Real Madrid have been humbled twice this season by Barcelona in both the Spanish Supercup Final and in LaLiga. They have been consistently outplayed in the big games this season - including by Arsenal, AC Milan, and Liverpool in the Champions League. And now, with Carlo Ancelotti facing his final weeks as Real Madrid manager, the Merengue club must exorcise their demons on Saturday night in Seville against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Final.
Although the Copa del Rey has usually been a bogey competition for Real Madrid, that is one of the areas in which Ancelotti has especially excelled as manager. He won the competition in 2013/14 and even in 2022/23 when Real lost everything else, and, now, it may be the only way Real Madrid walk away with a major trophy in 2024/25.
Here are five players who could decide Saturday night's matchup between bitter rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Olympic Stadium in the south of Spain.
Real Madrid ST Kylian Mbappe
All eyes are on Kylian Mbappe, who will return from suspension and an injury against Arsenal to start against Barcelona. In their last head-to-head battle, Mbappe was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dreary 5-2 loss in the Supercup Final, bouncing back from a dreadful offside-laden display in LaLiga against the Blaugrana.
Mbappe is under more pressure than any other Real Madrid player, and while that was true at every point in the 2024/25 season, it couldn't be more true than now after Los Merengues were knocked out of a competition they won last season without him - a competition that Mbappe has never won in his career.
Although there is no question that Mbappe is a big-game player because of what he's done at two World Cups for the French national team, Real Madrid fans are still wondering if he's the right fit for their club. There is mostly optimism from Madridistas, but they'd really like to see a response from him against a Barcelona defense that can be vulnerable off the ball on the counter.
Barcelona ST Ferran Torres
Robert Lewandowski most likely won't be playing in the Copa del Rey Final this weekend, meaning Ferran Torres will get another massive start in the middle of the best winger partnership in world football. Whenever he's been called upon, Torres has been a revelation this season, and given he used to regularly burn Real Madrid in the past as a Valencia player before they snubbed him as a transfer target, I'm sure he'd love nothing more than to sink Madridista hearts in the Final.
A real threat off the ball, Torres has a knack for coming up big in crunch time, which is something that hasn't been the case for Real's own front line. Real Madrid have huge issues with marking inside the penalty area, and it wouldn't be a surprise if Torres ghosted his markers en route to a goal or two.
Real Madrid LB Fran Garcia
Although Ferland Mendy will be back from injury and is the more defensive of the two options at left back, it looks like Fran Garcia will be the starter on Saturday night in the Copa del Rey Final. And so a notoriously subpar one-on-one defender will be tasked with facing up the best dribbler in the world, Lamine Yamal, in a must-win game.
Fran has been better than Mendy this season, but that's like saying a turtle is faster than a sloth. He doesn't look like a Real Madrid player, often lowering his level against the best opponents while looking very vulnerable defensively on a team littered with defensive weaknesses. If Fran can't buckle down and mitigate Yamal's impact while still providing an actual outlet for Vinicius Junior to combine with on the left, this could be another blowout loss for Real Madrid.
Barcelona CM Pedri
Pedri has been the best controller in the midfield in all of world football this season, and with Real Madrid struggling badly without Toni Kroos against Barcelona this season, Pedri, more than anyone else, holds the keys to making life miserable for Madridistas this weekend.
The praise Pedri received over the last couple of seasons seemed to frustrate some Real Madrid fans, because it was based more on reputation than his current quality, which had been shrouded by nagging injuries. Fortunately for Barcelona, Pedri has been healthy for most of the 2024/25 season, and, as a result, Barca have been that much stronger.
He is averaging 1.8 key passes and 2.6 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game with 2.5 combined tackles and interceptions per match. Those numbers are impressive enough, but they don't even tell half the story of his overall - and often unselfish - impact. He could run circles around Real Madrid, and if he does, it might not matter how the key players on Madrid perform.
Real Madrid DM Aurelien Tchouameni
The best counterweight to Pedri is the Real Madrid No. 6, Aurelien Tchouameni. He is literally the only Real Madrid player with the profile to play this position against a team like Barcelona, and after stinking up the joint as a center back in their last battle in the Spanish Supercup Final, Tchou may have just as much to prove to himself as compatriot Kylian Mbappe this Saturday.
Tchouameni should be one of the best players in the world at any position right now, but his development has been stagnant under Carlo Ancelotti in the Spanish capital. At times, he looks like a world-class defensive midfielder, but there are other matches when he is a massive liability, such as the loss to AC Milan in the first half of the campaign. If the best version of Tchouameni shows up against Barcelona, Real Madrid have a chance. If not, they are as good as burnt toast topped with cottage cheese.