Match Today: Real Madrid vs Barcelona 15-01-2023 Spanish Super Cup final

The El Clasico of the land brings together Real Madrid and Barcelona in order to compete in Saudi Arabia when they face each other in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, after both qualified through penalty kicks after the match.

Real Madrid ended a 1-1 draw against Valencia in the semi-final match after a Samuel Leno goal early in the second half canceled out Karim Benzema's first-half penalty.

The Spanish champions struggled through the game but had enough to beat Valencia, a welcome result having earlier lost to Villarreal in La Liga.

Real Madrid were shaky defensively and against Valencia they showed up again, they have now only managed two clean sheets in 10 matches and both teams have scored in three of their last five matches.

Three defeats in the last 10 matches will put Real Madrid as the underdogs in this match, but to face Barcelona they will want to tackle their defensive problems. Real Madrid will fall short in defense as they are without defensive midfielder Aurelien Choameni and service man David Alaba.

It wouldn't be any easier with Eder Militao, Eduardo Camavinga and Lucas Vazquez all plagued by injuries from Valencia's win.

Barcelona are the best defensively in La Liga, but they haven't performed well in cup matches. Their performance in the semi-finals of this competition was one such example.

Twice they took the lead through goals from Robert Lewandowski and Ansu Fati but on both occasions they were tied up, first by Nabil Fekir and then by Leon Moron, in the end it was the second time in three matches they had conceded more than one goal.

Both sides have scored in four of their last five matches, with the Catalans managing just one clean sheet in the process. Three of their last five matches have produced more than 2.5 goals.

Seven red cards have been shown in Barcelona's last five matches, with Ferran Torres, Jordi Alba, Robert Lewandowski and the now-retired Gerard Pique taking home the Barcelona award.

Barcelona have no fears of injury in this match, and with this they hope to end the dominance that Real Madrid has achieved over them, and Barcelona have lost four defeats and one win in the last five confrontations with Real Madrid.

The two arch-rivals have met 250 times in competitive games and 34 times in exhibition games. Madrid enjoy a narrow 102-97 lead in wins.

They met in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup last season. The match went into extra time, with Real Madrid pulling off a narrow victory. The last six meetings between the two teams have resulted in more than one goal.

Real Madrid have been dominant in their recent encounters against the Blaugrana, recording six wins in seven matches. Barcelona have kept just one clean sheet in their last five matches across competitions, while Real Madrid have two clean sheets.

Meanwhile, the Blaugrana are unbeaten in their last eight matches across the competition and will be looking to continue that. They have no absentees, and manager Xavi will try to field the strongest possible squad for him.

Carlo Ancelotti's men beat Barcelona 3-1 in La Liga in October and have been the dominant team in recent meetings. , so expect Real Madrid to secure a hard win in extra time.