Real Madrid beat Mallorca easily, and Barcelona easily beat Athletic Bilbao to secure the win Classico A confrontation in the Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday (2 PM ET, streaming live on ESPN+, US only).
It is the third season in a row that Real Madrid and Barcelona have met at this stage, with the previous two winners going on to secure the La Liga title – Barcelona in 2023 and Madrid last year. Even Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona’s coach at the time two years ago, spoke of the confidence that came from beating Real Madrid in the Super Cup.
Both teams have had up-and-down seasons, but they will enter Sunday’s match in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in relatively good shape with all their stars up front. For Madrid, there are signs of this Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham Good ones coming. For Barcelona, Lamin Yamal He returned from injury to partner with him Rafinha and Robert Lewandowski. Dani Olmo Also available again after a scoring failure saw him miss the semi-finals. –-Sam Marsden
Classico Face to face at all times
All competitions
Madrid 105, Barcelona 101, draw 52
finals
Madrid 5, Barcelona 4
— ESPN Research
What happened in the end? Classico?
The humiliating 4-0 loss to Real Madrid in October at the Bernabéu was the high point of Barcelona’s early-season form. It was a victory for Hansi Flick’s high-risk line and a shock for the Madrid system, sparking a mini-crisis for Los Blancos. But it was also a game that – despite the result – was won by a very narrow margin. If Real Madrid, and especially Kylian Mbappe, had been more effective and exploited Barcelona’s defense with more precision, the result could have been very different.
Real Madrid had many opportunities to score, which were blocked by poor finishing or an offside flag, before Robert Lewandowski scored the goal in the 54th minute. Two minutes later, Lewandowski scored the second goal, effectively ending the match. By the time Lamine Yamal and Rafinha scored late on, the score was indicating a crushing defeat, but that was not reflective of the balance of play over the course of the 90 minutes.
All of this indicates that there is no guarantee of a repeat. In recent years we have seen this large volume Classico Wins don’t necessarily predict the next match, or the season as a whole. True to precedent, Real Madrid would rather look to the last Super Cup, in January 2024, when Vinicius Junior’s hat-trick inspired a comprehensive 4-1 win for Real Madrid. –Alex Kirkland
How have Real Madrid and Barcelona’s seasons gone so far?
real madrid: Carlo Ancelotti’s side already have two titles in their bag for the 2024-25 season: the European Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. They are looking to add a third goal in Jeddah, with a team that has yet to find its rhythm.
Real Madrid have started the season slowly – with draws at Mallorca and Las Palmas in August showing a worrying lack of cohesion – and there have been some big defeats along the way, notably to Lille, Milan and Liverpool in the Champions League, and this home thrashing of Barcelona. There have been criticisms of Mbappe and injuries, especially Dani Carvajalweakened the team.
But overall, the trend is gradual improvement. Jude Bellingham has been the star – and his all-round game is now arguably better than last season’s heroics – and Vinicius Junior is not far behind. Mbappe’s goal scoring rate has improved, even if he has not yet reached his peak. The weak link is the defence, especially the full-backs Lucas Vasquez Struggles to compensate for Carvajal’s defensive output. –Kirkland
Barcelona: Barcelona’s season can be divided into two parts: before November and after November. Before November, they had won 12 of 14 matches, scoring four or more goals in seven of those matches, including wins over Madrid and Bayern Munich. Since November, they have won seven of their 13 matches and lost five, including shock defeats at home to Las Palmas and Leganés.
Various reasons have been given for their decline. Rafinha noted some fatigue, Lewandowski spoke about the team’s mentality in the “smaller” games and there was a period when they were without Yamal. Opposition players and coaches also spoke about how they successfully targeted Barcelona’s high defensive line, which had produced such devastating results for them earlier in the season.
Victory over Real Madrid, after back-to-back wins at the start of 2025 over Barbastro and Athletic Club, will fuel the sense that they are past what Flick called “November”. — Marsden
Major clashes
Mbappe against Barcelona’s defense: Mbappé was offside eight times, six of them in the first half, when the two teams met in October. When he was not offside, his shot was weak. But this decline came in the midst of a drought that lasted seven matches with only one goal.
Since then, Mbappe has been scoring goals more regularly, finding the back of the net in four successive matches in December. He has also scored in Madrid’s two finals so far in the 2024-25 season, against Pachuca and Atalanta. The big performance against Barcelona on Sunday will be the highlight of his season so far, and the special “I am him” moment everyone has been waiting for. –Kirkland
Yamal vs. Mendy. Yamal showed no sign of ill effects from the ankle injury when he returned by scoring the second goal in the semi-final match against Athletic on Wednesday. Ferland Mendy He knows all about the threat the 17-year-old poses, having been left dazed at the Bernabéu in October. The battle between the two could decide this game.
Yamal’s numbers may not be as impressive as those of Rafinha and Lewandowski – although he has scored seven goals and provided 12 assists this season – but Barcelona are always better when he is on the pitch. He started 20 matches this season, and Barcelona won 17 of them. He demands attention on the right flank, and if he doesn’t score or assist, he creates more space for others. — Marsden
Classico Predictions
Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona. There will be goals. On both sides. Even against Mallorca in the semi-final, Real Madrid looked weak at times, and Barcelona’s defense was no longer as strong as it was. It will depend on which team is more effective. Bellingham should star again, and Vinnie Jnr will have a point to prove, after looking unhappy at being substituted at the end of the Mallorca match. It will be fun. –Kirkland
Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona. It’s hard to disagree with Alex that there will be goals. The first will be a private key. If Barcelona gets that, it will force Madrid to be more open than they might normally be. If Real Madrid get that, Barcelona have a habit of chasing games earlier than they need to. So, I think this will mirror the last two finals between the two teams, where whoever scores first eventually wins comfortably. I’m not sure. — Marsden
Betting odds
Real Madrid -125, Barcelona -105 (at time of publication)
— ESPN bet
