Barcelona vs Real Madrid Preview

For the third season in a row, Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet in the final of the Spanish Super Cup when they face each other at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah this Sunday.

The Suadi Arabian stadium plays host to the 41st edition of the Supercopa de España, the fifth in six years since moving to a four-team format that has been held on Saudi soil.

Thirteen-time Supercopa winners Real Madrid come into this round after beating Real Mallorca 3-0 on Thursday. That win was a fifth consecutive win in all competitions, extending their unbeaten run in competitive games to eight games (W7).

Carlo Ancelotti’s side can now match Barcelona’s all-time record with victory here. However, Ancelotti’s personal record against Barcelona is similarly balanced on a knife-edge (W10, D3, L10), highlighting the competitive nature of this clash.

Rarely are these hard-fought battles between these two old rivals dull, though, with six of the last eight Supercopa finals between the pair producing at least two goals before half-time, whilst each of the last four were also settled with multi-goal margins.

Meanwhile, 14-time champions Barcelona reached a third-straight final following a comfortable 2-0 victory over Athletic Club in the semi-final. That win secured Barcelona back-to-back wins across all competitions for the first time since November.

Both wins came with clean sheets, suggesting that a solid rearguard may again be their route to success here. Apart from the honour of extending their Super Cup dominance, Barcelona will be desperate to win as that will give them bragging rights over their rivals.

That would be a psychological boost for the Catalans, who travel here arguably needing a break having relinquished their control over the title race in the last five La Liga rounds (W1, D1, L3). This will be the 17th Supercopa final played between these sides, but with Barcelona coming up trumps on just one of the last five such occasions, Hansi Flick’s men might enter this with some trepidation.