Why are Mallorca playing in the 2025 Spanish Super Cup?

Mallorca will take on Real Madrid on Thursday (9 January) for a place in the Spanish Super Cup final, where Barcelona lie in wait.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have long been the dominant forces and biggest draws (for most) in Spanish football, with Atlético Madrid sporadically entering the conversation over the past fifteen years. Yet Diego Simeone's team are not part of the 2025 Spanish Super Cup currently being played in Jeddah with four clubs, with Mallorca and Athletic Club joining the best of El Clásico in Saudi Arabia.

Mallorca's involvement in particular may have gone under the radar and come as a surprise to some. The team from the Balearic Islands, partly owned by two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, faces Real Madrid in the second semi-final on Thursday (January 9) and is by far the underdog.

Mallorca have won the Spanish Super Cup before, in 2003, although their Copa del Rey win in the same year is the only 'major' trophy they have won. How did they manage to qualify for this year's edition?

How Mallorca qualified for the Spanish Super Cup

Since 2020, the Spanish Super Cup has been played in Saudi Arabia and had four participants: the reigning LaLiga champions (Real Madrid this year), the LaLiga runners-up (Barcelona), the Copa del Rey holders (Athletic Club) and the Copa del Rey second (Mallorca).

You may be surprised to read that, as a result of winning in 2023/24, Athletic have won the Copa del Rey four more times (24) than Real Madrid (20). The Basques only just lifted Mallorca to the trophy, winning in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw, although the result did not affect the 2025 Spanish Super Cup line-up, with both finalists qualifying thanks to Madrid and Barça finishing as finished first and second. La Liga last season.

Mallorca will now look for a second Spanish Super Cup, 22 years after the first, which would put them level on two wins with Atlético Madrid and make them just the sixth multiple winners of the competition.

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