Real Madrid will square off against reigning champions Barcelona at the Al-Awwal Stadium in the 2023-24 Supercopa de Espana final on Sunday.
This will be a rematch of last season’s title decider when the Catalan giants recorded a comfortable 3-1 win. This will be the second El Clasico of the season, with Madrid recording a comeback 2-1 victory in La Liga in October.
Madrid booked their place in the Supercopa de Espana final with a thrilling 5-3 win over city rivals Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. Substitutes Joselu and Brahim Díaz scored in the second half of extra time to seal their team’s win in the semi-final.
Barca eased past Osasuna in the other semi-final as second-half goals from Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal helped them to secure a 2-0 win.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
The two fierce rivals have crossed paths 255 times in competitive games thus far. Real Madrid have the upper hand in the head-to-head record with 104 wins to their name. Barcelona are not far behind with a century of wins against the capital club while 51 meetings in this fixture have ended in draws.
The last 12 meetings between them have produced conclusive results, with Madrid recording eight wins and four games going the Blaugrana’s way.
They have met 16 times in the Supercopa de Espana and Madrid have the better record in these meetings with a 9-5 lead in wins and two games ending in draws.
Barcelona’s 3-1 win in the final last season was their first win over Real Madrid in the Supercopa after having suffered four consecutive defeats between 2012 and 2022.
Los Merengues are unbeaten in their last 20 games across all competitions, recording 17 wins.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona Prediction
Los Blancos head into the match on a six-game winning run across all competitions, scoring at least three goals in four games in that period. They have lost just once across all competitions this season and have failed to score in all but one of their 27 games thus far.
Carlo Ancelotti had 23 of the 24 players available for full training except Dani Carvajal, who trained separately due to a muscle strain. The defender, who scored a goal and picked up two assists in the semi-final will undergo a late fitness test.
The Blaugrana have recorded four wins in a row for the first time since September and will look to build on that form. They have scored 10 times in these wins but have also shipped in five goals.
Xavi lost Raphinha to an injury in the semi-final win, so Lamine Yamal, the goalscorer in that match, is expected to start here. Pedri is also expected to start after he made an appearance from the bench in that match.
Interestingly, in the eight meetings between Ancelotti and Xavi as the head coaches of Madrid and Barca respectively, both managers have four wins apiece, so a win here will help either one to one-up his counterpart.
Considering Madrid’s form and fewer injury concerns, we back them to eke out a narrow win, in what promises to be a highly entertaining game.
Prediction: Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona
