Overview
Real Madrid beat Mallorca 3-0 to advance to the Spanish Super Cup final with an explosive second half. The "White Vultures" thereby also extended their winning streak in all competitions to 5 matches.
The past month has been a relatively successful period for coach Carlo Ancelotti's team. They won the Intercontinental Cup and also took the lead in La Liga.
Los Blancos' attack is showing a very stable performance with 26 goals in the last 8 matches, an average of 3.25 goals/match. Not only the trio Vinicius, Mbappe, Rodrygo, the Bernabeu team also has other explosive points such as Bellingham, Valverde or Arda Guler.
Meanwhile, Real's defense is also very good with 3/5 recent matches keeping a clean sheet, despite the injuries of key players.
As for Barcelona, they defeated Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup in their most recent match. However, unlike their impressive start to the season, the current Blaugrana have caused concern for fans with their erratic form.
Coach Hansi Flick's team has only won once after 7 rounds in La Liga (lost 4, drawn 2) and lost the top spot. They even dropped to 3rd place, behind 2 Madrid teams.
Last October, Barcelona destroyed Real Madrid 4-0. However, the tide has now turned as Los Blancos are performing much better than Blaugrana.
A year ago, Ancelotti's team also beat Barca to win the Spanish Super Cup. The upcoming confrontation will likely witness the second consecutive time Real Madrid beat Blaugrana in this arena.
Human resources situation
Barcelona will be without number one goalkeeper Ter Stegen, Christensen and Ronald Araujo due to injury. Flick's team is expected to field a strong attack, including Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski.
On the other side of the front line, Real Madrid is missing Thibaut Courtois, Rodrygo, Jesus Vallejo, Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal due to injury.
Expected lineup:
Barcelona: Pena, Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde, Casado, Pedri, Fermin, Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha.
Real Madrid: Lunin, Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy, Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Bellingham, Vinicius, Mbappe.
The match between Real Madrid and Barcelona takes place at 2:00 a.m. on January 13 (Vietnam time).
