This week is all about the Supercopa de Espana — stream LIVE on ESPN+ — as four of LaLiga’s biggest teams head to Saudi Arabia to battle for the trophy. (Oh, and we’ve got a “bonus Clasico” as Real Madrid battle old rivals Barcelona on Wednesday: 2 p.m. ET, ESPN+.)
So how is the rivalry looking in 2022 between Spain’s big two? What are their likely tactics and lineups, and how much of a shot do both sides have at this summer’s biggest players, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, in the transfer window? ESPN FC’s Graham Hunter, Alex Kirkland, Sid Lowe and Sam Marsden get you ready for what should be an especially dramatic Supercopa semifinal.
Jump to: State of Clasico | Setting | Haaland/Mbappe prospects | Picking the XIs | Player(s) to watch | Predictions
How doomed are Barcelona? Equally, how long will Real Madrid be way out front of them?
Let Barcelona’s mess be a salutary lesson: Ineptitude can’t prosper simply because there’s a genius (aka Lionel Messi) on the books, which is a summary of their previous five years. Nevertheless, they are blessed, almost Teflon in their situation; which other club could be €1.4 billion in debt, treat their greatest player like flotsam and jetsam and still witness the most exceptional young players bursting through with a club legend in place to coach them? It’ll take time to be a world force again, but the process will be massively interesting.
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Madrid, meanwhile, deserve to gloat. As soon as Florentino Perez lost out on Neymar when the Brazilian joined Barcelona, he tasked his staff to repeatedly identify and sign the world’s best young talent. The result? Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo, and Eduardo Camavinga, to name just a few. Their eminence gris midfield isn’t athletic enough to run with the best of the Premier League in European football, but they’re world-elite in every…
Source : espn
