Barcelona made it three wins in a row across all competitions on Thursday, as they defeated Osasuna 2-0 in their Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Riyadh. It sets up a Clasico showdown in Sunday’s final, during which the Catalans will hope to make it back-to-back successes in the competition.
It has been a tough spell for Barcelona, although there are signs that things are going in the right direction. That has been typified by the fact that they have won a match by 2+ goals for the first time since September (5-0 vs Royal Antwerp). Frenkie de Jong addressed that statistic when he spoke to the media post-match, via Marca.
“It was an issue, it’s been a long time since we’ve won by more than one goal. At the end of the day, it’s about winning and playing well. We played a serious game, the first half wasn’t so good but the second half was better.”
Looking ahead to the final, Barcelona have one less day of rest compared to Real Madrid, although de Jong believes that this won’t be an issue.
“There are two days, more than enough. We don’t have to travel, we haven’t played extra time. We’ll be ready.”
If Barcelona can win the Spanish Super Cup, it could undoubtedly be a big turning point in their season, which had previously been ailing. However, Real Madrid will certainly provide the sternest of all tests.
