One of the biggest fixtures on the football calendar will take place in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night, as Real Madrid face bitter rivals Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup.
Real Madrid beat Valencia on penalties in the competition's first semi-final on Wednesday, while Barcelona also required a penalty shootout to advance, overcoming Real Betis on Thursday to set up El Clasico.
Match preview
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Real Madrid were not at their best against Valencia on Wednesday, but they managed to navigate their way through what was a testing fixture; Samuel Lino's effort early in the second period cancelled out a penalty from Karim Benzema, which saw the semi-final head for extra time and then ultimately penalties.
Benzema, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio were all successful from the spot, while Valencia missed two of their five spot kicks, which allowed Carlo Ancelotti's side to progress to the final.
Real Madrid had entered the clash with Valencia off the back of a 2-1 loss to Villarreal in La Liga, which left them second in the table, three points behind leaders Barcelona on the same number of matches (16).
Los Blancos are competing on four fronts at the moment, as they will face Villarreal in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey on January 19, while their Champions League campaign resumes next month, with the team travelling to Liverpool for the first leg of their last-16 affair.
The Spanish Super Cup is not a priority competition, but the match has undoubtedly become more important due to the presence of Barcelona in the final, and a win for the holders of the trophy would take them level with Barcelona on 13 triumphs in this particular tournament.
Real Madrid have already beaten Barcelona this season, meanwhile, recording a 3-1 victory when the two teams met at Bernabeu in the league in the middle of October.
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Barcelona also required penalties to progress to the final, with Xavi's side winning 4-2 in a shootout against Real Betis after the two teams were level at 2-2 at the end of extra time.
The Catalan outfit twice led through Robert Lewandowski and Ansu Fati, but Real Betis answered back through Nabil Fekir and Loren Moron before ultimately being beaten on penalties.
Barcelona are the most successful side in this competition, but they have not lifted the trophy since 2018, losing in the final of the 2020-21 Spanish Super Cup to Athletic Bilbao.
Like Real Madrid, Xavi's side will believe that they have bigger fish to fry this season, as they are also still in the Copa del Rey, preparing to face Ceuta in the round of 16 next week, while as mentioned, Blaugrana have a three-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona recorded an impressive 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the league last weekend, while they are unbeaten in all competitions since the 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League at the end of October.
There will be no Champions League football for the Catalan outfit in the second half of the campaign, but they have a mouthwatering Europa League knockout round two-legged playoff against Manchester United to come next month.
Team News
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Real Madrid travelled to Saudi Arabia without Aurelien Tchouameni and David Alaba due to calf problems, while Alvaro Odriozola did not feature in the semi-final squad due to a muscular issue.
Los Blancos also suffered three injuries in the clash against Valencia, with Lucas Vazquez (ankle), Eduardo Camavinga (knee) and Eder Militao (head) all being substituted.
Camavinga and Militao will be in the squad for the final, but Vazquez is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines.
Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy should come into the back four, while Modric is expected to return in the middle of the park, with Camavinga set to drop to the bench.
As for Barcelona, Xavi has no suspensions or injuries to worry about, but there are still expected to be changes from the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Real Betis.
Andreas Christensen and Alejandro Balde could come into the defence, while Sergio Busquets and Fati might potentially be introduced further forward.
Fati could replace Raphinha to join Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele in the final third of the field, with Busquets likely to take Gavi's spot in the midfield three.
Ferran Torres, Marcos Alonso and Franck Kessie are also options for Xavi, but it is likely that the trio will be among the substitutes once again for the final of the competition.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Milita, Rudiger, Mendy; Kroos, Valverde, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; F de Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati
We say: Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (Barcelona win on penalties)
This match has extra-time and penalties written all over it. Both sides were involved in energy-zapping semi-finals, and it might not be the most eventful Clasico considering the circumstances and location. We are fully expecting this match to go the distance and have backed Barcelona to ultimately emerge victorious courtesy of a penalty-shootout success.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
