90min
·12 gennaio 2025
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Yahoo sports90min
·12 gennaio 2025
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.
Here's 90min's guide to the game.
Luka Modric was ill for Thursday's win / Mateo Villalba/GettyImages
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 predicted lineup vs Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga; Rodrygo, Bellingham; Vinicius, Mbappe.
Gavi played a key role in Barca's semi-final win over Athletic Club / Yasser Bakhsh/GettyImages
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 predicted lineup vs Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
The previous three winners of this competition have gone on to lift La Liga, although the race at the summit looks set to be much tighter this time around. Perhaps the boost received from triumphing in Jeddah will prove to be the edge when it's all said and done.
With both managers unlikely to rotate from their semi-final wins, we could be in for a leggy final and the bout may be decided from the bench.
Madrid are out for revenge having been thumped at home in October's Clasico and they should be favoured here despite Barca's measured performance on Wednesday. On the big occasion with silverware on the line, Madrid typically get the job done. They're already hunting their third trophy of 2024/25.