Real Madrid put Xavi’s improvement in FC Barcelona to the test in the Spanish Super Cup

The growth of Barça since the arrival of Xavi Hernández to the bench is put to the test in an unusual setting, the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), which will host the first official classic away from Spain, in which Real Madrid must respond to his role as favorite in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup.

The first title of the season to which two greats of the stature of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid aspire is giving away a classic in the semifinals that has triggered expectations. The 30,000 tickets available to witness the semifinals of the Super Cup this Wednesday have been sold out. A duel of eternal rivals that crosses borders. The first official to be played outside of Spanish territory in all of history with two precedents in friendlies: that of 2017 in Miami (United States) with a Barça triumph (3-2) and that of 1982, in Barquisimeto (Venezuela), which was led the whites (1-0).

It will be the third decisive game that Xavi will have to face since he made his debut as Barça coach and the previous two came out tails, against Benfica and Bayern Munich. But he faced them as soon as he arrived, with practically no time to change the negative dynamics of the team and instill his ideas.

Now, the situation is different and the excuses no longer have the same value. Two months have passed since the coach was signed by Barça, the team has improved both in the game and in the results and has recovered key players, although they will arrive with little rhythm in their legs for this classic.

Ansu Fati returns to a call-up after injuring himself on November 6 in Balaídos and will most likely receive a medical discharge to face Real Madrid. On the other hand, this Tuesday Pedro González ‘Pedri’, who has practically not played this course due to injuries, and Ferran Torres, travel to Riyadh a day after the team when testing negative for COVID-19.

Furthermore, the new Barça signing may finally be registered thanks to the downward renewal of Samuel Umtiti and, if there is no last-minute surprise, he will receive a medical discharge for his right foot fracture that has kept him away from the field. game since October 10.

And the good news for Xavi does not end here. Frenkie de Jong, who has recovered from the elongation in the soleus of the left leg that he suffered in Linares, and a miraculous Ronald Araujo, who last Friday underwent surgery for a fracture in the second and third metacarpals, were also able to enter the call. of the right hand. Instead, they will be low Eric Garcia, who was injured on Saturday against Granada, Sergi Roberto and Martin Braithwaite.

Real Madrid must respond to its role as favorite in a classic, the kind of matches that does not matter when each team is playing, which is always unpredictable, even if the season and the Camp Nou triumph say otherwise for Carlo Ancelotti’s team. Leaders in LaLiga with a whopping 17 points ahead of Barça in the last 16 of the Champions League while Barça fell into disrepute in the Europa League.

That clear difference that the first half of the course made is wanted by Real Madrid to avoid being overconfident. And he appears in the semifinals with his gala team because since the season began it has been clear that Vinícius Junior is the great protagonist to relegate Eden Hazard to a secondary role and that Gareth Bale, absent in Riyadh due to his umpteenth annoyance, is not for the work of playing excessively in his last year in white. Between Marco Asensio and Rodrygo the remaining place of the trident will be decided.

The letter of introduction to the classic is devastating. The fashionable couple that form Benzema-Vinícius, 22 goals from the French and 14 from the Brazilian, alone add more goals this season than all of FC Barcelona (35). Although Xavi recovers troops up and down, the differential factor for Real Madrid is, with a hunger for titles, the first option to win a trophy in his season, which would be his twelfth Spanish Super Cup to place himself against one of his eternal rival.

There is only one doubt to clear in Ancelotti’s eleven and it lies on the right side where Dani Carvajal just recovered from a new muscle injury is expected. A month without competing and just a couple of training sessions with the group determine the decision of the Italian coach, who must decide if his player is for a high intensity duel or gives continuity to Lucas Vázquez.

Since March 2019, Real Madrid has not lost a classic, which has come to dominate a duel that marks seasons. He emerged victorious from the last four and also dominates the history of clashes in the Spanish Super Cup with eight victories in fourteen games, four for FC Barcelona and two draws. (D)