The Supercopa de Espana or the Spanish Super Cup is mainly contested by the winners of the Copa del Rey and the La Liga champions with the runners-up of both the competition also taking part after the tournament was expanded in 2020. Just like in any competition in Spain, the two most storied clubs in the history of the country's football, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have delivered some cracking battles in the Super Cup giving countless memories. The rivalry famously known as the El Clasico mesmerizes world football whenever these two collide and when they are played in a one-off final, the stakes get heightened and intensity of the affair hits a new level. This clash has provided more excitement after the Spanish Super Cup changed its format in 2020 allowing more frequent meets even though the competition has been played in Saudi Arabia since then.
Despite the Spanish Super Cup having a 44-year-old history, there has been only 10 meetings between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in the competition. However, the face-off between the two have become more regular in the Spanish Super Cup final with the showpiece seeing four back-to-back El Clasicos since 2023 with both's monopoly in La Liga and Copa del Rey growing recently. Even though Barcelona has won two of those meetings, they have won this encounter only three times since their first meeting in 1988. They being the record winners of this competition has not affected Spanish Super Cup El Clasicos to be lopsided towards Real Madrid who won it seven times including the first four meetings. However, that has not stopped sparks to fly in this affair with the 21st century clashes having more equal ground and more cinematic than ever.
In this article, we look back at all the El Clasicos that have been played this century in the Spanish Super Cup in both formats which even for the slightest has not failed to disappoint.
Double legged format
Since it's inception in 1982 till the format change in 2020, the Spanish Super Cup competition was a double legged final between two teams, the winners of the league and cup competition. In case, both the competition's winners are same the runners-up of the Copa del Rey would compete. Also, the tournament was played before a new league season kicked off. It was also hosted in Spain which means both sets of supporters would feel the Santiago Bernabeu and the Camp Nou over two legs and make the atmosphere as hostile as possible for their rivals.
Barcelona 5-4 Real Madrid (on aggregate) - 2011 Spanish Super Cup Final
The first El Clasico meetings in the Spanish Super Cup this century did not happen until the 2011 edition and it became an electrifying battle of the two iconic teams in that era over two legs. FC Barcelona was managed by arguably the best mind in the game, Pep Guardiola entering the competition as 2010-11 league winners while Real Madrid was under the guidance of 'The Special One' José Mourinho won the Copa del Rey that season to qualify for the Super Cup. The first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu set the tone for what this meeting will produce. Los Blancos took the lead inside just 13 minutes through Mesut Ozil but the visitors turned the game on its head before half-time with a David Villa stunner and Lionel Messi doing what Lionel Messi does best. When everything was pointing at a Barcelona comeback at rival's den, Xabi Alonso popped up with a strike just five minutes after the restart to end it all square.
The 2-2 thriller was set for an outcome this time in the second leg with even a bigger thriller unfolding at Camp Nou. The miraculous Argentinian made it his own fortress by setting up Andres Iniesta with a defence splitting pass whose exquisite finish over Iker Casillas gave Barcelona the early lead this time. However, five minutes later they found themselves on the equal footing again with Messi's fiercest competitor Cristiano Ronaldo tucking in the equaliser from close range. That didn't lower the intensity of the Catalan giants as they went ahead again through their talisman Messi on the stroke of half-time. The dramatic encounter did not failed to offer more when Kaka's 80th minute corner was slotted in by Karim Benzema after his initial effort was saved by Victor Valdes. Just as penalties look inevitable, The Flea provided magic again by slamming in a cross from Adriano's cross to clinch a 5-4 aggregate victory. It was more than a title win for Barcelona as it was their 10th honor coming against their arch-rivals in the competition for the first time.
Real Madrid 4-4 Barcelona (on aggregate, Real Madrid win on away goals) - 2012 Spanish Super Cup Final
The two met for consecutive editions for the first time in the Spanish Super Cup history a year later with Real Madrid winning the league with a record 100 points while Barcelona secured the Copa del Rey title. Los Blancos would also renew their El Clasico supremacy in the competition after another tight battle between the two. The first leg was organised at Camp Nou this time with the Catalan giants under a new coach Tito Vilanova this time following Guardiola stepping down from his role the previous season. Barcelona remained supreme in their backyard clinching another 3-2 victory with all five goals in the match coming in the second half spectacularly. The host cell was behind when Ronaldo headed in from a corner in the 55th minute but just a minute later found themselves on level terms when Pedro latched on to a long pass from Javier Mascherano and slammed past Casillas. There was no looking back from there as Messi doubled the lead from the spot with Xavi adding a third in the 78th minute after a dazzling run from his midfield partner Iniesta set him up.
At a time when Real Madrid seemed to have lost the tie in the first leg itself, a catastrophic error from Valdes allowed Di Maria to smash in an empty net, after Casillas made an important save from Messi at the other end, to reignite the hopes of the visitors ahead of the second leg. Madrid took the game by scruff in the reverse fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu and stunned Vilanova's side with an early storm that they couldn't recover from. To some extent it was their own making as two horrendous defensive errors threw the tie from their clutches. Earlier denied by Valdes, Gonzalo Higuain capitalised on Mascherano's missed clearance to find the net this time only 11 minutes into the clash. Before Barcelona could recover from the shock, Ronaldo put the dagger to the chest with Gerard Pique being the culprit this time of misjudgement. Even though Messi popped up again with a El Clasico goal right before half-time, the host held on to crown themselves Spanish Super Cup champions on away goals marking the first occasion the trophy was decided in this way.
