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Recommended bets
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Match preview
After both were victorious on penalties in their respective semi-finals this week, the Supercopa de España Final will be contested by two of Europe’s giant clubs.
On Wednesday night, Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Valencia.
Karim Benzema converted a first half penalty, only for los Che to equalise mere seconds after the interval.
In the subsequent shootout, Benzema, Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio all scored, while a pair of saves from Thibaut Courtois saw los Blancos advance.
Real Madrid are 12-times Supercopa winners, prevailing in both previous editions held in Saudi Arabia, defeating Atlético Madrid in 2020 and Athletic Club 12 months ago.
Will Carlo Ancelotti’s team retain their trophy and kick off 2023 with silverware?
Robert Lewandowski and Ansu Fati twice had Barça in the lead, but los Verdiblancos managed to equalise both times.
Then, just as Real had done the night before, Barcelona managed to score all four of their penalties.
Lewandowski, Kessié, Ansu and Pedri all making no mistake, while Marc-André ter Stegen pulled off two saves.
Thus, the Blaugrana are one win away from their first silverware under Xavi, and a record-extending 14th Supercopa.
However, Barça have only prevailed in one of the last eight Clásicos, losing six of the last seven, while Real will benefit from an extra day of rest.
So, who will be celebrating silverware at King Fahd International Stadium?
Real Madrid team news
Controversially, Real Madrid named a starting XI featuring zero Spanish players for the first time in their history, as they were beaten by Villarreal last weekend.
This though was an outlier, with Nacho and Lucas Vázquez starting at full-back against Valencia.
Here, Carlo Ancelotti is likely to bring back in Ferland Mendy and Daniel Carvajal in those positions.
David Alaba and Aurélien Tchouameni are both injured, meaning Antonio Rüdiger and Eduardo Camavinga will start in defence and midfield respectively.
Luka Modrić will return to the XI, with Fede Valverde pushed, nominally, into a wide-right position.
Up front, Karim Benzema will be seeking to add to his 12 goals in Clásicos.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Militão, Rüdiger, Mendy; Camavinga, Modrić, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinícius,
Barcelona team news
Xavi, somewhat surprisingly, left Sergio Busquets on the bench on Thursday, with Frenkie de Jong deployed as the defensive midfielder.
Many Barça supporters had been calling for this move for months, so it’ll be interesting to see who completes the trio alongside Pedri and Gavi here.
Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres are both available, as their ongoing suspensions only apply in La Liga matches.
At the back, Xavi has tinkered a lot this season, but went for Jules Koundé and Ronald Araújo against Betis.
Marc-André ter Stegen, Jordi Alba, Busqeuts and Ousmane Dembélé are the only players still at the club who featured the last time Barça won the Supercopa, beating Sevilla in Tangier in August 2018.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Roberto, Koundé, Araújo, Alba; de Jong, Gavi, Pedri; Dembélé, Ansu, Lewandowski.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Head to head statistics
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