Real Madrid plays this week in the second trophy of the season: the Spanish Super Cup. Our team will be defending the Spanish Super Champions title in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), which we won last season at the same venue. The 2023 edition features the team coached by Ancelotti (LaLiga champion), Betis (Copa del Rey winner), Barcelona (La Liga runner-up) and Valencia (Copa del Rey finalist). The Super Cup will be staged in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) from 11 to 15 January 2023.
Real Madrid will get the competition underway on Wednesday against Valencia (8 pm CET). The other semi-final will be played a day later, on Thursday 12th January, between Betis and Barcelona. The final will take place on Sunday 15th January between the winners of both matches (8 pm CET). The King Fahd Stadium, which can accommodate more than 60,000 spectators, will host all the matches of the competition
Madrid, who have already lifted the European Super Cup this season, have won the Spanish Super Cup 12 times. The first was in 1988 after beating Barcelona. The following year they won it automatically by winning the double, while in the 1990, 1993 and 1997 editions they overcame the Azulgranas again. Zaragoza (2001), Mallorca (2003) and Valencia (2008) were the title rivals at the beginning of this century, before two more titles (2012 and 2017) were won over Barcelona. In the last Spanish Super Cups, played in the current final four format, they beat Atlético de Madrid (2020) and Athletic (2022).
Something about the earnings: The Spanish Super Cup is a lucrative venture for all four teams who participate. Barcelona and Real Madrid will reportedly get base payments of €2.8 million, while Valencia will earn €1.7 million and Real Betis will receive €750,000. There is also €1 million up for grabs for the runners-up and €2 million for the champions. That means if Barcelona or Real Madrid win the tournament, they would receive €4.8 million. For the last two years, the cup has been held in Saudi Arabia, with the country more than ready to provide more than enough cash to host the event. According to MARCA, Spanish football itself will make €40m (£35m/$43m) from the cup.
The team
Real Madrid had their last training session at Valdebebas on Monday morning before travelling to Riyadh to face Valencia in the first semi-final of the Supercopa de Espana on Wednesday. The bad news is the absence of David Alaba and Aurelien Tchouameni for the match in the Middle East. The club issued two statements to inform that the former is suffering from a right soleus injury and the latter from a left soleus injury. Both will be out for around three weeks. The good news is that Dani Carvajal and Mariano Diaz have joined the squad and will be fit for the game against Gennaro Gattuso's side, while Alvaro Odriozola is still out through injury.
Carvajal was injured in the first game after the Christmas break against Real Valladolid and did not arrive in time for last Saturday's game against Villarreal at La Ceramica due to soleus discomfort. His return is a relief for Carlo Ancelotti, who in the last league fixture had Eder Militao in that position and left Carvajal's natural replacement, Lucas Vazquez, on the bench. Odriozola suffered a muscle injury in the Copa match against Cacereno while Mariano has recovered from a sprained ankle.
The absence of Tchouameni and Alaba is a serious setback for the Italian coach. The midfielder is usually a permanent fixture in the XI and is likely to be one of the first to pay for the World Cup effort after reaching the final with France. Alaba is another regular at the heart of a much-discussed backline this season, although he did not feature at the World Cup in Doha.
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