Having resumed normal service in La Liga for 2022 with a 4-1 thumping of Valencia, Real Madrid turn their attention to the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
In the third year of the new format of the competition, Los Blancos will be hoping to win their second title and come up against Barcelona in the semi-final in Jeddah on Wednesday evening. This will be the second Clasico of the season, the first having been played in October at Camp Nou which the Whites won by a 2-1 margin, courtesy of David Alaba and Lucas Vazquez.
In the last two and a half months, a lot has changed at Barca with Xavi replacing Ronald Koeman at head coach and also the club signing Ferran Torres and Dani Alves. Both new signings will be in contention to play the upcoming game, the former being subject to recovery from the coronavirus.
Real Madrid will take a full-strength squad barring any last-minute COVID positives. Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz will be missing with their respective injuries but they have anyway contributed little this season to be considered integral. Should Madrid win their second Clasico of the season, they will face one of Athletic Bilbao or Atletico Madrid in the final next Sunday.
With inarguably the world’s biggest rivalry set to be played out in Asia on an official basis for the very first time ever, what are the three things Los Merengues should do to win the match?