For the fourth successive season, the Supercopa de España Final will be a Clásico. After Barcelona smashed a disinterested Athletic Club 5-0 on Wednesday, Real Madrid battled to a 2-1 victory over rivals Atlético Madrid the following night in Jeddah.
Fede Valverde broke the deadlock inside 2 minutes with at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium with a rocket of a free-kick, Jan Oblak barely saw it, before Rodrygo bagged, what turned out to be, the winner.
The Supercopa is hardly the most prestigious trophy on offer this season, completely devalued since the RFEF's controversial decision to move it to Saudi Arabia, now it's little more than a glorified friendly. However, the outcome of Sunday's final could have huge ramifications at the Bernabéu.
Three successive draws with Rayo Vallecano, Girona and Elche in November, followed by a shambolic 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Celta Vigo, cranked up the pressure on Xabi Alonso. Thus, reports suggest that Alonso could be sacked by Florentino Pérez if los Blancos fail to land the Supercopa on Sunday night. So, if Real Madrid are going to prevail, they'll need their star man to be at his best once more.
Fede Valverde's all-round outstanding display
Of course, Valverde's outrageous long-range free-kick is what caught the headlines on Thursday. However, the Uruguayan put in a trademark, all-round complete midfield display. As noted by Madrid Zone, he recorded seven ball recoveries; only Eduardo Camavinga and Vinícius Júnior racked up more. The statistics below underlines just how important Valverde continues to be.
Fede Valverde Real Madrid statistics 2025/26
Statistics | Valverde | Real Madrid rank |
|---|---|---|
Minutes | 2,014 | 5th |
Goals | 1 | 8th |
Assists | 7 | 3rd |
Completed passes | 1189 | 3rd |
Passes into final 3rd | 144 | 2nd |
Shot-creating actions | 71 | 5th |
Tackles | 35 | 4th |
Interceptions | 22 | 3rd |
Ball recoveries | 96 | 3rd |
Touches | 1538 | 3rd |
As the table documents, Valverde ranks highly for a wide variety of statistics. The Uruguayan has seven assists to his name this season, only Vini Jr and Arda Güler have more, while also in the top three for completed passes, interceptions, ball recoveries and touches.
Throughout much of last season, due to their defensive injury crisis, Carlo Ancelotti was forced to deploy Valverde at right-back. The 27-year-old himself stated “I wasn’t born to play full-back, I didn’t grow up playing there. It was an emergency situation."
Well, with Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold currently sidelined, Valverde continues to be forced to do a job out of position, very much begrudgingly. In the long term, if Alonso is going to turn things around and become a successful Real Madrid manager, having a right-back available, thereby allowing Valverde in midfield, will surely be key to his success.
Their opponents on Sunday, Barcelona's strength very much lies in their midfield. Hansi Flick is likely to start Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Fermín López, as they did on Wednesday. So, will the fact that Valverde is shunted out-wide be a key factor in determining who prevails?