Barcelona will be looking to reach the Spanish Super Cup final when they face Osasuna in Saudi Arabia on Thursday night.
Barcelona head to Saudi Arabia looking to retain the trophy that they won last season after they followed up a penalty shootout win over Real Betis with a 3-1 victory against rivals Real Madrid in the final.
That success may have represented the first time that Barcelona had won the competition since the four-team format was introduced in 2018-19, but the Catalan giants are the record winners of the Super Cup, having lifted the trophy on 14 occasions.
After ending 2023 with a 3-2 win over Almeria, Xavi’s side have begun the new year with a couple of victories, scoring a stoppage-time winner to beat Las Palmas, before they claimed a 3-2 Copa del Rey win against fourth-tier Barbastro thanks to goals from Fermin Lopez, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski.
Although they can be pleased with the fact that they have won three competitive games on the bounce, Barcelona may be frustrated by a failure to dominate games, with their last 12 victories all coming by a one-goal margin.
While Xavi may want to see his side produce a dominant performance sooner rather than later, his main focus will be on guiding the Blaugrana to their third Super Cup final in four seasons.
They will certainly fancy their chances of beating Thursday’s opponents, having won six of their last seven games against Osasuna (D1), including a 2-1 win in September’s league clash when Lewandowski netted an 86th-minute penalty to seal all three points.
Osasuna are looking forward to their first-ever appearance in the Super Cup after experiencing a memorable run to last season’s Copa del Rey final, before their dream of winning their first major trophy was ended by a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid.
Los Rojillos also achieved a seventh-placed finish last term, but they have struggled to match that success this time around, having picked up 22 points from 19 league matches to leave them in 12th position at the halfway stage of the campaign.
They did at least add three more points to their tally in their most recent league outing against Almeria, before they recorded an extra-time victory over second-tier Castellon courtesy of Jose Arnaiz’s 108th-minute winner.
Although they have failed to score more than one goal in seven of their last eight matches, Osasuna have proven to be a tough team to break down in recent times, keeping three clean sheets in their previous four outings.
As the underdogs in the competition, Osasuna will need all that defensive resilience if they are to trouble Barcelona and secure their place in Sunday’s final against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.
However, sealing a spot in the final will be easier said than done, having failed to beat Barcelona in the last three-and-a-half years since recording a 2-1 away league victory in July 2020.
Barcelona are still without Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marcos Alonso due to back issues, while Gavi remains sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Despite being included in the squad, Inigo Martinez is unlikely to feature after the defender was forced off within 11 minutes of his injury comeback against Barbastro on Sunday.
Like Martinez, Joao Cancelo and Pedri have also travelled to Saudi Arabia, but the pair are major doubts for Thursday’s semi-final due to knee and muscle problems respectively.
Former Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has recovered from illness in time to take his place in the side, as he bids to win his first trophy since joining the club in the summer.
As for Osasuna, Argentine forward Chimy Avila has been left out of the squad after picking up an injury in the recent league win over Almeria.
Unai Garcia should shake off an injury issue to feature among the substitutes, and the defender is expected to be joined on the bench by Johan Mojica, who returned to the matchday squad on Sunday following a four-game injury absence.
After rotating his side at the weekend, Arrasate is expected to recall the likes of Sergio Herrera, Jesus Areso, Alejandro Catena and Ruben Pena.
Jon Moncayola and Aimar Oroz are set to return to the midfield, while Moi Gomez, Ante Budimir and Arnaiz are poised to feature in the front three.
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