Barca Vs Real Madrid Head To Head
Emmanuelle Riker
It's the first time since 2020 -- when the Supercopa was expanded and moved to Saudi Arabia -- that the final will fulfil the tournament's original goal of pitting the reigning LaLiga champions, Barcelona, against last season's Copa del Rey winners, Real Madrid.
It's also a repeat of last year's Supercopa final, when a one-sided Clsico contest ended in a 3-1 Barca win, setting them up for a triumphant second half of the season, which ended with the league title.
Barcelona were completely, overwhelmingly dominant when the teams last met on Oct. 28 in LaLiga. Until, with just over an hour played, Jude Bellingham turned the game at Montjuic on its head with a breathtaking goal out of nowhere -- and then a late, dramatic winner -- to give Madrid the three points.
Remember the last Clsico in a cup competition: the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg at Camp Nou in April 2023, which Madrid won at a canter, 4-0, just as Barca were preparing to lift the league title. Or their last Supercopa meeting in Riyadh, three months earlier, when Barca cruised to a 3-1 victory.
In other words, either team is more than capable of winning Sunday, so everything we say should be taken with a pinch of salt. Still, there are plenty of reasons for Madridistas to be optimistic.
Wednesday's gripping 5-3 win over Atletico -- in which Real twice fought back from a goal down, to eventually emerge victorious in extra time -- was more proof that this team doesn't know when it's beaten. Serial winners like Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal could write the book on what it takes to lift trophies.
Madrid haven't lost since September. This is a well-balanced team that looks dangerous in attack, and -- despite the evidence to the contrary in the three goals conceded against Atleti -- is generally solid in defence, conceding 11 goals in 19 LaLiga games this season.
Another relentless competitor, Antonio Rdiger, is in the best form of his time at Madrid. Carvajal was the semifinal's MVP. Federico Valverde is having a quietly exceptional season in a more withdrawn midfield role. Then there's the goal threat and big-game personality of Bellingham.
Madrid's squad is also reassuringly deep. On Wednesday, coach Carlo Ancelotti was able to call on Kroos, Eduardo Camavinga, Brahim Daz, Joselu, Dani Ceballos and Arda Gler off the bench to help get the team over the line in extra time. Diaz, in particular, has been in electric form in recent weeks, forcing his way into Ancelotti's plans and offering the team something different in attack.
The biggest doubt -- and perhaps the team's Achilles heel -- comes in goal. Kepa Arrizabalaga started on Wednesday and was unconvincing once again, showing a familiar lack of conviction in coming off his line to fail to deal with Atletico's third goal. The suspicion is that Ancelotti now prefers Andriy Lunin and has given Kepa minutes in this month's cup competitions to keep his confidence up.
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernndez says last season's Supercopa success, complete with the win over Madrid in the final, gave his players the belief they needed to go on and win LaLiga for the first time since 2019. He is hoping for a similar "click" in Riyadh on Sunday to quieten the criticism that has accompanied Bara in recent months.
That criticism peaked in December when a two-game winless run saw Bara slip seven points behind LaLiga leaders Madrid and Girona. The complaints extend beyond just results, though, and focus on the performances produced even when winning. Before Thursday's 2-0 win over Osasuna, Bara had not won a game by more than a goal since Sept. 19, a run spanning 20 matches, and had not kept a clean sheet since Dec. 3.
Pedri's return from injury helps. The midfielder came on for the final 30 minutes against Osasuna, coinciding with an upturn in Bara's display. Xavi said the Spain international adds "clarity" to the team's football, while midfielder Frenkie de Jong noted Bara are "more fluid" when he is on the pitch.
"We have to take the ball from Madrid and our DNA must shine through more than ever," he said in a news conference on Thursday. "The example is last year's final. Madrid are in better form than they were then, but we will try to dominate them and play toe-to-toe. It's the ideal moment for us to show our best football."
Those are qualities Xavi often preaches but other attributes led to last year's LaLiga title, which was built on a solid defensive base. That has been lost this season, with Bara already conceding more goals through 19 LaLiga games than they did in 38 last year, but a return to last season's back four brought a clean sheet against Osasuna. With full-back Joo Cancelo a doubt to face Madrid, they may stick to that recipe of Jules Kound, Ronald Arajo, Andreas Christensen and Alejandro Balde.
