Real Madrid and Barcelona, enemies like never before

A year later, Real Madrid and Barcelona face each other once again in the Spanish Super Cup final – the same competition that ended in a heavy Barcelona win and left Carlo Ancelotti hanging by a thread. 

The setting is the same and the season’s first trophy is again on the line, but everything surrounding this game bears little resemblance to what unfolded 12 months ago. The relationship between the clubs has changed, the teams are in different moments, and the managers’ situations are worlds apart. Looming over it all is the Negreira case, a saga that has even engulfed the Spanish FA.

Barcelona arrived in need in 2025. Real Madrid came in well fed by recent success. Twelve months on, Hansi Flick’s side look functional again and are starting to rediscover their feel, while Xabi Alonso is under scrutiny amid the sense of disorientation surrounding a Madrid team that cannot find the footballing spark required to compete on equal terms.

Real Madrid and Barcelona no longer inhabit the paradise they seemed to stroll through years ago. The Negreira case has proved decisive in shattering dialogue, understanding and any shared objectives. Each club is now looking out for itself – a reality made plain in Barcelona’s courts and in the corridors of Spanish and European football. Madrid executives are demanding justice for the payments made to the former vice-president of the referees’ committee.

From Valdebebas there is a promise to pursue the matter to the bitter end, sparing no expense or effort, with the aim of seeing justice done – or at the very least forcing Barcelona to apologise, admit fault and pay for what happened. That stance has pushed Joan Laporta and his board closer to institutions with which Real Madrid traditionally maintains poor relations.

LaLiga, UEFA and the Spanish FA have all seen their relationship with Barcelona improve dramatically in recent months, the opposite of what has happened with Real Madrid, which is increasingly distant from all three bodies and, if anything, closer to FIFA. The breakdown is evident: before the league Clásico at the Bernabéu there was little more than a stiff, stand-up greeting ahead of a lacklustre game.

On top of all this, the 22 players who will step onto the pitch in the sweltering heat know that Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid are desperate and under pressure. They also know that if there is ever a moment to regain confidence, it is against the eternal rival, in what will be the season’s second Clásico.

Lamine Yamal, Vinícius, Joan García or Thibaut Courtois all seemed destined to be central figures, but suddenly Kylian Mbappé has entered the picture, shifting the narrative and stirring unease among Barcelona supporters. This is not just another final; it is a match with far more than a trophy at stake. In Jeddah, the Spanish Super Cup, pride and the stability of a Real Madrid in urgent need of a change in direction are all on the line. And history says that whoever wins the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia goes on to win LaLiga – at least, that has been the case in each of the past five editions.