Xabi Alonso insisted his Real Madrid team must quickly “turn the page” after their Supercopa de España defeat to rivals Barcelona on Sunday.
Alonso watched on as his team were beaten 3-2 in Saudi Arabia, with Los Blancos twice coming from behind to go into half-time with Hansi Flick’s side.
Raphinha opened the scoring before three injury-time goals from Vinicius Junior, Robert Lewandowski and Gonzalo Garcia brought the match to life.
But victory was sealed in the 73rd minute by Raphinha, who saw his shot deflect off Raul Asencio and run over Thibaut Courtois, but Madrid had chances to level.
After Barcelona saw captain Frenkie de Jong sent off, Alvaro Carreras and Asencio had golden opportunities, but both shot straight at Joan Garcia.
The result saw Barcelona beat Madrid in three consecutive finals for the first time in their history, following back-to-back wins in the Supercopa and a win in the Copa del Rey.
“Well, we have to turn the page as quickly as possible, it’s a game, it’s a competition,” Alonso told Movistar.
“We have to look forward, try to restore people, restore the state of mind and move forward.”
3 – @FCBarcelona have won three consecutive finals against Real Madrid for the first time ever. Nightmare.#Barcelona #BarcaRealMadrid #SpanishSuperCup #ElClasicoDay pic.twitter.com/PrBfjgBEie
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 11, 2026
Madrid had their chances to win the match, with an expected goals rate (xG) of 1.39 from their 12 shots, compared to Barcelona’s 2.6 from their 16 attempts in the match.
Garcia’s goal in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time put a crazy end to the opening 45 minutes, with the young Spaniard also making his mark in his first Clásico.
At 21 years and 293 days old, Garcia became the youngest Spanish player to start and score in a Clasico since Marcos Asensio in August 2019 (21 years and 207 days).
“It hurts in any way, it was an even match, very competitive and exciting,” Alonso added.
“You can taste that the last two chances we had were so clear, we were close to the equalizer and in the end we congratulate Barça.
“A lot happened in that last fifteen minutes. We controlled it well, without the ball, but we had the two clearest chances, we conceded the first goal.
“But the team showed its face. We took a 2-2 lead and the second half was competitive. With nothing they were lucky in the goal and we tried to equalize, but that was not to be.”
Los Blancos now return to Spain before hitting the road again when they take on second division Albacete in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.
They also find themselves four points behind Barcelona in LaLiga while sitting seventh in the Champions League standings with two European matchdays remaining.
“Losing a final against your opponent is never pleasant, now is the time to work for the cup and the league,” said Courtois.
“The details disappointed us today, it is a period in the last months when things are not going as they should. We could have won the match perfectly.”
“Nothing changes, we have to keep fighting week after week in La Liga, the Champions League and the cup.”
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