Lamine Yamal is going for his first title as a starter with FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will play this Sunday a new final of the Supercopa de España (20:00 CEST), a very special match for Lamine Yamal and the azulgrana team for several reasons. For the player from Mataró, it will be his first final starting as a starter, as in 2024 he was a substitute. The '19' came on in the 60th minute for Pedri, with the match practically decided (the 'merengues' were winning 3-1).

Despite not having Raphinha, Xavi Hernández opted for Ferran Torres and Sergi Roberto as companions for Robert Lewandowski. Madrid ended up winning decisively (4-1), a result that marked the beginning of the end of the egarense's cycle. This year, however, the context is completely different for a Barça that, although it ended the year with a severe crisis of results in La Liga, has regained confidence in January with two clear victories against Barbastro and Athletic.

Moreover, Lamine arrives fired up for the Clásico after scoring a stunning goal in the victory against the Bilbao team. The youth player, in fact, had not scored since the thrashing at the Santiago Bernabéu (0-4), the last precedent against Madrid that also increases the hope about Barça's chances of lifting the first trophy of the season. For Yamal, it would be his second official title with the azulgrana team, but the first he wins as a star of the starting XI.

Lamine is going for the first title of the Flick era

Likewise, the '19' will try to guide Barça to the first title of Hansi Flick's cycle. The German coach has, so far, 19 wins, 2 draws, and 6 losses in 27 matches (72.8% effectiveness) on the azulgrana bench. The team has been a true goal-scoring machine so far, with 78 goals scored (2.8 per match), but has not been able to maintain the defensive solidity of the first two months of the season.

So far, Barça has conceded 29 goals in 27 matches, a key aspect for the team to finish the first half of LaLiga in third place, five points behind Madrid. Despite the drop in December, recovering several injured players, along with Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, gives the squad a vital breath of fresh air to go for all the titles in 2025.

In addition to the two protagonists of the 'novel' with LaLiga and the RFEF, nine other players from the squad will join Flick on Sunday in search of their first official title with Barcelona. They are Szczesny, Astralaga, Pau Cubarsí, Héctor Fort, Sergi Domínguez, Gerard Martín, Marc Casadó, Fermín López, and Toni Fernández.