There probably isn’t a team more competent than Real Madrid to play in the finals. Their percentage of finals won in recent history is astonishing. The Spanish giants’ golden era, which was started with the famous La Decima, the 2014 UEFA Champions League final win over Atletico, brought 17 finals for Los Blancos – 16 of which ended with the boys in white celebrating. Tonight, their biggest rivals will attempt to lower their impressive winning rate of 94%.Both teams sneaked into the final thanks to penalty shoot-out victories in the semis. Barca edged past Betis, while Madrid got the better of Valencia. Tonight, any kind of win would be precious.Italian boss Carlo Ancelotti is going for his eighth honour as Real Madrid’s boss, with his opponent Xavi Hernandez going for his maiden crown in the Barca dugout. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6948993##The match will undoubtedly be intriguing and thrilling, with both teams desperate to win. Xavi is far less experienced than his counterpart Ancelotti, but he seems keen to show off his tactical knowledge. Catalan press reckons the former Barca captain will make some changes to his team. Ronald Araujo has had success up against Vinicius Jr in the past, and the two are expected to lock horns again on Sunday evening, with the Uruguayan expected to move to right back.Ancelotti is expected to make two changes: Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy have shaken off knocks and are both likely to start, with Nacho Fernandez and the injured Lucas Vazquez set to drop out.Besides football, the question of money has also been hovering around this tournament. The Saudis have paid the Spanish Football Federation €40 million to organise the four-team affair in Riyadh. Of course, Barcelona and Real Madrid have got far more money than the other two teams – €6 million each. It is a lot more than Valencia, with €2.5 million and Betis, who only got €750,000. The winners tonight will get another €2 million, and the losing finalist will get €1 as a consolation prize.El Clásico ⚔️Real Madrid and Barcelona battle it out tonight to decide the winner of this season’s Supercopa de España 🏆 pic.twitter.com/2X9DPr3Ybc— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 15, 2023 The federation will keep the rest – around €23.8 million but has promised to invest €20 million of that money into the development of football at the grassroots level. Okay, we believe you.SPANISH SUPER CUPSemi-finalWednesdayReal Madrid – Valencia 1-1 (1-1, 1-0) (4-3 AP)/Benzema 39 pen – Lino 46/ThursdayBetis – Barcelona 2-2 (1-1, 0-1) (4-2 AP)/Lewandowski 40, Fati 93 – Fekir 77, Moron 101/FinalSunday22.00: (3.05) Real Madrid (3.35) Barcelona (2.35)***odds are subject to change
