Barcelona's convincing 5:0 win over Athletic Club in the Supercopa de España semi-final, coupled with an extra day of rest, gives them a mental and physical advantage before *El Clásico*. Kylian Mbappé is unlikely to help Real Madrid much in the final either, with Fran García expected to start again for the team.
Barcelona
That win over Athletic Club was Barcelona's ninth in a row; this run started at the end of November, and in every match the squad have scored at least twice. The last five victories have all been clean sheets; even without Ronald Araújo, Hansi Flick's team have been very solid in defence. Lamine Yamal is likely to start on Sunday, while Ferran Torres, in his current form, is keeping Robert Lewandowski out of the starting line-up, having scored four goals since the start of December.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid are also in decent form, with five consecutive wins. However, their victories have been harder work: they only narrowly got past Talavera de la Reina 3:2 in the Copa del Rey, and in the Supercopa de España semi-final against Atlético Madrid (2:1) the side dropped very deep in the last 20 minutes. They had almost half the xG of Atlético Madrid (1.20-2.29 in xG), and Kylian Mbappé's fitness remains a concern: the top scorer was left out of the squad on Thursday.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid Prediction
The first *El Clásico* of the 2025/26 season went Real Madrid's way, 2:1, but Barcelona were missing a whole group of injured players in that match. They will almost certainly miss Kylian Mbappé's runs in behind, so we will side with them in the Supercopa de España final.
