In what promises to be another enthralling game Barcelona will lock horns with Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid in the season’s first ever El Clasico encounter in the first-leg of the Spanish Super Cup at the Nou Camp on Sunday evening.

 

The sides did meet in pre-season and the Catalans came out on top in a game that ended 3-2 at Miami Gardens in Florida back in July. Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Pique were on the scoresheet for Ernesto Valverde’s men, while Matteo Kovacic and Marco Asensio had grabbed one each for Los Blancos.

 

Their last meeting in La Liga yielded the same result, albeit with different goalscorers. Casemiro had handed Real the lead, only to see Messi draw level soon after. Rakitic did complete the comeback, but the Catalans were pegged back by James Rodriguez, who came off the bench to score the equalizer. After Sergio Ramos was sent off, Lionel Messi grabbed an all important last-minute winner to break Real hearts. Despite the win, the La Liga title eluded Barcelona as Zidane’s men picked up the crown five years after claiming it under Jose Mourinho back in 2012.

 

While this will be Barcelona’s first competitive game of the new season, Real Madrid’s nervous 2-1 win over Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup last week saw them claim their first trophy of the season. Goals from Isco and Casemiro were enough to see them through, despite Romelu Lukaku’s strike that could only act as a consolation for the Red Devils after all their efforts.

 

 

As strange as it sounds, Luka Modric will be serving a suspension for a red card he picked up three years ago during a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup game. The Croatian had lunged into a challenge on Christian Rodriguez during the game at the Vicente Calderon. Cristiano Ronaldo, who was on the bench against his former club, is likely to return to first team action. 

 

As far as Valverde’s men are concerned, they don’t have any injury concerns to deal with for El Clasico. Summer signing Nelson Semedo could well make a competitive debut at the Nou Camp. This will be Barcelona’s first game without Neymar, who sealed a record breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain just over a week ago.

 

 

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic; Deulofeu, Suarez, Messi

 

Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Isco, Benzema, Bale


Kaustubh Pandey (@TheFootyMad)