Super Cup winners 

©TM/IMAGO

After a match packed full of exquisite goals, it was a deflected shot that ultimately made the difference between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final. Barcelona opened the scoring in the 36th minute thanks to a tremendous left-footed shot from Raphinha, only for Vinicius Jr to level the scoring eight minutes later with an exquisite solo goal. Then, just two minutes later, Robert Lewandowski put Barcelona back in front with an exceptional chipped goal. But before the whistle could blow for half time Gonzalo Garcia bundled home a chance from the rebound to make it 2-2. The decisive goal came in the 73rd minute, when Raphinha cut inside from the left and looked to place a shot into the far corner of Thibaut Courtois’s goal, only for it to deflect off of Asencio’s shin and duly lob the Madrid keeper, who was left helplessly planted to the ground. 

Although Super Cups aren’t always taken seriously, any clash between these LaLiga giants is a feisty affair. This match had goals, red cards and was fiercely contested from start to finish. And, to the delight of Barcelona manager Hansi Flick, it was further proof that the German tactician remains one step ahead of his counterparts in the Spanish capital. To date, Flick has overseen six matches against Madrid as Barca manager and won five of them, losing only once in a 2-1 defeat to the capital club in LaLiga earlier this season. Whether it be Carlo Ancelotti or Xabi Alonso, Flick’s impressive record over Madrid is not only a constant thorn in the side of European football’s most successful club, but also better than any Barcelona manager that has come before him since 2000.

Indeed, as we can see in the table above, Flick enjoys a win ratio of 83 percent over Real Madrid which is comfortably the best return for any manager of the Catalan club in the last 26 years. The closest challenger to that figure was Pep Guardiola, who won 60 percent of his 15 games against Madrid, followed by a number of managers that share a 50 percent win ratio. But what’s even more impressive is how many points Flick tends to average against Madrid: having won five and lost just one game against Madrid, Flick averages 2.5 points per match against Barca’s historic rivals. That figure is considerably higher than second-placed Guardiola (2.07) and third-placed Terry Venables (1.83), while far exceeding what celebrated managers of the club’s modern history achieved, such as Luis Enrique (1.67), Louis Van Gaal (1.67) and Ernesto Valverde (1.67). Barca fans will also be delighted to read that Flicks’ average is also twice as impressive as his immediate predecessors, with Xavi only managing 1.2 points per game against Madrid during his time at the club.