The Spanish Supercopa is what should be the first of many trophies for Hansi Flick as the manager of Barcelona.

His players rallied at just the right time to turn around their fortunes, and give their first year coach something to celebrate after six months of truly impressive leadership to start his tenure, in the face of serious uncertainty and adversity.

Flick has beaten the Spanish champions twice now in his first two Clasicos. A 4-0 thrashing at the Santiago Bernabeu, followed by a 5-2 takedown in Saudi Arabia. This is a Real Madrid team that picked up Kylian Mbappe, and was supposed to storm through Spain and Europe.

There’s a lot of work to do in La Liga to make up for a really poor end of the year. But overall, Barcelona is so far beyond where anyone could have expected they would be at this point in the season.

Supercopa champions. Second place in the Champions League table. And in a strong position to challenge for the title in Spain.

And they are doing it in style, forming an identity that is hopefully built to last for years to come. That’s what we saw on display in the final on Sunday.

Barcelona were getting back to tactics and attitude that gave them lift off to start the Flick era. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal were sublime creating danger up top. And overall, they attacked and defended as a unit with incredible intensity.

Their trademark offsides trap wasn’t as effective as it was the first time they played Real Madrid, but the intentions were the same. To be brave, press aggressively, and put the opponent on their heals.

Real Madrid looked overwhelmed throughout.

Barcelona did not play a perfect game. Marc Casado made a turnover that lead to the opening goal. Wojciech Szczęsny made a silly foul and got sent off when the team was up 5-1. Inaki Pena should have saved the following free kick.

But perfection isn’t the point. Mistakes will happen. But if the team is confident and committed to their approach, the talent and tactical acumen of this young and exciting team should always win the day.

It’s so encouraging to see that Barcelona’s best games are coming against their toughest opponents. It gives you a sense that they could really make a run in the Champions League, proving they are the best in Europe once again.

But in La Liga, the question will be whether they can show the same consistency and ruthlessness against lesser teams, in order to put pressure on, and eventually outlast, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

For now, Barcelona fans should celebrate this impressive achievement.

Not just the trophy, but everything this season that has lead to the moment that’s allowed them to stand tall and proud on the podium again.

This team is going places. This is just the beginning.

Barcelona needed this jolt to change their inertia as they start the challenging campaign ahead.

Going forward, my bet is on them. Watch out Spain. Watch out Europe.