Barcelona is well and truly out of the title race at the midpoint of the La Liga season, with the Catalonian side now sitting 17 points adrift of league leaders and their opposition for this game Real Madrid, in 6th place. Despite this El Clásico is always a huge game, even without the star talent of yesteryears. Because of this, I have put together a Bet builder, along with a Cheat Sheet, for you to sink your teeth into during this mid-week Super Cup action.
Although Barcelona are faltering in the league, this competition could offer Xavi’s team their best opportunity to win silverware this season along with the Europa League. Historically Barca have performed well in this competition winning more times than any other team. Equally, they will be looking to put last season’s loss in the final against Bilbao behind them with a win and a potential rematch against Los Leones if they too can beat Madrid opposition in the semi-final when they play Atletico on Thursday.
In contrast to Barcelona, Real Madrid have been fantastic this season with young talent shining through in both the league and Europe, placing them 5 points clear at the top of the league and setting up an exciting knockout round clash against Messi’s new club PSG in the Champions League. Madrid will hope to continue their fine form by lifting the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid Bet Builder Tips
Real Madrid to win
Real Madrid have been exceptional this year, losing only twice in the league and leading by 5 points at just past the halfway point of the season. Similarly, Los Blancos have performed very well in recent El Clásicos, winning the first meeting between these two sides this season 2-1 at the Camp Nou back in October. This marked their fourth successive win over Barcelona, and I think it is unlikely Barcelona will be able to turn this tide on Wednesday.
Despite this competition not being as important to a Real Madrid side preparing to return the title to the Bernabéu and mount a challenge for the European crown, the historic importance of El Clásico has not passed by Ancelotti, as the squad they’ve taken to Saudi Arabia is very strong. Similarly, despite having some uptake in form, Barcelona looked poor in their last game against Granada, allowing a late equaliser in the last minute of normal time. If this form carries across continents to Asia, Barcelona will be hard-pressed to qualify through to the final stage of the Super Cup.
As a result, I have selected Real Madrid to win at odds of 1.85 on Paddy Power for my Bet Builder. Madrid just looks far too strong for this Barcelona side, especially with players like Karim Benzema performing at such a high level recently. Real Madrid to qualify sits at 1.45, however, I think they will see off their opposition on Wednesday without the need for extra time or penalties which would make this selection redundant.
Both Teams to Score
Barcelona’s poor season is due in no small part to drawing games that they should be winning, seen in their last fixture against Granada. Barca has drawn 8 times this season with only 1 of these fixtures finishing goalless. This seems to suggest Barca, despite struggling to find results this season, rarely fail to find the net, this is further supported by the fact that they have only failed to score once in their last 10 league games and only 4 times in their 20 games this season. Equally, despite Barca losing their last three games against Real Madrid both teams scored in all three of these fixtures.
Although Madrid have been strong defensively this year only conceding 18 goals all season, I think Barcelona will replicate their last three fixtures against this opposition and score at least once despite eventually losing the game. Both teams to score is priced as the favourite on Paddy Power at 1.57 and despite being the lowest odds on this Bet Builder it will add a good boost to the overall odds.
Real Madrid over 4.5 corners
Real are likely to be dominant for large proportions of this game with Marc André ter Stegen’s goal being peppered with shots. If this does happen Madrid are likely to take a large number of corners in this game. This season they average 5.48 corners already, the fifth most in La Liga. Similarly, despite averaging the least corners in the league conceded this season Barcelona allow 3.4 per game meaning it is likely against stronger opposition in Real Madrid there is a high possibility that this will increase slightly and Real will take at least 5 corners in this game.
Paddy Power seems to agree with this as they have priced over 4.5 corners for the away team (Madrid) at 1.67 and the under odds at 2.05 making over significant favourites. This seems to be well priced as Madrid’s average corners per game combined with the number of corners involved in Barcelona and Real’s matches being 9.15 and 9.67 respectively seems to suggest the chances of Los Blancos taking 5 corners in this game are high. Hopefully, this will be the case and the odds of 1.67 will add a solid boost to our Bet Builder.
Karim Benzema to Score
In his last outing against Valencia, Karim Benzema was instrumental in a 4-1 win scoring twice, with his first bringing his tally at Real Madrid to 300 goals. This means Benzema joins an elite group of players, following in the footsteps of Ronaldo, Raul and Di Stefano. Surpassing this mark couldn’t have come at a better point in the former Lyon players Real Madrid career as quite frankly Benzema has been one of the most in-form players in the world this year scoring 17 in the league and 5 in the Champions League averaging 97 and 88 minutes per goals respectively.
Benzema has an average record against Barcelona scoring 10 in 39 games. But, ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left Madrid, Karim has been unstoppable in front of goal scoring many of his goals in Los Blancos most important games. Benzema has become the star man of still one of the best sides in the world and this form shows no sign of stopping.
As the cheat sheet suggests Benzema also takes a large number of shots at 3.77, the most in his team. Despite players like Vinicius Júnior really developing as plays in the last year Benzema still carries the bulk of Madrid’s attacking play and I fully expect him to score on Wednesday, priced at 2.2 on Paddy Power.
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Barcelona vs Real Madrid Cheat Sheet
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *
How to watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid in the Spanish SuperCup
📅 When is Barcelona vs Real Madrid? / Wednesday, 12 January 2022, 19:00
🏟 Where is Barcelona vs Real Madrid? / King Abdullah Sports City (Jeddah)
📺 What TV Channel is Barcelona vs Real Madrid on? / BT Sport 1
📱 Online Live Streaming for Barcelona vs Real Madrid / bet365
🟨 …And who is the referee for Barcelona vs Real Madrid? / Jose Luis Munuera Montero 🇪🇸
