Match Preview

El Derbi Madrileño goes international for the Supercopa de España in Jeddah on Sunday. Atlético took down Barcelona in their semi-final meeting 3-2.

These two clubs last met in a La Liga derby back in September. It was a very passive 0-0 draw at the Wanda.

Atlético are having a successful season, they’re currently fifth in La Liga, trailing five points behind Barcelona and Real. And, they’re as good defensively as Real have been.

It’s really been Atlético’s goalscoring that’s been lackluster. They’ve scored 14 less goals than Real Madrid this season so far. It is a team that is able to get the results they need though, making them still a tough side in a final.

Injuries/Suspensions

With not much time in between the semi-final and final on Sunday, the injury list remains the same for Real Madrid, including: Hazard, Bale, Benzema and Asensio.

Atlético will still be without both Diego Costa. Atlético announced earlier that Koké would also miss the final after sustaining a thigh injury following the semi-final.

There are no suspensions for Sunday’s final in Saudi Arabia.

Potential XIs

Real Madrid

Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Valverde, Casemiro, Kroos; Modric, Isco, Jovic

With how well Real played against Valencia in the semi-final, Zidane really could just go with the same starting lineup. He could throw Simeone and Atlético a curveball by going with a different formation as well, though.

Personally, the old saying of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies well to Sunday’s match. There’s really no good reason to go with anything different from Wednesday unless Zidane wants to make his starting XI truly unpredictable.

Atlético Madrid

Oblak; Trippier, Savić, Felipe, Lodi; Correa, Herrera, Partey, Saúl; Morata, Félix

Prediction

Real Madrid—Atlético Madrid 3-2

El Derbi should make for a very interesting final on Sunday. It will be curious to see how the defenses stack up against each other and if Atlético can get their goalscoring going again.

Losing Koké hurts a lot. As soon as he was subbed on in the second half against Barcelona, he scored. He’s a big loss for Atlético, which means Thomas Lemar likely slots back into the squad after not being included at all in the semi-final.

This will likely be a fairly close match and a battle for the Supercopa. It’s not the biggest trophy, but it’s a nice one for either side to add to the collection in this new year. And, of course, bragging rights always come into play in a derby match like this.

Real will want to play their best on Sunday if they hope to beat their city rivals. And who knows better than Real at beating Atlético in a cup final.