Vinícius nets hat trick as Real Madrid beats Barcelona 4-1 to win Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

Vinícius Júnior scores hat trick as Real Madrid defeats Barcelona 4-1 in Spanish Super Cup final.

Vinícius Júnior did his best Cristiano Ronaldo impression in Saudi Arabia, scoring a hat trick and leading Real Madrid to a 4-1 rout of Barcelona and the Spanish Super Cup trophy.

Vinícius scored his three goals in the first half as Madrid beat Barcelona to lift its first trophy of the season on January 14. After his first goal, the Brazil forward imitated the trademark celebration of the former Madrid great, with Ronaldo reportedly at the Riyadh stadium.

“It was for Cris, because he is my idol and now he is playing here,” said Vinícius, who was named the best player of the final. “I'm very happy with myself and with my team. It's not easy to play against Barcelona and to win 4-1 is tough. We played an almost perfect match.”

Rodrygo also scored for Madrid, which now has 13 Super Cup trophies, one less than the Catalan club. It was Madrid’s second Super Cup triumph since the tournament was moved to Saudi Arabia four years ago. Robert Lewandowski scored Barcelona's goal to make it 2-1 in the first half.

The “clasico” between the Spanish powerhouses was a rematch of last year’s Super Cup final that Barcelona won 3-1 for its first trophy with coach Xavi Hernández and without Lionel Messi.

Madrid had also won at Barcelona in the first “clasico” of the season in October in the Spanish league.

Barcelona played a man down from the 71st after defender Ronald Araujo was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Vinícius. Madrid was already winning 4-1 at the time.