"Ultimate big game player", "Easily better than Vinicius this season" - Fans praise Barcelona star after their 5-2 win over Real Madrid

Fans have taken to social media to praise Barcelona forward Raphinha after his remarkable performance in their 5-2 win over Real Madrid. La Blaugrana clinched the Supercopa de Espana despite going down to ten men, as Los Blancos failed to make their numerical superiority count.

The match, which took place at the King Abdullah Sports City in Saudi Arabia, saw Raphinha delight the fans with an attacking masterclass. The Brazilian winger scored two goals, one coming in each half, and provided an assist to put the sword to Barca's eternal rivals Real Madrid.

Raphinha's first goal came in the 39th minute. Jules Kounde noticed the winger's run and laid out an accurate cross from deep. The 28-year-old ran onto the curling ball and leapt up to power a header beyond Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

In the second half, Raphinha got on the end of a perfect pass from midfielder Marc Casado. He got past his markers with some nifty footwork before slotting his effort across Courtois and into the back of the net.

After the game, fans on social media platform X were thoroughly delighted with Raphinha, as they hailed him with comments like these:

"Bruh this is greatest header i have seen in a while. Raphinha is the ultimate big game player," a fan wrote about the first goal.

"Raphinha easily been better than Vinicius this season," another fan added.

"Give Raphinha the Ballon D’Or already," another fan demanded.

"And after this masterclass, he's back on top for the ballon d'or. Is Salah or Haaland going to respond?" a fan asked.

"Raphinha MVP, who’s surprised? This is simply one of the most clutch footballers on the planet, couldn’t love him more if I tried," a fan wrote.

"Raphinha has already surpassed Balon dor Vinicius entire G/A last season and it’s just January," another fan noted.

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Barcelona see off Real Madrid with stunning goal-scoring performance

Barcelona were clearly the better side in their Supercopa de Espana final against Real Madrid. Despite Los Blancos finding the early goal (5') through Kylian Mbappe, with Vinicius Jr assisting, La Blaugrana took control of the proceedings ruthlessly.

In the 22nd minute, teenage sensation Lamine Yamal scored the equalizer for Barca after receiving a perfect pass from Robert Lewandowski. Eduardo Camavinga was determined to have fouled Gavi in the box, which led to a penalty for Barca and the chance to turn the score around.

Lewandowski turned from provider to goalscorer, beating Courtois from 12 yards in the 36th minute. Raphinha was up next, scoring his bullet header to put Barcelona ahead 3-1 (39'). In stoppage time, the Brazilian forward turned provider for Alejandro Balde, who finished a counter-attack (45 +10').

Raphinha scored Barcelona's fifth goal and his second of the night, in the 48th minute. In the 56th minute, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was shown the red card after he fouled Kylian Mbappe, who was through on goal. Inaki Pena came on, but could do little to stop Rodrygo's brilliant free-kick from finding the net (60').

The winger made it 5-2 but could do little else, as Barcelona held onto their lead and clinched the Supercopa de Espana at Real Madrid's expense.