Barcelona president Joan Laporta has criticized Real Madrid’s players for not giving his Barça team a guard of honour after their 3-2 win in Sunday’s Spanish Supercopa final.
A tense game played in Saudi Arabia saw Raphinha put Barcelona ahead in the first half, before three goals in first-half added time from Vinícius Júnior, Robert Lewandowski and Gonzalo García levelled the match at 2-2.
The final proved to be XabI Alonso’s last as Madrid boss.
A second-half Raphinha winner saw Barcelona lift the trophy, with the reaction of Madrid’s players during the post-match celebrations in Jeddah since being scrutinised.
The losing team received a guard of honour from the champions before receiving their medals, and then waited to watch Barça lift the trophy, but did not remain on the pitch to applaud them off.
Images shared on social media showed Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé speaking to his teammates, before they headed to the dressing room.
Sources close to the Madrid squad told ESPN that there is no firm rule requiring the losing team to give the champions a guard of honour.
Real Madrid were beaten by Barcelona in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP via Getty Images)
Madrid’s players had remained pitchside for the trophy lift, sources said, and had then been instructed to move to another area by match officials, so as not to obstruct a camera shot of the celebrations.
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Barça beat Madrid four times last season — including 5-2 in the 2025 Supercopa final — on their way to claiming a domestic treble, but Madrid came out on top in the first Clásico of this season, winning 2-1 at the Bernabéu in October.
“I’m surprised by what Mbappé did,” Laporta told Catalan radio station RAC1 after the match, when asked about the incident. “In victory and defeat, you should be generous and respectful. This is sport … I think we were generous in our victory, and respected the opposing team.”
“There was a difference in attitude since the league match,” Laporta said. “The players were a bit fired up. It’s understandable. The truth is, I didn’t see the moment with Mbappé on the field. But I understand that it must have been a really tough time. They must have been really upset, and that’s why they reacted in that way.”
