Vinicius Junior bagged a quick fire first half hat trick to guide Real Madrid to a 4-1 whitewash of Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final played on Sunday at the Awwal Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 23-year-old Brazilian took full advantage of Barca’s poorly deployed high line to open the floodgates on 7 minutes before converting another from a Rodrygo Goes cross three minutes later.
Robert Lewandowski’s well struck volley on 33 minutes briefly gave Blaugrana hope only for Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo to foul Vinicius Junior in the forbidden area. The Brazilian made no mistake from the resultant spot kick to give Los Blancos a 3-1 half time lead. Rodrygo’s strike midway through the second half gave Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti his first silverware since extending his Santiago Bernabeu tenure to 2026.
Back in Spain, upstarts Girona were held to a goalless draw by bottom club Almeria to miss out on a chance to create distance from the chasing pack. Michel Sanchez’s Liga Santander leaders are now on 49 points, one clear of Real Madrid who have a game in hand. Athletic Bilbao move up to third, level on 41 points with Barcelona but with a superior goal difference by outlasting Real Sociedad 2-1 in the Basque country derby.
In England, Kevin de Bruyne announced his Premier League return from a long injury layoff by scoring once and creating a late winner for Oscar Bobb as Manchester City moved within two points of leaders Liverpool by beating Newcastle United 3-2 at St James Park. The Cityzens are second in the standings, level on 43 points with Aston Villa who were held to a goalless draw at Everton.
There were two more draws. Manchester United saw off a spirited challenge from Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 at Old Trafford while Burnley were held to a 1-1 draw by fellow newcomers Luton Town.
Troubled west Londoners Chelsea edged Fulham 1-0 for their fourth consecutive EPL victory.
Across the border, Paris Saint Germain created a buffer with the chasing pack by subduing hard battling Racing Lens 2-0 thanks to talismanic striker Kylian Mbappe Lottin who created one and scored another. Luis Enrique’s Parisians have accumulated 43 points, eight more than Nice who were out-manouvered at Stade Rennes by an identical margin. Stade Brest moved up to third in the standings by dismissing Montpellier 2-0 but there was a huge upset at the principality Stadium where Monaco were ambushed 3-1 by Stade Reims.
In Germany, Exequiel Palacio struck an injury time winner to help Bayer Leverkusen maintain a four point cushion atop the Bundesliga standings by defeating obdurate Augsburg 1-0. Eleven time defending champions Bayern Munich had on Friday cut the gap between the top two to one point by pummelling Hoffenheim 3-0 at the Allianz Arena courtesy of a brace from Jamal Musiala and a Harry Kane strike.
Third placed Stuttgart badly missed top scorer Serhou Guirassy as they fell 1-3 at Borussia Moenchengladbach but the upset of the match day took place in Leipzig where Marco Rose’s Rosenball were ambushed 1-0 by Eintracht Frankfurt. There was a welcome victory for Borussia Dortmund who brushed aside basement club Darmstadt 3-0 via goals from Julian Brandt, Marco Reus and Youssoufa Moukoko.
In Italy, Inter Milan are five points ahead of Juventus thanks to a 5-1 victory at Monza where leading Capocannonieri candidate Lautaro Martinez grabbed a brace. Massimiliano Allegri’s Old Lady can cut back the gap to two points if they overcome Sassuolo on Tuesday. Elsewhere, AC Milan put Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma to the sword 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico to end the Romans lingering title hopes.