MADRID — There are some questions to be answered ahead of the Spanish Supercopa (Super Cup) in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), which kicks off on Wednesday when Copa del Rey holder Athletic Club Bilbao take on FC Barcelona, with Real Madrid facing cup runner-up Mallorca in the second semifinal on Thursday.
FC Barcelona have included Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in the group that travelled to Jeddah, despite not having permission to register them in their first-team squad due to financial fair-play reasons. That means that unless a 'miracle' happens, the pair will spend their time sightseeing in the Saudi Arabian city.
The pro-Barcelona press continue to insist that the club is continuing with its appeal process despite the rules, being very clear that a player cannot be registered with the same club twice in a season. Barca also have a big fitness doubt over Lamine Yamal, who ended 2024 with an ankle injury and didn't play in the Copa del Rey on Saturday.
Real Madrid have a disadvantage of playing a Copa del Rey game against Deportiva Minera in Cartagena (south-east Spain), meaning they will fly to Jeddah on Tuesday. Madrid's main problem is with forward Vinicius Jr after he was sent off for hitting Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski during his side's 2-1 win in La Liga on Friday, reports Xinhua.
A suspension that occurred in one competition in Spain is usually only applicable to that tournament, meaning a ban picked up for offenses in La Liga is only served in league matches. However, Vinicius was sent off for a clear aggression, which carries a ban of between 4-12 matches and bans of four or more games are served in the next matches irrespective of the tournament.
Given that the referee of Friday's game also included in his report that Vinicius had to be "restrained and taken to the dressing room as he continued his protests", under normal circumstances the Spanish Football Federation would ban Vinicius for more than four games. If that happens, Vinicius won't be able to play in the Supercup, but Real Madrid are using all of their off-field influence to try and pressure the RFEF into giving Vinicius a shorter ban, in which case the winger will be able to take part.
Athletic Club Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde has named a 26-man squad for a tournament his side won in 2021, but with doubts over the fitness of key trio, Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Yeray Alvarez, and top-scorer Oihan Sancet, none of whom played on Saturday, while Mallorca also have doubts after losing 3-0 in the Copa del Rey on Friday away to fourth-tier Pontevedra, although they have an advantage of six days to prepare the game against Real Madrid.