Spanish Super Cup Football: Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Barcelona face Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday evening, in the opening match of the Spanish season.

The Catalans come into this match in good form, despite drawing their last match against Gimnastic 1-1.

Hosts Gimnastic Manu Barreiro Bustelo opened the scoring in the 11th minute, with a left footed shot into the bottom corner.

Barcelona left it late to equalise, with Paco Alcacer making it 1-1 in the 79th minute to spare Barca's blushes.

They have had an excellent pre season, winning the International Champions Cup, defeating both Real and United in successive games.

It will be a tough season for Ernesto Valverde, especially with the absence of Neymar to PSG in a world record deal.

They have yet to sign a quality replacement for Neymar, with both Dortmund and Liverpool playing hard ball.

Ousmane Dembele and Phillippe Coutinho are players that Barcelona have identified, it remains to be seen whether they can buy them both.

This opening fixture will be a huge challenge, with Real Madrid the best team on the planet at present.

Barcelona do come into this match as favourites, with an excellent recent record against Los Blancos.

Valverde will be looking for the perfect start to Barcelona's season, winning this two legged Super Cup will do just that.

The Catalans will be looking to make it 28 wins in 62 matches against their El Clasico match ups.

Super Cup Winners

Real Madrid come into this match on the back of a 2-1 win against Manchester United, in the final of the UEFA Super Cup

Casemiro was the unlikely source for Real's opener (24), with Madrid controlling the game to go 1-0 up.

Isco made it 2-0 after the break (52), with the Spaniard putting in a man of the match performance.

Romelu Lukaku scored a consolation goal for United (62), making amends for a poor miss earlier in the match.

Real won and secured back to back UEFA Super Cup titles, the first side since AC Milan in the 89 and 90 seasons to do so.

Success Needed

Real Madrid enjoyed an astonishing campaign last season, winning the La Liga and Champions League double.

It was also the first time in the competition's history that a side has retained the Champions League, an incredible achievement.

Surprisingly, Real Madrid have yet to make a marquee signing, although they have been linked with Kylian Mbappe.

It will be an enormous achievement to complete a repeat of last season, although they do have the complete squad.

Zinedine Zidane's side come into this match as underdogs, surprising given their form over the last 12 months.

This will be a tough start for Los Blancos, with Barcelona already beating them in pre season.

Real will be looking for their first win in three matches against Barcelona.

Tip 1 – Suarez to score first @ 4/1

Tip 2 – Barcelona to win 2-1 @ 8/1