There can sometimes be derbies and rivalries which fail to live up to the billing, but it's rare for El Clasico to not deliver the goods. Sunday's Supercopa de Espana final in Saudi Arabia was another slobber-knocker.
Barcelona retained the trophy with a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid at King Abdullah Sport City, with most of the action coming in first-half stoppage time. Raphinha put Barca in front after the half-hour mark, before Vinicius Jr banished some of his demons with a goal in what was the second of what was initially slated as three added minutes. There was, however, still time for Robert Lewandowski and Gonzalo Garcia to find the net before the half-time whistle actually went.
The game was eventually decided midway through the second half when Raphinha struck again, with Frenkie de Jong's late red card barely detrimental to Barcelona.
For all the fanfare that Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham can create, it's a shame from a British perspective that they played less-than-secondary roles in the drama. The Manchester United loanee, who hasn't played more 45 minutes in a match across his last four games, replaced man-of-the-moment Raphinha for the closing stages, though did get on the ball plenty and created danger in his short cameo.
"Winning the first one [trophy] is always a great feeling," he said to club media. "I hope we can win more for the rest of the season. It was a great performance. This is what we're capable of. There are still things to improve, as always, but we enjoyed ourselves today."
Bellingham, meanwhile, played the entire match but failed to make a differential impact for the eventual losers. That said, the general view from the usually unforgiving Spanish press is he tried his hardest and how he was used by head coach Xabi Alonso stifled what could have been a decisive performance in the final third.
MARCA said of Bellingham's game: "Tracked back with lightning speed to Raphinha to rectify things. He had to stop De Jong with a foul on the edge of the Madrid box in a dangerous situation. He continued to work well defensively, trying to win back any loose balls that came near the edge of the area. However, this effort meant he lacked creativity."