City rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will lock horns once again on Thursday evening as they contest a place in the Spanish Super Cup final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. With silverware on the line, another intense Madrid derby is expected under the lights.
Atletico enter the semi-final aiming to claim the Supercopa for the fourth time in their history, while Real Madrid are chasing a record-extending 14th triumph in the competition.
Atletico Madrid arrive in Saudi Arabia unbeaten in their last five competitive outings, although their momentum was checked slightly by a frustrating 1-1 draw away to Real Sociedad at the weekend. Alexander Sorloth opened the scoring shortly after half-time against his former club, but Gonçalo Guedes responded quickly to deny Diego Simeone’s side all three points.
That result left Atletico fourth in La Liga and 11 points adrift of leaders Barcelona at the halfway mark of the season. With the league title now looking out of reach, greater emphasis has shifted toward knockout competitions, making the Supercopa, Copa del Rey and Champions League critical to Atletico’s hopes of ending a five-year trophy drought.
The Rojiblancos qualified for this tournament thanks to last season’s third-place finish and will be targeting their first Super Cup success since 2014, having previously lifted the trophy in 1985 and 2014. However, recent history in the four-team Supercopa format has not been kind to them. Atletico have won just one semi-final in this structure, beating Barcelona in 2020 before losing the final on penalties to Real Madrid.
Since then, Simeone’s men have fallen at the semi-final stage against Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in 2022 and 2024 respectively. That said, they can draw confidence from September’s emphatic 5-2 league victory over Los Blancos, a match in which Julián Álvarez scored twice in a dominant display at the Metropolitano.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, travel to Jeddah on the back of four consecutive victories across all competitions, easing some of the pressure on head coach Xabi Alonso. Their most recent outing ended in a commanding 5-1 home win over Real Betis, despite the absence of injured Kylian Mbappé.
In Mbappé’s stead, young striker Gonzalo García stole the headlines with a perfect hat-trick, becoming the youngest player in the 21st century to achieve the feat in La Liga at 21 years and 286 days. Goals from Raúl Asencio and Fran García completed a dominant performance that moved Madrid back within four points of Barcelona at the top of the table.
Alonso now has a chance to secure his first trophy since replacing Carlo Ancelotti last summer, knowing that two victories would see Real Madrid crowned Supercopa champions. Los Blancos have won three of the six editions played under the four-team format, most recently in 2024 when they defeated Atletico after extra time before thrashing Barcelona in the final.
Despite their pedigree, Real Madrid may have some cause for concern. They have beaten Atletico inside 90 minutes just once in their last seven meetings and have not kept a clean sheet in the derby since December 2021.
INJURIES & SUSPENSION
Atletico Madrid will be without Clément Lenglet and Nicolás González, who remain sidelined with knee and hamstring injuries respectively. Pablo Barrios is also a major doubt after suffering a calf issue in the draw with Real Sociedad.
Conor Gallagher is pushing for a start after replacing Barrios at half-time on Sunday, although Johnny Cardoso is another midfield option for Simeone. Robin Le Normand is also in contention to return to the starting XI after featuring from the bench against his former club.
Real Madrid will once again be without Mbappé, who continues to recover from a knee injury. Éder Militão has been ruled out due to a hamstring problem, while Brahim Díaz remains away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has travelled with the squad but is not fully fit, casting doubt over his availability. Dean Huijsen could be drafted into defence if he recovers from a minor issue that kept him out of Madrid’s first match of the new year.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Atletico Madrid:
Oblak; Llorente, Pubill, Le Normand, Hancko; Simeone, Gallagher, Koke, Baena; Sorloth, Álvarez
Real Madrid:
Courtois; Valverde, Huijsen, Rüdiger, Carreras; Camavinga, Tchouaméni; Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior; García
EXPERT PREDICTION
Atletico Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid
DFB Pokal
