Atletico Madrid will take on Barcelona in the first leg of the Supercopa de Espana 2013 at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday night. The return leg will be played at Nou Camp next week.
The match will kick off at 2:25 am IST on Thursday in India and it will be telecast live on Ten Action and Ten HD.
Overview:
All eyes will be on David Villa, former player of Barcelona, when the game kicks off on Wednesday night. The Spanish player, who moved to Madrid this summer, will be keen to beat his former club.
La Liga champions Barcelona come into the match after beating Levante 7-0 on Sunday but the real test will begin when they met Copa del Rey winners Atletico Madrid. Their performance in the contets will give a picture of what to expect from Gerardo Martino's men this season.
Atletico Madrid won the Copa del Rey after beating the favourites Real Madrid in the last season, becoming one of the most-feared clubs in the country. People will keep a keen on the manager Diego Simeone take the club forward after an impressive season.
Previous Meeting:
Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 on 12 May, 2013 in La Liga.
Team News:
Barcelona: Gerardo Martino will be very careful in selecting his team for Wednesday's match as an injury could put his team in trouble with players like Carles Puyol, Isaac Cuenca and Ibrahim Afellay already being ruled out due to injuries. Adriano will miss the match following suspension for the red card he picked up during the game with Los Blancos last season.
Dani Alves, who received a knock in their game against Levante, could be replaced by Martin Montoya as further aggravating the injury will put the team in trouble in the long run. It will be difficult for Martino to pick among Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta in the midfield. Lionel Messi could be joined by either Neymar, Pedro or Alexis Sanchez in the forward.
Atletico Madrid: Diego Simeone will miss Falcao, who has moved to Monaco. The club still have talented players like Diego Costa, David Villa and Leo Baptistao but it yet to be seen if they can make a difference like Falcao did. Barcelona will be relieved because it was the Colombian star who scored both the goals against them in La Liga last season.
Madrid still has the discipline to disappoint any team despite the absence of some of their big names.
Prediction:
Barcelona are favourites to win.
Probable Line-Ups:
Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Mascherano, Pique, Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi, Neymar
Atletico Madrid: Courtois, Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Filipe Luis, Koke, Suarez, Garcia, Turan, Costa, Villa
