FC Barcelona arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday and their intention is to stay in the country until the weekend to play in the Spanish Super Cup Final. But to do that, they will need to negotiate a semi-final first. On Wednesday at 8pm local time (8pm CET), the Basques and Catalans go head-to-head at the 62,345 capacity King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, the same venue where Real and Atlético Madrid will be meeting 24 hours later to decided which team the winners meet in the final.

Barça are looking to win this trophy for the third time in four years and to extend what is already the record haul in the Super Cup to 16 wins.

But they are up against a side with strong pedigree in the competition. Athletic Club have only played in it seven times since it was created in 1982, but on same of those three occasions they have one home with the trophy, and they are the only team other than Barça or Real Madrid to have won it since the switch to a four-team format in 2020.

Second title in a row?

Jeddah is a place that brings back happy memories for Barça, for it was here that they won the cup 12 months ago in an extraordinary final against Real Madrid. Kylian Mbappé gave the all-whites an early lead, but the Catalan response was spectacular. Thanks to goals from Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski (pen.), Raphinha and Alejandro Balde, they lead 4-1 at half-time, and Raphinha added another to make it 5-1 after the restart.

A red card for Wojciech Szczęsny and a goal for Rodrygo got Madrid dreaming of a remarkable comeback, but it never happened and Barça were crowned champions.

To reach that final, Barça had to do what they will have to do again on Wednesday, beat Ernesto Valverde’s team. In January 2025 they were comfortable 2-0 winners, and when the teams met in the first game at the new-look Spotify Camp just a few weeks ago, the blauganes again emerged victorious, and in some style, winning 4-0.

Contrasting form

Three wins from their first three league games were unfortunately a false awakening for the Basques. Their season hasn’t really clicked, and they’ve lost nine of the 15 games that followed. They’re now eighth in the league, and their Champions League campaign hasn’t lived up to expectations either. Juts one win from their first six games means they are in danger of not making it into the knockout stage.

Barça, meanwhile, are flying at the top of the league after an impressive nine wins in a row, including an important 2-0 win in the derby at Espanyol last weekend. On paper, they have everything in their favour. And Athletic have only mustered one win from their last five outings, and that was only a narrow one against lower-league Ourense CF in the Copa del Rey.

But the Super Cup is a fresh competition, and it’s traditionally in cup formats that Athletic Club thrive. Barça should underestimate them at their peril. The Basques have knocked them out of the Copa del Rey twice in recent years, and in 2021 shocked them 3-2 in another Super Cup semi-final meeting.

Team news

The only players absent from the Barça squad are the injured Gavi and Andreas Christensen, with Ronald Araujo now back with the team after a short break.

Their opponents have more to worry about. Yeray Alvarez is suspended and they are also missing the injured Yuri Berchiche, Aymeric Laporte, Benat Prados, Unai Egiluz and Maroan Sannadi.

What they say

Coach Hansi Flick was very upbeat about the tournament in the pre-match press conference and considers that winning it can provide a boost for the rest of the season, while remaining wary that the first match against Athletic Club will be far from easy.

Goalkeeper Joan Garcia joined his coach for the session with the media and concurred that the game against the Basque side will be tough. He thinks that both he and the side can improve more, but is happy the team is winning and keeping clean sheets.