Xavi says Barcelona "can dominate" Real Madrid on Sunday

Barcelona manager Xavi says that his side “can dominate” Real Madrid in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final in Riyadh.

Barcelona head coach Xavi has said that his side “can dominate” and ultimately overcome Real Madrid in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final at the KSU Stadium in Riyadh.

Real Madrid secured their spot in the final of the competition courtesy of a 5-3 win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, before Barcelona joined them by beating Osasuna 2-0 on Thursday.

Second-half goals from Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal saw Barcelona triumph in the competition’s second semi-final, and the Catalan giants will now be bidding to win the trophy for the 15th time in their history.

Xavi’s side beat Real Madrid 3-1 in last year’s final, and the Barcelona boss has insisted that his team are capable of ‘dominating’ against a Los Blancos outfit that has lost just once in all competitions this term.

The two sides have already locked horns in La Liga during the 2023-24 campaign, with Real Madrid running out 2-1 winners at the end of October.

“I think that in the league Clasico, we dominated most of the match. I can compare it to last season’s final. I think that we can dominate them and win,” Xavi told reporters after the clash with Osasuna.

“Last season’s final was probably the best match since I have been here. This year, they are better, but we will not change anything. We are very motivated.”

Xavi also said that he was content with his team’s performance against Osasuna and praised the positive contributions of Pedri and Yamal off the bench.

“At times we were very good, but not always. Osasuna are a very good team defensively, and we knew it was going to be tough,” the head coach added.

“We’re satisfied because we played a good match, Pedri and Lamine were good when they came on. I’m happy because our goal was to qualify for the final, and we did it. We created enough chances and the win is deserved.

“Lamine, with the ball, is amazing. He practically doesn’t lose the ball, and he goes into every duel. Even apart from the goal, he was very good. He’s an extraordinary talent.”

Pedri, who overcame a muscular issue to feature, is set to start Sunday’s final, having proved his fitness in the final 30 minutes of the clash with Osasuna, but Raphinha will be absent due to a hamstring problem which he suffered in the first half of the semi-final.

Joao Cancelo and Inigo Martinez were also not in the squad against Osasuna, suggesting that neither will be available for the clash with Real Madrid despite travelling with the team to Saudi Arabia.

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