Real Madrid 5-1 Barcelona (on aggregate) - 2017 Spanish Super Cup final
The record equal highest aggregate victory in the El Clasico in the Spanish Super Cup came in 2017 when Real Madrid utterly dominated Barcelona over two legs. This was also the game when Ronaldo unleashed his fury having seen Messi dominating in the previous encounters. Los Blancos were holders of the league with club legend Zinedine Zidane in the dugout while Catalan giants were Copa del Rey winners and was in the post successful era of Luis Enrique with Ernesto Valverde in charge. The first leg was at Camp Nou but this time Barcelona faltered at home with Madrid taking matters into their hands in the second-half. A low driven cross from Marcelo struck Pique on its way in to open the scoring for the tie with Madrid coming close to doubling the lead soon after only to be denied by Jordi Alba's goal-line clearance. Ronaldo put the ball into the net in the 70th minute but it was chalked offside.
Those missed chances seemed to have given the home side some belief as they found the opportunity to come back into the game when Luis Suarez was fouled inside the box. Messi calmly dispatched his penalty marking his 25th goal in the fixture but the occasion was not about him this time. His Portuguese rival got the limelight instead as he received the pass from Isco to fire in the top right corner following a counter attack to help his side regain the lead. He celebrated in the same manner Messi did, scoring the dramatic 3-2 winner in the league meeting that year, holding up the back of his jersey. However, for his shirt-off celebration Ronaldo earned a yellow card which proved detrimental as he was then sent-off for a second booking for diving, therefore getting suspended for the second leg. It didn't matter as Marco Asensio made it 3-1 in the 90th minute giving Zidane's men a healthy advantage ahead of the home leg. There was no surprise in the reverse clash at Santiago Bernabeu as even without their star man, Madrid eased past Barcelona with a 2-0 win with Asensio coming back to haunt them and Benzema settled the tie in the 39th minute.
Single-leg expanded format
The Spanish Super Cup got a significant transformation in 2020 as it now became a four-team tournament with this being the first competition played each year out of Spain, in Saudi Arabia. Alongside the league and cup winners, now the runners-up of both the competition started to take part. The tournament was also shifted midway in the season at the start of a new year thereby increasing the stake and competitiveness for the trophy. The winner is now decided in a single leg final in a neutral ground with no prospect of a second leg or aggregate score margin.
Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona - 2023 Spanish Super Cup Final
After a wait of five years, the Spanish Super Cup saw an El Clasico final and in the fourth edition of the new format. This was also the first of the repeated El Clasicos witnessed in the competition. In a different era now without Messi and Ronaldo, Barcelona was led by club legend Xavi while Carlo Ancelotti managed rivals Real Madrid. The Catalan giants qualify for the competition as league runners-up and defeated Copa del Rey winners Real Betis in a nerve wrecking penalty shootout in the semifinals to enter the showpiece. Meanwhile, Los Blancos qualified as La Liga winners of the previous season and also required a tie-breaker against Valencia to set up this meeting. The first El Clasico final in the new format went Barcelona's way with a resounding 3-1 win for Xavi's men, seeking revenge for their loss in the previous meeting in the competition. Gavi opened the scoring on the half hour mark following Barcelona testing Thibaut Courtois several occasions before Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead at the break, getting the favour back from the midfielder. Pedri put the sealer with Gavi being the provider again, rounding off a five-star performance.
Real Madrid 4-1 Barcelona - 2024 Spanish Super Cup Final
Real Madrid took their due revenge when both met for the consecutive time in the 2024 final with them being the Copa del Rey winners this time and Barcelona the winners of the league. Almost an identical team of the previous edition met in the final with Los Blancos winning a thrilling Madrid derby 5-3 in the semifinal while Catalan giants eased past Osasuna. The final was different gravy altogether as Carlo Ancelotti's side gave their opponents almost no time to think about with Vinicius Jr becoming a nightmare. It took only seven minutes for the Brazilian to find the opener and in a blink of an eye was celebrating his second. Lewandowski pulled one back on the half hour mark threatening a comeback which never materialised as the Flamengo academy product completed a stunning hattrick in the 39th minute. Later, Rodrygo's 64th minute only put the sealer to the title triumph which was their 13th Supercopa honor.
Barcelona 5-2 Real Madrid - 2025 Spanish Super Cup Final
However, the most exciting El Clasico tie was played in the 2025 edition of the competition, providing a seven goal thriller. Hansi Flick's Barcelona became the biggest entertainer in the campaign and he scripted the club's revival with his first trophy with the club against their biggest rivals. They already demolished Real Madrid 4-0 in the league meeting and went on a spree again but not before Kylian Mbappe would put Carlo Ancelotti's side, desperate to keep hold of the title, into the lead inside just five minutes. Although it came against the run of play with Barcelona maintaining their intensity of the attack through their glittering frontline of Raphinha, Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal. The 18-year-old wonderkid did not took much long to get the equaliser with a mesmerising strike in the 22nd minute.
The Polish striker then converted from the spot to give his side the lead in the 36th minute before Raphinha headed in a cross to make it 3-1 two minutes later. He then assisted Alejandro Balde to head into the break with a mammoth 4-1 lead. An advantage that they added when the Brazilian made it a staggering 5-1 shortly after half-time. However, the team escaped a major scare after Real Madrid failed to take advantage of their rivals going down to 10-men after Wojciech Szczęsny was sent-off for fouling Mbappé just outside the box denying him a scoring opportunity. Rodrygo scored directly from the resulting free-kick giving some drama at the end but the deficit was too much to recover. It was the second of the four straight El Clasico wins that Barcelona secured that season leading to a memorable treble.
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