Spanish Supercopa Preview: Barcelona - Real Madrid

Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Barcelona (4-1-2-3)
Valdes; Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Abidal; Fabregas; Xavi, Iniesta; Sanchez, Messi, Villa
Barcelona has no fresh injuries worries following the 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu but the Blaugrana are expected to field a makeshift defense as it did in the first leg.

Gerard Pique is likely to start at Camp Nou after making an appearance from the substitute’s bench in the first leg following his recovery from a tear to his hamstring. With Eric Abidal unable to cope with Karim Benzema’s trickery on Sunday, it is likely Javier Mascherano will partner Pique with the Frenchman being pushed to the left, replacing the Brazilian Adriano.

Club captain Carles Puyol has yet to prove his fitness following a knee operation during the summer but will hope to do so ahead of La Liga's first set of fixtures.

Barcelona confirmed the signing of Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas on Monday and Pep Guardiola has suggested that the midfielder could make his debut against Real Madrid.

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1)
Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Marcelo; Alonso, Khedira; Coentrao, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema

Jose Mourinho may opt to field the same starting XI as he did on Sunday following an impressive performance from his side. The 11 in question were the same players that were destroyed 5-0 in El Clasico last season but it was a stark improvement for los Blancos.

Fabio Coentrao could be preferred to Angel di Maria, who struggled to impact the game at the Bernabeu, as Madrid hope to stem any early Barcelona pressure at Camp Nou.

« Previous12 Next »