The Spanish Super Cup returns to Saudi Arabia for the first El Clasico of the year. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will meet for the first time in 2022 in the Saudi capital. There, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will meet in the semi-finals, and they will play the Clasico for the first time in front of the Saudi fans on 12 January. Only one can reach the final in what would be a repeat of Real Madrid's last 2-1 win at Camp Nou. The other clash pits Diego Pablo Simeone's Atletico Madrid, the reigning La Liga champions, against a struggling Athletic Club. Marcelino Garcia Toral's side beat Barca at the Estadio Olimpico de la Cartuja, meaning they will be defending their title for the first time on Saudi soil.
After returning negative COVID-19 tests results, new signing Ferran Torres and Pedri are set to join up with the rest of their Barcelona teammates, while Ansu Fati has also recovered from injury and he should be at Xavi Hernandez's disposal for the duel at the King Fahd International Stadium. Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo have also travelled with the team, but Sergi Roberto, Eric Garcia and Martin Braithwaite are sidelined through injuries.
As for Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti can count on all but two of his players, as Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz will both miss out on the Clasico between the two LaLiga Santander giants. Los Blancos came out victorious from the first encounter between the two sides this season, as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou back in October thanks to goals from David Alaba and Lucas Vazquez.
Carlo Ancelotti has named his squad for the Spanish Super Cup, which will be played this in Riyadh. The semi-final against Barcelona takes place at the King Fahd Stadium on Wednesday at 8pm.
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin and Fuidias.
Defenders: Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Marcelo and F. Mendy.
Midfielders: Kroos, Modrić, Casemiro, Valverde, Lucas V., D. Ceballos, Isco and Camavinga.
Forwards: Hazard, Benzema, Asensio, Jović, Vini Jr. and Rodrygo.
Below are the predicted line-ups as well:
Barcelona's predicted line-up (4-3-3): Marc-Andre Ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba; Nico Gonzalez, Sergio Busquets, Gavi; Ousmane Dembele, Luuk de Jong, Memphis Depay.
Real Madrid's predicted line-up (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema, Vinicius.
Carlo Ancelotti hopes he can add another Super Cup to his personal collection when Real Madrid set out to take the Spanish crown. He has already won the equivalent competitions in England with Chelsea, in Italy with AC Milan and in Germany with Bayern Munich. But in his previous attempts in Spain, he is yet to lift the coveted trophy. This season sees Los Blancos go into the competition, held in Saudi Arabia, as favourites while they lead LaLiga Santander and this could be Ancelotti's best chance yet of success.
Victory in the Supercopa de Espana would see the Italian draw level with Arsene Wenger on 21 career trophies but there is still a host of names ahead on the list. Giovani Trapattoni is next on the list with 23 trophies while Sir Alex Ferguson leads the way with an eye-watering 49 pieces of silverware in his rather large cabinet.
On Tuesday the Real Madrid squad came together at the Prince Faisal Stadium for the team's final training session ahead of the Spanish Super Cup opener. Following the warm-up, the players completed several rondos and fitness drills. The madridistas then worked on possession and pressing, before rounding things off with a match on a reduced-sized pitch. The atmosphere looked very good and Ancelotti’s men were in great shape.
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