A hamstring injury picked up by Raphinha against Osasuna may lead Xavi back to picking four midfielders, too, which was the tactic deployed in last season's final. Pedri could return alongside De Jong, Ilkay Gndogan and Sergi Roberto to provide control in the middle and avoid an end-to-end game that would likely favour Madrid. It would also reserve Joo Felix and Lamine Yamal for the second half after both players made such a big impact off the bench against Osasuna. -- Sam Marsden
Marsden: Barelona 3-1 Real Madrid. It's the old cliche but form really does fly out the window in a Clsico, with the less-fancied team often prevailing. I think Bara's need for a big win could get them over the line on Sunday, just as it did last year.
Messi, 36, has already played against one Saudi Pro League team as part of Miami's preseason preparations for the 2024 MLS campaign, losing 4-3 to Al Hilal on Monday. Next up it's Al Nassr on Feb. 1, just a few days before Ronaldo's 39th birthday.
The Miami-Al Nassr game was being dubbed in some quarters as "The Last Dance" between the two greatest players of their era -- and possibly ever -- but now we will have to hope for another meeting in the future when both players are fit.
Messi and Ronaldo actually played against each other earlier this year when Paris Saint-Germain travelled to Saudi Arabia for an exhibition game against a Saudi Pro League XI. Both of the star attractions managed to get on the scoresheet (Ronaldo actually scored twice) as the Saudi select side ran out 5-4 victors in Riyadh, though the friendly doesn't count toward any official stats.
Messi and Ronaldo have tangled a total of 36 times in competitive matches for club and country. During the entire duration of Ronaldo's senior career, the only player he has faced as often is Andres Iniesta (36 times). On the other hand, Messi has faced three other opponents on more occasions during his career: Sergio Ramos, Diego Godn and Karim Benzema.
The very first Messi-Ronaldo meeting came on April 23, 2008, when a 20-year-old Messi found himself fielded opposite a 23-year-old Ronaldo as Barcelona and Manchester United played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. Ronaldo also missed a penalty at Camp Nou in the only meeting between the pair to have ever ended goalless, but United's 1-0 win at Old Trafford sent them through to the final, where they beat Chelsea.
At the time, the pair shared one Champions League title, 18 Champions League goals and precisely zero Ballon d'Ors. Those figures now stand at nine European crowns, 269 UCL goals and 13 Ballon d'Ors between them. In addition, Ronaldo captained Portugal to glory at the 2016 European Championship and the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019, while Messi led Argentina to triumphs at the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup.
While classed as an exhibition game, the 5-4 friendly between PSG and Al Nassr in January is the most recent meeting between Messi and Ronaldo. It marked the fifth different country in which the pair have played against each other, having already faced off in official matches in Spain, England, Italy and Switzerland.
Messi leads the head-to-head record with 16 wins in competitive matches to Ronaldo's 11, while there have been nine draws. Messi also has one more goal to his name in their encounters, having scored 22 to Ronaldo's 21, but it is on the assist count that he really comes into his own with 11 goals created compared to just one from his rival.
Ronaldo has represented four clubs since first playing against Messi in 2008, with Messi now at his third following his midseason move to Miami. The duo have played against each other five times in the Champions League knockout phase: both legs of the 2007-08 (Barca vs. Manchester United) and 2010-11 (Barca vs. Real Madrid) semifinals, as well as the 2008-09 final in Rome, in which Messi scored for Barca in a 2-0 win over Manchester United.
Ronaldo may be the Champions League's all-time top scorer with 141 goals overall, but his brace of penalties against Barca in the 2020-21 group stage was the first (and so far only) time he'd ever scored in the competition while sharing the pitch with Messi, who has scored three times in European clashes against teams featuring Ronaldo.
Messi extended his Champions League goal haul to 129, putting him second in the all-time list, before he left for the United States in the summer. Barring a sensational return to an elite-level club in Europe, it is unlikely he will add any more to that tally. Still, stranger things have happened.
The 2009 final in Rome was hyped as a gladiatorial clash between the two best players in the world, and this time Messi came out on top. Barca successfully kept United at arm's length in Rome to win 2-0 -- with Messi scoring a rare header for his team's second goal -- and secure their first-ever league, domestic cup and European Cup treble.
The game that was seen as something of a proving ground for both Messi and Ronaldo (who were both Ballon d'Or winners by this point) veered off script as Camp Nou witnessed a historic humiliation of Real and their coach, Jose Mourinho. Messi didn't score, but he set up two goals as he played a pivotal role in Barca dishing out a mauling of their foes, who had started the game top of LaLiga and unbeaten in seven matches. The hefty scoreline was immortalised by Gerard Pique's five-fingered "Manita" ("Little Hand") salute to the watching world.
d3342ee215