magnificent free-kick for Madrid. It proved little relief as the European champions' five-game winning streak ended and Barcelona exacted revenge in style for last season's 4-1 defeat in the final.
first half one image #ElClΓ‘sico pic.twitter.com/DVH74c22CX
β FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 12 2025
Barcelona won the Spanish Super Cup.
Barcelona have endured a remarkably poor run of form since a 4-0 win in Madrid on October 26 followed by a 3-1 home win over Espanyol a week later.
Flick's side are already at the top of the table in his first season, but have lost four and won one of seven league games, making the results crucial for the confidence of his players.
They recovered thanks to Mbappe's brilliant runs and trickery for the opener, and Balde's three goals in the 10th minute of the first half gave their performances some significance.
In his second game back from injury after scoring in Wednesday's 2-0 semi-final win over Athletic Bilbao, Yamal collected a stray cross on the edge of his penalty area and found Raphinha as part of a move that went most of his length. It ends with a bold search in the field.
π ππππππππππππππ! π pic.twitter.com/oNI37RtVUZ
β FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 12 2025
Madrid Barcelona matches
Madrid, who beat Mallorca 3-0 in the semi-finals, are five points ahead of second-placed Barcelona. FederationAtletico Madrid lead by one point.
After traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Super Cup, Barca host Real Betis on Wednesday (8.30pm GMT) and things have been quick for both teams.
Madrid play at home to Celta Vigo a day later (8.30pm), while 14th-placed Las Palmas host Ligue on Sunday (3.15pm).
On Saturday (8pm), Barcelona travel to 15th-placed Getafe, who have scored the fewest goals in the relegation zone, and will target their first league victory since December 3.