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Source: Valencia CF
The second El Clásico this season is here, the expected duel is scheduled for Wednesday from 8 p.m. This time, Barcelona vs Real Madrid, free, online, without ads, Spanish Super Cup | Spanish League”>Real Madrid and Barcelona will compete in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup. The favorite is clear, but as Los Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti himself said, these matches are always fifty to fifty.
The Spanish Super Cup has been played in a non-traditional way for the third season. Instead of the usual summer pre-season duel of the La Liga winner and the Copa del Rey winner, four teams have been participating in the final tournament since 2019/20 – the Copa del Rey Finalists and the first two La Liga teams.
The tournament traditionally takes place in Saudi Arabia, the first year was held in Jeddah, this year the tournament will take place in Riyadh. Only last year, due to the coronavirus situation, it was played in Seville. La Tiga President Javier Tebas chose the move to increase profits from these duels. However, players do not agree and often oppose it.
In the current year, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will compete for the trophy. The last winner is the Basque team, which defeated Barcelona in the final. This year’s semifinals were rivaled by Real Madrid and Barcelona and Atlético Madrid and Athletic, two related clubs from the past.
The last El Clásico arrived on October 24 in La Liga. The duel at Camp Nou clearly dominated Real Madrid, which had the match under control throughout. Although the result of 2: 1 does not look so clear, the picture on the field was clear. Real sent Alaba into the lead in the 32nd minute, after which the Madrid team threw away several chances.
In the 94th minute, Vazquéz added a fuse, and in the 97th minute, Agüero reduced to 1: 2. But it was only Barcelona’s second shot on goal, otherwise the Catalans had almost no chance.
Real Madrid
Let’s start with Real Madrid. If a paper favorite is sought, almost everyone will head to Madrid. Los Blancos lead La Liga safely, losing only twice and 17 points ahead of Barcelona. What’s more, it’s not just about the results, the team is really scared, especially of the attacking duo Vinícius-Benzema.
But as we have already mentioned, these big matches have no favorites. Real Madrid will have to give a 100% performance to beat the motivated Barcelona. The Catalans will want to break the Merengues dominance, which has been going on since December 2019. Real has won the last 4 El Clásica in a row (2: 1, 2: 1, 3: 1, 2: 0), it has not even lost five clashes in a row.
Ancelotti will want to rely on the reliable Courtois – Alaba – Militao – CKM – Benzema axis. Casemiro, Kroos, Modrič dominate the center of the advance even at an advanced age, and thanks to them, Real almost always has control over the match. The Belgian goalkeeper regularly casts spells and the team can support the team with his interventions. The stopper pair is very reliable, Benzema is in charge of scoring goals.
That is what he and Vinicius should help with now. Altogether, they have already scored 34 goals and are thus the best attacking duo in the whole of Europe. It is defense that Barcelona is a major weakness, and through the wing spaces Real attackers could assert themselves. Especially when 38-year-old Dani Alvés is likely to play Vinícius.
As for the line-up, Ancelotti is almost everywhere, the question mark hangs only over the position of the right defender. Lucas Vázquez is now there, but number one Dani Carvajal has recovered. If he is fully healthy, he will board.
Barcelona
Barcelona is drowning in a major crisis this season, and Xavi’s return has not helped. The club’s icon tries to bet on young talent, but this is more of a vision for the future, logically it cannot bring immediate success.
Recently, the unwanted Luuk de Jong played two goals in two matches. An important news for Xavi is the fact that Ferrán Torres and Pedri have recovered and can start. According to reports from the Spanish media, Xavi will want to risk everything and send them to the match immediately.
And how could the Catalans Real surprise? The Madrid team looks very strong, but they have a weakness in standard situations, the defense of which makes Real relatively big problems. Barcelona has three good headers in the staff (De Jong, Piqué, Busquéts), if at least one of them succeeds, it could be the way.
Another option is right defense. If Lucas Vázquez plays, in harder matches it is often known that the position of the right back is not natural for him and he just jumps in there. He often supports the attack and then leaves a lot of space behind, and his defense is also not at the highest level.
These are two things that Barcelona could push through. Otherwise, if we take it objectively, it loses on Real Madrid in all other respects. A big problem with Culés is also the efficiency that players must clearly improve. Los Blancos can offer them 1-2 opportunities per match, for example, and Busquéts et al. unconditionally transform.
Expected reports
Real Madrid
Courteous
Carvajal – Militao – Alaba – Mendy
casemiro
Kroos – Modrič
Asensio – Benzema – Vinicius
Barcelona
ter Stegen
Alves – Piqué – García – Alba
Gavi – Busquéts – Pedri
Ferrán – L. de Jong – Depay
Source: Livesport
