Real Madridvs.Mallorca

Los Blancos are competing in the Super Cup as the reigning La Liga champions, while Mallorca are featuring in the competition as last season's Copa del Rey runners-up.

Match preview

Real Madrid have already claimed one trophy in the 2024-25 campaign, recording a 3-0 victory against Pachuca in December to lift the FIFA Intercontinental Cup in Qatar.

Los Blancos followed that success with a 4-2 win over Sevilla in their final outing of 2024, before they kicked off the new year with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Valencia last Friday.

Real Madrid staged a late turnaround at Mestalla despite being left with 10 men following Vinicius Junior's red card, with Luka Modric netting an equaliser before Jude Bellingham found the net in stoppage time to snatch all three points and make amends for his earlier penalty miss.

That result moved Carlo Ancelotti's side to the top of the standings, giving them a five-point cushion to third-placed Barcelona and a two-point buffer to second-placed Atletico Madrid, who have a game in hand over their city rivals.

They enjoyed another successful outing in Monday's Copa del Rey clash against fourth-tier Deportivo Minera, with Arda Guler netting a brace alongside goals from Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Modric to fire to a 5-0 victory, sending them into the last 16 while also extending their unbeaten run to seven competitive matches (D1).

Real Madrid will now be focusing on the Spanish Super Cup, with Los Blancos looking to retain the trophy that they won last season when they ran out 4-1 winners against arch-rivals Barcelona.

They will certainly take confidence they have progressed from each of their last three Spanish Super Cup semi-finals since they lost 2-1 to Athletic Club in 2021.

Mallorca are set to feature in the four-team Super Cup format for the first time after gaining entry via last season's run to the Copa del Rey final, where they fell just short in a penalty shootout against Athletic Bilbao.

In fact, Mallorca have only played in the Spanish Super Cup on two previous occasions, beating Barcelona 3-1 over two legs to win the trophy in 1998, before falling to a 4-2 aggregate defeat against Real Madrid in 2003.

They will head into the 2024-25 edition as the lowest-ranked side in terms of their current league position, even though they will be more than satisfied to be sitting in sixth place in Jagoba Arrasate's first season in charge.

But while he may have Mallorca challenging for European qualification, Arrasate will be unable to replicate last season's memorable cup run under Javier Aguirre, after seeing his side fall to a disappointing 3-0 defeat in Friday's Copa del Rey tie against fourth-tier Pontevedra.

As a result, Los Piratas have now lost three of their last five competitive matches, which may not inspire confidence ahead of an almighty test against Real Madrid.

However, Mallorca may be able to take some confidence from the fact that they held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw when the two sides last met at Son Moix on the opening weekend of the season.

A repeat of that result would send Thursday's contest to extra time, and potentially penalties, but Mallorca will be dreaming of springing a surprise in 90 minutes to claim their first win against Real Madrid since recording a 1-0 victory in February 2023.

Real Madrid form (all competitions):

W

D

W

W

W

W

Mallorca form (all competitions):

W

L

L

W

W

L

Team News

Real Madrid remain without the defensive duo of Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao, who are set to miss the remainder of the season after sustaining anterior cruciate ligament injury.

David Alaba is closing in on a return from his own ACL injury, but the Austria international will not be ready to play in the Spanish Super Cup despite being included in the squad.

However, out-of-favour defender Jesus Vallejo has been left out of the travelling party after he missed the cup win over Minera with some discomfort.

Vinicius is set to serve a suspension in the league for his red card against Valencia, but the Brazilian attacker will be free to feature in Thursday's starting lineup.

Kylian Mbappe is set to make his first appearance in the Spanish Super Cup, with the forward looking to add to the 13 competitive goals that he has scored this season.

As for Mallorca, Samu Costa has been included in Arrasate's travelling party despite missing the last three matches with a muscle injury.

However, it remains to be seen whether the 24-year-old midfielder will be passed fit to play some role in Thursday's semi-final.

Defender Antonio Raillo and midfielder Antonio Sanchez will also have to be assessed after they worked away from the group in Tuesday's training session.

After naming a much-changed side for Friday's cup defeat, Arrasate is set to make several alterations for the semi-final, with the likes of Dominik Greif, Pablo Maffeo, Sergi Darder, Cyle Larin and Vedat Muriqi among those who could come into the starting lineup.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga; Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe

Mallorca possible starting lineup:

Greif; Mafeo, Valjent, Copete, Mojica; Asano, Morlanes, Mascarell, Darder; Larin, Muriqi

We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Mallorca

Real Madrid may have been held to a draw when they last faced Mallorca in August, but they have shown signs in recent times that they are building up a head of steam, and we think that their attacking talent will fire them to a relatively comfortable victory in Thursday's semi-final.

Written by

Ben Sully

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