On Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Barcelona will be one of the biggest games on the sports schedule.
Team Form
Real Madrid
Real Madrid didn’t play their best against Valencia on Wednesday, but they still managed to win a difficult game. Samuel Lino’s goal early in the second period negated a Karim Benzema penalty, which forced extra time and, ultimately, penalties in the semi-final.
Real Madrid started the encounter with Valencia coming off a 2-1 defeat to Villarreal in La Liga, which dropped them to second place overall with the same number of games played and three points behind leaders Barcelona.
At present, Los Blancos are involved in four different competitions. On January 19, they will play Villarreal in the Copa del Rey’s round of 16, while their Champions League season will begin the following month with a trip to Liverpool for the first leg of their last-16 match.
The Spanish Super Cup is not a priority competition. A victory for the trophy holders would tie them with Barcelona on 13 wins in this competition. Still, the match has unquestionably grown more significant because Barcelona is in the final.
Real Madrid Form (All Competitions): L W W W L W
THE SUPERCOPA FINAL IS SET 🏆
It's an El Clasico in Saudi Arabia 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DMLnnYN8mZ
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 12, 2023
Barcelona
Barcelona also needed penalties to go to the final, with Xavi’s squad defeating Real Betis 4-2 in a shootout after the two clubs were tied at 2-2 at the end of extra time.
Barca defeated Atletico Madrid by a 1-0 in the league last weekend. They haven’t lost in any contests since losing 3-0 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League at the end of October.
Barcelona is the most successful team in this com[etition. But they haven’t won a trophy since 2018, losing to Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup final in 2020–21.
Similar to Real Madrid, Xavi’s team will think that they have more important things to worry about this season because they are still in the Copa del Rey and getting ready to face Cueta in the round of 16 the following week, while the Blaugrana lead Real Madrid by three points at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona Form (All Competitions): W W D W W W
Squad Report
Real Madrid
David Alaba and Aurelien Tchouameni could not accompany Real Madrid to Saudi Arabia because of calf issues. Alvaro Odriozola was left off the semi-final roster because of a muscular injury.
In the match against Valencia, Los Blancos also lost three players to injuries: Lucas Vazquez (ankle), Eduardo Camavinga (knee), and Eder Militao (head).
Vazquez could miss up to six weeks of action, but Camavinga and Militao will be on the final roster.
Barcelona
While there are no suspensions or injuries to worry about for Barcelona, there may still be changes from the lineup that faced Real Betis at the start of the game.
While Sergio Busquets and Fati may be brought farther forward, Andreas Christensen and Alejandro Balde could enter the defense.
⚪🟣 🏆 🔵🔴#SuperSupercopa pic.twitter.com/fyjJgO9M2Z
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) January 14, 2023
Real Madrid’s possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Kroos, Valverde, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius
Barcelona’s possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; F de Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati
Head to Head
250 times in competitive games and 34 times in exhibition games, the two bitter rivals have faced off. Madrid has a slim 102-97 victory advantage.
El Clasico will occur twice this season, with Real Madrid winning the first 3-1 in La Liga in October.
Last year’s Supercopa semi-finals saw them clash. Madrid prevailed valiantly in the extra period after the game entered overtime.
Time, Date & Venue
Date: Sunday, January 15
Time: 19:00 UK time
Venue: The King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh
Prediction
Extra time and penalties are a guarantee in this game. Given the conditions and venue, it might not have been the most exciting Clasico despite both teams being involved in exhausting semi-finals.
We anticipate this game going the entire distance and have ultimately picked Barcelona to prevail via a successful penalty shootout.
