Pre-Match Thread: Real Madrid vs Barcelona [Super Cup]

#Match Information:

 

**Match**: [](#realmadrid) Real Madrid vs Barcelona [](#barcelona)

**Competition**: Super Cup

**Date**: Sunday, 14th of January 2024

**Time**: 20:00 CET / 14:00 EST – [Convert to local time](https://www.time.is/1705258800)

**Venue**: [King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, (Saudi Arabia)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Inside_Stadium.jpg) – 25000 capacity

**Referee**: Juan Martínez Munuera

 

#Lineups and Squads:

 

[](#barcelona) **Barcelona** – [Official squad confirmed](https://twitter.com/FCBarcelona/status/1744667911568932991/photo/1)

**GK**: ~~Ter Stegen~~, Iñaki Peña, **Ander Astralaga**, **Diego Kochen**

**DEF**: ~~João Cancelo~~, Álex Baldé, Araújo, ~~Íñigo Martínez~~, Christensen, ~~Alonso~~, Koundé, **Pau Cubrsi**, **Héctor Fort**

**MID**: ~~Gavi~~, Pedri, Oriol Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Frenkie, Gündoğan, **Marc Casadó**, **Fermín López**

**ATT**: Ferran Torres, Lewandowski, ~~Raphinha~~, João Félix, Vitor Roque, **Lamine Yamal**, **Marc Guiu**

**Unavailable**: Ter Stegen, João Cancelo, Íñigo Martínez, Alonso, Gavi, Raphinha (injured)

**Not called**:

[](#realmadrid) **Real Madrid** – Official squad to be confirmed

**GK**: ~~Thibaut Courtois~~, Andriy Lunin, Kepa Arrizabalaga

**DEF**: Carvajal, ~~Éder Militão~~, ~~David Alaba~~, Nacho, ~~Lucas Vázquez~~, Fran García, Antonio Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy

**MID**: Jude Bellingham, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Brahim Díaz, Arda Guler, Nicolás Paz Martínez

**ATT**: Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo, Joselu

**Unavailable**: Thibaut Courtois, Éder Militão, David Alaba, Lucas Vázquez (injured)

**Not called**:

 

#Form guide:

 

**Real Madrid**

– **Form**: **[W]** W W W W

– **Goals scored**: 14

– **Goals conceded**: 5

– **Last match**: Real Madrid 5:3 Atlético Madrid – Super Cup

**Barcelona**

– **Form**: **[W]** W W W D

– **Goals scored**: 11

– **Goals conceded**: 6

– **Last match**: FC Barcelona 2:0 Osasuna – Super Cup

 

#Head-to-head:

 

– **Last meeting**: FC Barcelona 1:2 Real Madrid

– **Date**: Saturday, 28th of October 2023, 16:15 CEST

– **Competition**: La Liga

– **Threads**: [Pre-match thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17hp49s/prematch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_la_liga/) | [Match thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ien87/match_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/) | [Post-match thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/)

– **Highlights**: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze6ccgBp1Bc

 

#Comments (Post-match thread):

 

Author: **debcomajin** | Score: **285** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u59wg/)**

> We fucking blew this game. There is absolutely NO reason Madrid should have tied, let alone win that? I mean like what the fuck did I just watch??

Author: **botakbiadab** | Score: **274** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5ia8/)**

> Mid gap. That’s about it. Can’t wait for Frenkie and Pedri to come back.

Author: **Leong157** | Score: **272** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u60en/)**

> The biggest mistake for me was subbing in Romeu and move Gavi up the field.

> Gavi was doing a good job keeping Bellingham in check. Once Bellingham was free, well……

> And also that lazy jog from Romeu…….

Author: **Peetr98** | Score: **217** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5cjw/)**

> This is our fault

Author: **floridagator23** | Score: **208** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5idq/)**

> I knew when we started falling back we’d concede. It rarely works out to hold a lead against Madrid.

> Fully deserved. Hopefully in the other Clásico we have Frenkie and Pedri back because our midfield was lackluster.

> Also, Romeu ruins the fluidity of the midfield

Author: **i798** | Score: **168** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5czh/)**

> This is becoming a pattern now, outplay them in first half then completely lose control in the second. Xavi’s subs pretty much lost us the game but I cant blame him too much considering how many injuries we have. It is what it is, there’s still a long way to go in the league so onto the next one.

> Props to Bellingham, dude is having a monster of a season. Always in the right spot and scoring clutch goals.

Author: **sp_55** | Score: **139** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5fkt/)**

> Romeu is seriously getting robbed time and again…

Author: **SharestepAI** | Score: **105** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5kpb/)**

> Not possible to win a match at this level when your team is carried by 19 year olds, and superstars like Lewandowski have the first touch of a 12 year old.

> Those players need to make the difference, not halt your offensive play.

> Maybe Lewa wasn’t quite match ready after injury – if that’s the case, he shouldn’t have played, bad move

Author: **SalBruh_** | Score: **86** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u6fga/)**

> Injury or not, lewa’s first touch has been abysmal for a while now.

