The coaches of Barcelona, Hansi Flick (left) and Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, posed next to the trophy on Saturday. Photo: EFE
Yeda, Saudi Arabia / EFE
Real Madrid and Barcelona will fight this Sunday to win the Spanish Super Cup with the incentive that, in addition to being the first title of the year, it will put a constellation of stars from both sides on the table at the King Abdullah stadium with an uncertain prediction about the outcome depending on how they both reach the final.
In addition to the trophy, the match awards a prize in the form of a psychological victory due to the influence that the result may have on the teams’ performance for the remainder of the season in the different competitions.
The final, which will be played from 3:00 p.m. (Bolivia time) is full of incentives, as the presence of the main figures of both teams is guaranteed, including Dani Olmo, after the Higher Sports Council (CSD) granted him the precautionary measure to be able to be registered again, like Pau Víctor.
Madrid on the rise
At Real Madrid, the game comes with a recharged deposit of confidence after starting the year as leaders in LaLiga and seeing how their galacticos are in optimal shape, increasingly more integrated and with more success, by adding the team 26 goals in the last eight games, with an average of more than three goals.
In particular Bellingham, with nine goals in ten games, and Mbappé, who Ancelotti certifies has begun to be the true Kylian after a hesitant start to the season.
Vinícius Júnior also appears in tune, although with pressure again on his behavior after the expulsion in Valencia and the two games of punishment that he will serve in the league, as well as what happened with Pablo Maffeo in the semifinal against Mallorca.
With Bellingham, Valverde and Tchouameni recovered from the problems with which they ended the match against Mallorca, Ancelotti only has the doubt of whether to give the team management again to the Frenchman Camavinga or the Croatian Modric, recovered from his viral process.
In its major challenge of achieving seven titles in the season, Madrid faces its third step after collecting the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, although it has the bad memory of the 0-4 that the culé team gave it in the league at the end of October , where the white tips fell into the offside web spread by Flick.
Barcelona has Olmo
The German coach, in turn, has the prevailing objective of ending Barza’s title drought that dates back to the 2023 league, and, incidentally, looking for the psychological component that is attributed to the Super Cup, which the Barça team agrees on. which would boost morale for the rest of the season.
Like Ancelotti, Barcelona has its main players operational, among them, Olmo, who could be the great novelty of the eleven in the midfield at the expense of Gavi, although Flick has fueled doubt by praising the performance of the author of the first goal against Athletic.
The other question is whether the Polish Szczesny will return to occupy the goal to the detriment of Iñaki Peña, punished in the semifinal for arriving late for a preparation session.
The fifth final in Arabia
To the delight of the Saudis, this afternoon will be the third consecutive final of the Super Cup that the two greats play in Saudi Arabia in the five editions that the tournament has organized, for which they pay 40 million euros to the Royal Spanish Federation of Soccer.
The futuristic King Abdullah venue hopes to see its capacity of 62,000 spectators almost complete, with the fans distributed, although, according to what was seen in the semifinals, with a certain majority in favor of the Madridistas.
In the event that there is a tie at the end of the 90 minutes, the title would be decided on penalties, as the new tournament rule that there is no extra time is applied in order not to overload the players with minutes.
If Madrid win, they would equal the culés with fourteen titles in the competition’s record and would increase their statistics of finals won in the last three seasons, in which they have played eleven and have only lost one, precisely the Super Cup two years ago .
