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Real Madrid and Barcelona met in Miami two weeks ago for an unprecedented pre-season El Clásico but this time —Sunday, 22:00 CET— a trophy will be a stake. Both teams will surely want to send a message and claim this Spanish Supercup title.
This will be Ernesto Valverde’s first game as Barcelona’s coach, so he has to prove he has the attitude and skills needed to build a game plan to control the tempo of the game against Madrid’s brilliant counterattacks.
On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo will most likely make his return to Real Madrid’s starting XI after training with his teammates just for one week. Coach Zinedine Zidane said during the pre-match press conference that Ronaldo is ready to go, so reports from Spain expect the Portuguese star to be in the team’s starting XI. Luka Modric will not be available as he is serving a suspension for the red card he saw three years ago in the last Spanish Supercup played by Los Blancos against Atlético, so Mateo Kovacic will have his first chance of the season to prove he is ready to fill Modric’s shoes.
Real Madrid Predicted XI: Keylor Navas, Dani Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo, Casemiro, Kroos, Kovacic, Isco, Ronaldo, Benzema.
Barcelona Predicted XI: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Deulofeu, Messi, Suárez.