Spain’s Clasico rivals reconvene for the 2025 Supercopa de Espana final in Jeddah on Sunday evening.
After Barcelona beat Athletic Club 2-0 in Wednesday night’s first semi-final, Real Madrid eventually got the job done the following evening having been held by Mallorca for the opening hour. After Jude Bellingham opened the scoring, Madrid cruised to a 3-0 victory to set up a repeat of the 2024 final.
These two have faced off in back-to-back Supercopa de Espana finals, with Madrid the current holders after trouncing Barca 4-1 in Riyadh. In 2023, Xavi’s Blaugrana produced a stellar performance in a 3-1 win.
Sunday’s finalists look set to compete fiercely for La Liga this term, and this contest could offer a great psychological advantage for the victor. However, Atletico Madrid, having beaten Barca before Christmas, are also well in contention and will be fresh for La Liga’s restart.
Madrid lined up as expected for their semi-final against Mallorca, but Ancelotti may be more encouraged than his counterpart to rotate given that his side were in action 24 hours after Barcelona downed Athletic Club.
If the Italian opts for a reshuffle, Arda Guler, Fran Garcia, Dani Ceballos, and Brahim Diaz are the most likely to come into the team. However, Carletto will likely risk potential burnout for Sunday’s final.
David Alaba was among the substitutes on Thursday and may be called upon here with Aurelien Tchouameni suffering a head injury against Mallorca. Luka Modric missed out through illness last time out and is unlikely to feature.
Real Madrid lineup vs Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga; Rodrygo, Bellingham; Vinicius, Mbappe.
Barcelona have Ronald Araujo available in Saudi Arabia, but Flick is unlikely to break up his centre-back pairing for Sunday’s final after they kept a clean sheet on Wednesday.
Dani Olmo has been granted temporary permission to play after his initial registration with the club expired at the end of 2024, but the Spaniard won’t be involved here. Gavi was used in a more advanced role against Athletic Club and produced a standout performance.
Flick’s squad has gotten healthier in the new year with Araujo and Andreas Christenen back in contention, but they’re still without long-term absentee Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Barcelona lineup vs Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
