This is the 18th edition in a row involving Real Madrid or Barcelona. The two clubs have 27 titles together.
This week, Saudi Arabia will host the 41st edition of the Spanish Super Cup. In the first semi-final, Athletic Club, the reigning Copa del Rey champions, will face 2023/24 LaLiga runners-up Barcelona, a repeat of the 2021 final that the Basques won in extra time.
The other semi-final between LaLiga champions Real Madrid and Copa del Rey runners-up Mallorca will be played on Thursday. Both matches will be played at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah and will kick off at 10:00 PM local time AST (2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT).
Madrid and Barcelona dominate Super Cup honors
Madrid and Barcelona, who have 27 Supercopa titles between them, start as the favorites.
The two arch-rivals have appeared in the final a total of nine times, including last year's final, which Madrid won 4-1. Of the 38 editions, only three were without Madrid or Barça: 2000-01 (Deportivo 2-0 Espanyol), 2002-03 (Deportivo 4-0 Valencia) and 2004-05 (Zaragoza 3-2 Valencia)
Over the past 19 editions, at least one of the two teams has played in the final, winning 15 of these 19 finals (nine for the Blaugranas and six for Los Blancos), while the remaining were won by Athletic (two), Sevilla and Atletico.
Twenty years have passed since the last time Real Madrid and Barcelona were not in the final.
We have to go back to the 2004-2005 season, when champions Valencia took on Copa winners Zaragoza.
The final was played over two legs, the first in La Romareda. Valencia won the first leg 0-1 under new coach Claudio Ranieri, thanks to a goal from Vicente.
However, the Maños took revenge in the return. Víctor Muñoz's team won 1-3 at Mestalla. Álvaro and Galletti gave them a two-goal lead. Corradi pulled one back, but Javi Moreno struck seven minutes before the end to make it 1-3.
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