Wherever the game is played and whatever is at stake, the Classic will never cease to be unmissable. On Wednesday, eternal rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid will meet in Saudi Arabia in a semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup in which the loser goes home.
After a difficult start to the season, a change of coach and a previous 2-1 loss in the league to Madrid, Barcelona have some hopes of upsetting this one: new signing Ferran Torres will make his debut for the Blaugrana. and he ‘will start from the first minute after his $ 55 million transfer from Manchester City. Midfield star Pedri is also on the bench.
Real Madrid are the favorites in the match and for good reason: the meringues have been a machine in Carlo Ancelotti’s return as coach and have been led by rising star Vinicius Junior and the ever-reliable Karim Benzema. Their scoring exploits have Madrid at the top of La Liga, 16 points ahead of Barcelona, and aiming for more trophies in Saudi Arabia.
The Spanish Super Cup pits the winner and runner-up of La Liga against the winner and runner-up of the Copa del Rey in a single match semifinals and a final to be played on Sunday. The winner of the Barcelona-Real Madrid faces the winner of the semifinal Atlético de Madrid vs. Athletico Bilbao that will take place on Thursday.
Sporting News will follow the event live and provide score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
| 1 hour | 2H | Final | |
| Barcelona | one | – | – |
| Real Madrid | one | – | – |
Min. 25— Real Madrid – Vinicius Junior (Karim Benzema)
Min. 42— Barcelona – Luuk de Jong
(All Eastern times)
Barcelona ties her up! How did that come in? Real Madrid defender Eder Militao tries to clear a cross from Dembele and it goes to Luuk de Jong, to the post and inside! It’s 1-1.
Marco Asensio of Real Madrid tries again with his left foot from outside the area. This at least forces Ter Stegen to work after a detour from Ronald Araujo.
Another header from Luuk de Jong and he finished right off Courtois. Good run for Barcelona.
What an opportunity for Barcelona! Single cross from the left by Dembélé and Luuk de Jong headed straight for goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Barça has not created much in attack and cannot miss many of those occasions.
Real Madrid goal! Karim Benzema snatches the ball from Sergio Busquets in midfield, then feeds Vinicius Junior, who gets behind the Barça defense and the lights go out. Vini Jr just slips through Araujo and covers it. Madrid in the lead. Vinicius Junior is having something of the season: 15th goal of the season in his 27th game.
ATTENTION – Ferran Torres receives the first yellow for pulling Ferland Mendy’s shirt. Barcelona is pushing high, but it’s not very effective at winning the ball or causing a lot of trouble. The Real Madrid players are beating him quite effectively.
???? | FUN FACT
Ferran Torres’ 23-minute warning is his first yellow card in all competitions in more than a year: the last card was on November 21, 2020, in Man City’s league game against Tottenham. ????
Not exactly the way he would have wanted to start his career at Barça.#The classic pic.twitter.com/FbqFRlqd0X
– SofaScore (@SofaScoreINT) January 12, 2022
Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid is ready for this one. He sprints after Barcelona’s second corner and feeds Asensio, who curves off again. Vini is wreaking havoc on the left wing.
Consecutive corners for Barcelona. It is Ferran Torres who took one and Dembélé the other. Nothing comes out of them.
It is Vinicius Junior’s turn to take aim. His shot hits the target and Barça goalkeeper Ter Stegen is up to the task. Ronald Araujo from Barcelona was following Vini in his career from behind. Barcelona’s attack is non-existent so far.
Ferran Torres is positioned wide on the right, Dembélé on the left and Luuk de Jong as a center forward. Ferran Torres trying a little too hard to start his career in Barcelona.
Now it is Marco Asensio with space to launch a left-footed shot that finishes high. Real Madrid are moving fast and based on what we’ve seen so far, Ancelotti’s men are more likely to score. Barcelona giving away the easy ball.
It is Karim Benzema with the first attempt of the day after a bad pass attempt and loss of Dani Alves. The shot goes high and Barcelona goes down easy there. Benzema is hot (22 goals in 25 games) and is bound to score if he receives such looks.
They were out. We will see where Ferran Torres lines up for Barcelona.
: Barcelona’s new signing, Ferran Torres, is ready for his debut, and arrives in El Clásico nonetheless. The entire squad has arrived at the stadium in Riyadh.
Dani Alves will be highly motivated to face Real Madrid for the first time since his return.
The last time Dani Alves played in El Clásico, Barça’s three forwards were Neymar, Suárez and Messi.
Tonight, Ferran Torres, Luuk de Jong and Ousmane Dembele lead the row ???? pic.twitter.com/ypmninqWQK
– ESPNFC (@ESPNFC) January 12, 2022
Lineups of the Super Cup for the Classical
One day after receiving the official authorization to register with the club, the new signing will start against Real Madrid for his debut in Barcelona. He recovered in time from a positive COVID-19 test to travel to Saudi Arabia with the young midfielder, who starts on the bench.
obtains ownership over Dutchman, who will be alternate. Meanwhile, he comes to the bench but the American, who has been the subject of transfer rumors in January, does not.
1-Ter Stegen (GK) – 18-Alba, 4-Araujo, 3-Piqué, 8-Alves – 30-Gavi, 5-Busquets, 21-F. De Jong – 7-Dembélé, 17-L. De Jong, 19-Ferran Torres
Neto (PO), Iñaki Peña (PO), O. Mingueza, Lenglet, Riqui Puig, Pedri, Memphis Depay, Ansu Fati, Jutgla, EZ Abde
Real Madrid supposedly had a squad ready for this event, but felt muscle discomfort after training the day before the game and had to retire to take his place in defense.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti opted for more on the right side and more on the right wing.
1-Courtois (GK) – 2-Carvajal, 3-Militao, 6-Nacho, 23-F. Mendy – 8-Kroos, 14-Casemiro, 10-Modric – 11-Asensio, 9-Benzema, 20-Vinicius Jr.
13-Lunin (Goalkeeper), 12-Marcelo, 19-Dani Ceballos, 17-Lucas Vázquez, 5-Vallejo, 15-Valverde, 22-Isco, 25-Camavinga, 21-Rodrygo, 7-Hazard, 16-Jovic
How to see Barça vs. Real
- Date: Wednesday, January 12
- Hour: 2 pm ET
- TV: ESPN
- Spanish television: ESPN Sports
- Transmission: fuboTV , ESPN +, WatchESPN.com (authenticated users only)
Wednesday’s Spanish Super Cup semifinal between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will air on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and will be broadcast on ESPN + (subscribers) and WatchESPN (authentication required).
Fans can also stream ESPN and ESPN Deportes broadcasts via fuboTV , which offers a free trial for new users .