> Cancelo should’ve never came off.

Author: **HUREViDe** | Score: **77** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5fyy/)**

> Damn that’s a tough loss to swallow. Game was for the taking. Bellingham really is blessed fucking hell.

> ​

> P.S some of you bashing Ter Stegen in the match thread are so ungrateful it’s absurd.

Author: **rixxyy** | Score: **74** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u8qcl/)**

> Such a shame that this Gavi and Araujo performance will go unnoticed because of the result 🙁

Author: **anurag6ix** | Score: **66** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5wky/)**

> How many times romeu fucked up in the 20 minutes? He really needs to step up.

Author: **Temporary_Fall_8647** | Score: **61** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5pmr/)**

> If Lewandowski keeps performing like this, we won’t do much in the UCL, I’d rather we play Gavi at DM than Oriol Romeu even, because he’s gonna get cooked each and every single match against quality opposition

Author: **NotJustAPhan** | Score: **59** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5ep8/)**

> For those saying Real Madrid are just lucky—no, they create their own luck by putting themselves in dangerous positions and taking chances and never giving up. You do that for 90 minutes and you’re bound to get goals. Our problem was that in the second half we got complacent and just sat back and let them dictate the game. If we had kept up the pressure and taken more shots this probably would have been ours.

Author: **FCBlazingbiology** | Score: **45** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5tn9/)**

> Lewandowski and Romeu were embarrassing. Romeu is just not at this level. And literally any other forward would at least press and run, idk what happened since the end of last year, he aged overnight

Author: **ayayyayayay765** | Score: **41** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5rxi/)**

> Absolutely out played in the second half, fair play to RM. The Fermin chance in the first half has to be better to put away a team like that.

Author: **ElliotLadker** | Score: **37** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u6lza/)**

> I want to give a shout-out to the mods. This sub must be a pain in the ass after these matches.

> About the game, well it’s Hard to say. It was a good first 60 minutes, a good starting plan by Xavi, then everything went to hell.

> The subs were awful. Ferran was the perfect forward for this match because he would not get anchored in between the defenders, Cancelo was doing a much better job than Raphinha at keeping Camavinga busy so he couldn’t run, and Romeu, well…

> Madrid doesn’t need much to beat you down, and we became awfully fragile after their goal.

> A loss now doesn’t mean much besides bragging rights and people being annoying, but since it was such a winnable match it’s more annoying.

> On a last note, I won’t blame Ter Stegen for what happened, but he could have done more. Or maybe he couldn’t and I just expected more.

> The thing is, every time people wonder if he is the best keeper in our history I think that he is quite good, but he doesn’t have the legendary nights that other keepers have.

Author: **TrueCooler** | Score: **36** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5c7c/)**

> Sometimes I really hate this club man…

> Xavi’s subs and poor finishing lost us the game today. We clearly started playing for a 1-0 in the second half. You never, EVER sit back against Madrid and invite pressure by letting them into the game.

> Romeu might actually be the worst player I’ve ever seen in a Barca kit

Author: **Pandawee42** | Score: **35** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u5r2r/)**

> Absolutely toothless game. So many wasted chances in the first half and then we stopped playing. The sideways and backwards passes were infuriating to watch, especially in the last 20-30 mins of the game. We have like zero creativity

> However y’all need to stop your reactionary-as-hell takes in the match thread lol

Author: **Rthanos** | Score: **35** pts | **[Source](https://reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/17ih5en/postmatch_thread_barcelona_vs_real_madrid_laliga/k6u59eu/)**

> 100% deserved loss. F around and find out in the end. Also superb subs from the coach lmao.

 

#Quotes:

 

🚨 Xavi Hernández: "Pedri is at 100%." pic.twitter.com/hjuU6PzqL8

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 13, 2024

 

#Latest News:

 

[[Article] – The Spanish Super Cup Diary](https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/football/first-team/news/3851818/the-spanish-super-cup-diary) – **fcbarcelona.com**

[[Article] – Deco says final against Real Madrid ‘always special’](https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/football/first-team/news/3855036/deco-says-final-against-real-madrid-always-special) – **fcbarcelona.com**

[[Article] – One year since the final that changed everything](https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/football/first-team/news/3854587/one-year-since-the-final-that-changed-everything) – **fcbarcelona.com**

[[Article] – Xavi: ‘We have confidence going into the final’](https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/football/first-team/news/3854246/xavi-we-have-confidence-going-into-the-final) – **fcbarcelona.com**

[[Article] – When and where to watch Real Madrid v FC Barcelona](https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/football/first-team/news/3854470/when-and-where-to-watch-real-madrid-v-fc-barcelona) – **fcbarcelona.com**

 

#TV/Online:

 

**[Livesoccertv](https://www.livesoccertv.com/match/4869456/real-madrid-vs-barcelona/)** | **[Liveonsat](https://liveonsat.com/europe-spain-copa-del-rey.php)** | **[FCBarcelona.com](https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/football/first-team/news/3854470/when-and-where-to-watch-real-madrid-v-fc-barcelona)**

 

by decho