Real Madrid – Barcelona

Barcelona should not be considered an outsider in the final

On Sunday, 12 January, Real Madrid and Barcelona will play another trophy. The giants will play a match in the Spanish Super Cup. Real are slight favourites, but the first face-to-face game of the season ended in an embarrassment for Madrid - 0:4. Real gradually came out of the crisis. Managed to start a beautiful series in December: Carlo Ancelotti's wards won seven matches out of eight. At the same time, from dangerous opponents was only Atalanta. The rest of the opponents were far inferior in class. The semi-final of the King's Super Cup predictably did not come out passable. Mallorca defended competently, but strong individual actions of Vinicius and Rodrigo helped to organise the first goal. In the end, the stars had already brought the game to a rout. Real's attack was clearly revitalised, with Kylian Mbappe adding to the attack. Over the course of eight matches, they managed to score 26 goals - that's more than three goals per game on average. It is still important to make allowances for the level of the opponents. Unfortunately, the game against Mallorca added to Carlo Ancelotti's headaches. Aurélien Tchouameni was substituted, and there is a serious possibility that the Frenchman will be dropped for the final. Luka Modric was also taken ill. The Croatian is not a key player at the moment, but he would definitely be useful for the final. Jude Bellingham's status with Federico Valverde is also in question. Key performers are likely to be brought in for the final, but they have some pain after the semi-final. A difficult rebus for Ancelotti. Barcelona played a quality match against Athletic. Obviously, the Catalans had a much stronger opponent, but Hans-Dieter Flick's charges went further ahead by a huge margin. Lamine Yamal had another inspired match, and the defense played at a very high level. Curiously, Wojciech Szczęsny stood in goal out of the plan. The coach sent the main goalkeeper Iñaki Peña to the reserve due to his late arrival. Most likely, the Pole will be available for the final. Barcelona have a much better situation with injuries. The semi-finals were played without losses, and the absence of Christensen and Bernal is not a fatal story. They did not have time to sign Dani Olmo for the Super Cup, but the competition is so high now that even Frenkie de Jong was not included in the squad. Barcelona should definitely not be considered an underdog in this pairing. There is a possibility of Bellingham and Valverde's absence. This could be a serious blow to Ancelotti's ideas. For Barcelona and the first face-to-face game. The Catalans definitely have a good chance of an equaliser. It is important that there will be no extra time in the final. That is, the rivals may well play more cautious in the end.