Barcelona have their back to the walls after they were humbled by Real Madrid in the first leg of Spanish Super Cup 2017. Barcelona will have to turn the tables around as they are set to face Real Madrid in the all-important second leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Real Madrid, after an emphatic 3-1 win, will go into the second leg with their heads held high. They are firm favourites to win the Spanish Cup, but they will have to do without the services of Cristiano Ronaldo, who received a red card in the first leg. Even without the talismanic player, Real are in a comfortable position to win the silverware.
Real are looking to win their 10th Spanish Super Cup title, and coach Zinedine Zidane will look at other stars such as Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Isco for goals. However, it is not only about their offence, defenders like Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos will have to be on top of their games in the second leg.
They need to show character and also show the hunger in front of their home fans, who will want to see their team play an entertaining brand of football. Zidane is aware of the fact that they cannot take Barcelona lightly.
"Anything is possible. In football nothing is certain. We'll have to play very well because Barcelona can cause you problems at any time. In the first leg they had chances so we´ll have to play well. We did well in the first leg, but we have to play the whole tie until the end," Real Madrid's official website quoted Zidane as saying.
Barcelona will be disappointed with their performance in the first leg. They are a team, known for their attacking style of football, with goals written all over. However, that did not happen as Barcelona only scored once, which they would like to correct on Wednesday.
They have proved to be the master of comebacks in major competitions. It was only last season, where they came back from 4-0 down to beat PSG in a historic Champions League clash. They can use this match as inspiration to beat Real.
With players like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, they may need no motivation as the South American pair is a born fighter, who never compromises on anything besides a win. With Neymar being a story of the past, Messi and Suarez need to get things done in Bernabeu.
The likes of Denis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic have to contribute in Barcelona's overall performance as well. Barcelona cannot depend on the two forwards – L Suarez and Messi – only.
Can they create another PSG-like story on Wednesday?
Where to watch live
Barcelona vs Real Madrid Super Cup is scheduled for 11 pm local time, 2:30 am IST, 10 pm BST. Here are the live streaming and TV options.
India: Live Streaming: Sony Liv
UK: TV: Sky Sports. Live Streaming: Sky Go.
Spain: TV - TeleCinco Espana,TV3
US: TV: Espn3. Live streaming: Watch ESPN
Live streaming (subscription based): Barca TV
Live score: Twitter
