Real Madrid eased past Mallorca and Barcelona comfortably beat Athletic Club to set up a Clásico showdown in the Spanish Supercopa final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, stream LIVE on ESPN+, U.S. only).
It’s the third season in a row Madrid and Barça have met at this stage, with the previous winners going on to secure the LaLiga title — Barça in 2023 and Madrid last year. Xavi Hernández, Barça’s coach at the time two years ago, even spoke about the confidence which came from beating Madrid in the Supercopa.
Both teams have experienced up and down seasons, but they go into Sunday’s game in Jeddah in relatively good shape with all their stars available in attack. For Madrid, there are signs Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham are coming good. For Barça, Lamine Yamal is back from injury to partner Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski. Dani Olmo is also available again after the registration fiasco which saw him miss the semifinal. –– Sam Marsden
Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona. There will be goals. At both ends. Even against Mallorca in the semifinal, Madrid looked vulnerable at times, and Barcelona’s defence isn’t as strong as it was. It’ll come down to which team is more clinical. Bellingham should star, again, and Vini Jr. will have a point to prove, after looking unhappy at being substituted towards the end of the Mallorca game. It’ll be fun. — Kirkland
Real Madrid X-X Barcelona. It’s hard to disagree with Alex that there will be goals. The first one will be especially key. If Barça get it, it will force Madrid to be more open than they ordinarily might be. If Madrid get it, Barça have a habit of chasing games earlier than they need to. Therefore, I think this will mirror the last two finals between the teams, with whoever scores first eventually winning comfortably. I’m just not sure who. Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona. — Marsden
Betting odds
Real Madrid -125, Barcelona -105 (at time of publication)
— ESPN BET
