King Abdullah Sports City will play host to the latest instalment of El Clasico on Sunday evening, as Real Madrid and Barcelona lock horns for the right to be crowned the winners of the 2025 Spanish Super Cup.
It is a quick turnaround for Real Madrid, with Los Blancos beating Mallorca 3-0 in the competition's second semi-final on Thursday evening, 24 hours after Barcelona had secured progression courtesy of a 2-0 success over Athletic Bilbao.
Match preview
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Mallorca made it difficult for Real Madrid in the first half of Thursday's semi-final, but Jude Bellingham sent Los Blancos ahead just past the hour, before two goals in stoppage time saw Carlo Ancelotti's side advance to the final.
Real Madrid have already won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup this season, so they are going in search of a third trophy on Sunday evening, and three more could follow in La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.
It would be fair to say that Ancelotti's side were not always at their best in the first half of the campaign, but there have been signs that things are starting to come together in recent weeks, which would spell bad news for their rivals at home and in Europe.
Ancelotti's side will bring a five-game winning run into this contest, including three victories this year, beating Valencia and Deportiva Minera in the league and Copa del Rey respectively before the three-goal success over Mallorca.
Real Madrid are the holders of the Spanish Super Cup, winning the trophy on 13 occasions, including last year courtesy of a 4-1 success over Barcelona in the final, and they would join their Clasico rivals on 14 trophies with a win on Sunday night.
Los Blancos have also won four of the last five meetings between the two sides in all competitions, but Barcelona recorded an incredible 4-0 victory at Bernabeu when the pair locked horns in La Liga back in October.
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Barcelona were irresistible in their four-goal success over Real Madrid, with Robert Lewandowski (two), Raphinha and Lamine Yamal on the scoresheet, and those three will again be looking to cause damage to Ancelotti's side on Sunday night.
At one stage, it appeared that Barcelona would be running away with the La Liga title this season, but they have stumbled of late, winning just one of their last seven league fixtures, which has seen them slip down to third, five points off the leaders Real Madrid.
Hansi Flick's side actually ended 2024 with successive league defeats to Leganes and Atletico Madrid, but they have triumphed in both of their fixtures this year, beating Barbastro 4-0 in the Copa del Rey and Athletic 2-0 in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup.
Gavi made the breakthrough in the 17th minute of the competition's first semi-final on Wednesday evening, before Yamal netted early in the second half to give Athletic a mountain to climb, and Barcelona will now be looking to win the trophy for the 15th time.
Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the 2023 final, and the fact that they have had an extra 24 hours of rest could be crucial, while Real Madrid have concerns over a number of important players ahead of this contest.
It is an incredibly busy period of the season for both of these clubs, as the pair will be involved in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey next week, while the league phase of the Champions League will also resume and then quickly conclude before the end of the month.
Team News
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Real Madrid were without the services of Luka Modric on Thursday due to an illness, and it is difficult to imagine him recovering in time to be involved on Sunday, but he is yet to be officially ruled out of the match.
Aurelien Tchouameni (head), Federico Valverde (overload) and Bellingham (overload) will need to be assessed after picking up issues in the semi-final, but there is a good chance that all three will be cleared to take to the field for the first whistle.
Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal are long-term absentees, while David Alaba is not yet ready to play despite being named in the squad, with his return after more than a year out with a serious knee injury set to occur in the latter stages of the month.
As for Barcelona, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Bernal and Andreas Christensen will again miss out, but Dani Olmo and Pau Victor are both available after being handed temporary registrations.
Wojciech Szczesny has now started successive matches for the Catalan giants and is likely to again be given the nod between the sticks on Sunday evening, with Inaki Pena on the bench.
Ronald Araujo is currently with the squad in Saudi Arabia, but the Uruguay international is being heavily linked with a departure, with Juventus thought to be pushing to sign him, so it would be a surprise to see him involved.
Yamal is back in the fold after a recent ankle problem, and he is set for another start in the final third of the field, with both managers preparing to name their strongest available XIs for the Spanish Super Cup final.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga; Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Lewandowski
We say: Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona
As is always the case in matches between these two sides, it is difficult to call, and there have been some extraordinary results in recent matches between the pair. Real Madrid are in the better form, though, and providing that they are able to recover the players that picked up problems against Mallorca, we are expecting Los Blancos to emerge victorious to claim the trophy.
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Matt Law
