Barcelona v Real Madrid

The Copa del Rey final will be decided by an El Classico in one of the most important modern meetings between these sides. Barcelona are very clearly on an upward trajectory under the tutelage of Hansi Flick, sitting four points clear at the top of La Liga and into the Champions League semi-finals. They reached this final after seeing off Atletico Madrid 5-4 over two legs. 

Real Madrid aren’t in as positive a state as Barcelona, sitting behind their rivals in the battle for La Liga supremacy and bowing out of the Champions League to Arsenal at the quarter-final stage, which is borderline disaster for a team like Real Madrid. This cup competition represents the last chance that Los Blancos will have to get one over on their rivals this season.

⭐ Barcelona v Real Madrid Best Bets

➡️ Back Vinicius Junior to have 1+ Shots on Target with bet365 @ 1.57 🔛

Vinicius Jr hasn’t quite had the season he would have liked after being snubbed for the Ballon d’Or earlier this year. He’s still registered 33 goal contributions across his 48 appearances in all competitions this season, but the issue that Madrid fans will have is that he has failed to turn up in the biggest moments. He’ll have an opportunity to put that right here, with Kylian Mbappe a doubt for this game. 

Carlo Ancelotti has previously moved Vinicius Jr to a striker role when Mbappe has been absent, and Bellingham has also filled in this role when other stars in the Madrid frontline have been missing. Vinicius Jr played up front with Endrick in Madrid’s 1-0 win over Getafe last time out, he found the target on that occasion from two attempts at goal. 

Vinicius Jr has had 26 shots on target across his 27 La Liga appearances this season, 22 of these have been starts, taking his average to 1.14 shots on target per 90 - an average that should increase if he is deployed in a striker position, should Mbappe fail to recover in time for this final. Real Madrid are averaging 6.4 shots on target per game in La Liga this season, which suggests that they can trouble the Barcelona backline here, motivated by stopping a potential treble for their rivals.

👕 Barcelona v Real Madrid Predicted XI

🔍 Barcelona v Real Madrid Players to Watch

⚪ Jude Bellingham

Bellingham has taken 53 shots across his 27 La Liga appearances this season (2.24 per 90). He’s picked up in this regard since the beginning of the campaign, where he was trying to figure out how to adapt to the new attacking trio, which naturally meant that Bellingham dropped a bit deeper. He could be tasked with getting forward more often in this final, seeing as Kylian Mbappe is a doubt for this game.

Bellingham has already shown how effective he can be in forward areas last season, in which he averaged 2.44 shots per 90 and scored 19 goals. Bellingham had three shots in the most recent head-to-head meeting between the sides.

➡️ Back Jude Bellingham to have 2+ Shots with bet365 @ 2.0 🔛

🔵 Lamine Yamal

Yamal has scored against Real Madrid in both of his appearances against Los Blancos this season in the Super Cup and in La Liga. He’s registered 32 goal contributions across his 47 appearances in all competitions this season (14 goals, 18 assists) and is well placed to hurt Real Madrid again here.

Yamal registered an assist in both legs of Barcelona’s semi-final clash against Atletico Madrid. The 17-year-old looks ready-made for the big stage and can pen another chapter of his meteoric rise in the latest edition of El Clásico.

➡️ Back Lamine Yamal to Score or Assist with bet365 @ 1.80 🔛

📂 Barcelona v Real Madrid Cheat Sheet

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💻 Barcelona v Real Madrid Form and Tactics

Barcelona have been one of the most entertaining sides in Europe this season, they boast a scoring power that is unrivalled even at the very biggest stage, as they’ve shown in their run to the Champions League semi-final, where they’ll take on Inter. Hansi Flick’s side sit four points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga and have got the better of their rivals in both head-to-head meetings this campaign. 

Barcelona line up in a 4-2-3-1 shape with the double pivot in midfield and the wingers crucial to how Hansi Flick likes to play. In Raphinha and Yamal, Flick has two world-class wingers that supplement the goal output of Robert Lewandowski. The defensive aspect of their game isn’t the strongest but it is solid enough to be carried by their immense attack. Flick has expertly managed to find the correct balance in this Barcelona, which took some fine-tuning after a slow middle period of the season. 

On paper, Real Madrid should have a similarly effective set-up with their tremendously talented attacking trio, but this hasn’t quite panned out with too much clutter in the final third and a lack of attacking direction, of which the blame has to lie at Carlo Ancelotti’s feet. Real Madrid also lack the balance of this Barcelona side, they are missing a player with the profile of someone like Pedri who can control the game.

🏁 Barcelona v Real Madrid Ref Watch

• Referee: Ricardo De Burgos

  Fouls	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
  22.38	3.56	0.25

  • Stats are on a per 90 basis and are taken from De Burgos' 2024/25 La Liga games (16 total).

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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.