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Losing matches is a foreign concept for Real Madrid, but over the past weekend after losing to Villarreal, Los Blancos have seen Barcelona regain sole possession of the La Liga lead. But the best way to rebound from a loss is by starting a new winning streak and Real Madrid can not only start one but they can kick things off with a trophy defense in a competition that they’re quite successful in.
The Spanish Super Cup used to only include the La Liga and Copa Del Rey winners but was expanded in 2019 to include the runners up of the Copa del Rey and La Liga. As La Liga winners, Real Madrid will face the Copa Del Rey runners up Valencia while La Liga runners up Barcelona will face the Copa Del Rey winners Real Betis. The winners of those two matches will then meet for the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday, Jan. 15.
Barcelona are the most successful team in cup winning it 13 times but if Real Madrid can pull off a victory, they’ll tie Barcelona with 13 titles winning their third consecutive cup. Valencia has only won the cup once in 1999 while Real Betis has never won it.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday, Jan. 11 | Time: 2 p.m. ET
- Location: King Fahd Stadium — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- TV: ESPN2 | Live stream: fuboTV (try for free)
- Odds: Real Madrid -195; Draw +320; Valencia +550 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Storylines
Real Madrid: The cracks were showing for Real Madrid prior to the Villareal draw, as defense and discipline has been an issue for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. The defense has always been an issue for Real Madrid as they’re a team that prefers to outscore the opposition and let Thibaut Courtois go to work in net, but when the team is receiving red cards and conceding penalties left and right, it’s hard to walk a tightrope. But as always, Real Madrid are one good Karim Benzema day away from victory.
Valencia: With midlling league performance, Valencia will look to throw everything at this match. They’ve lost three of their last five matches but while the defense has been strong, Valencia’s attack hasn’t been there this season. The team has scored one or fewer goals in four of their last five matches with the lone exception being a match versus Real Betis where they played up a man to close things out.
The defense will keep Valencia in the match against Real Madrid but who will win the match for them? American Yunus Musah is a special midfielder who can dribble the ball into space but when the team reaches the attacking third, there’s no one to put the ball in the net. Edinson Cavani was signed to be that presence and he has five goals this season but he only has one goal in his last three matches. If the Cavani that Valencia had in October that scored four goals and assisted one more during the month shows up for the match, there could be an upset in the cards.
Prediction
Valencia will make the match frustrating for Real Madrid but they won’t be able to score enough to stave off a late wave of pressure that Los Blancos will ride to victory. Pick: Real Madrid 2, Valencia 1
