The crosses of the Spanish Super Cup 2026 are defined: who will Barça face?

FC Barcelona already knows its rival in the semifinals of the next edition of the Spanish Super Cup. The results of matchday 37 of LaLiga cleared up doubts about the teams that will accompany Barça and Real Madrid in the 2026 edition of the trophy that, since 2020, has been played with a 'final four' in January.

Thanks to the victories of Atlético de Madrid (4-1 against Betis) and Athletic Club (0-1 against Valencia), 'colchoneros' and Basques secured their participation in the Super Cup. 'Aleti', as third classified in LaLiga, will face Madrid in a new Madrid derby.

The Bilbao team, for their part, confirmed fourth place, which means they will face the Azulgrana team again. In the 2025 edition, Barça beat the 'lions' in the 'semis' by 0-2 and, afterwards, crushed Madrid in the final (2-5).

📌This is how the 'semis' of the 2026 Spanish Super Cup will be played:

1. FC Barcelona (League and Cup champion 24/25) vs Athletic Club (4th classified in LaLiga 24/25).
2. Real Madrid (League and Cup runner-up 24/25) vs Atlético de Madrid (3rd classified in LaLiga 24/25).

The dates are not yet confirmed by the RFEF, but it is likely that the semi-finals will be played on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 January 2026, while the final would be played on Sunday 11 January.

🏆Barça will arrive at the Super Cup as League and Cup champion

Lamine Yamal with the LaLiga 24/25 champion trophy

For the first time with the current format, a team arrives at the Super Cup as the current champion of LaLiga and Copa del Rey. In addition, Hansi Flick's team will also defend the trophy obtained last January, the first step towards the national treble this 2025.

Barça and Athletic also faced each other in the final of the 2021 edition, with Basque triumph in extra time (3-2). In addition, the 2026 edition will re-edit the Madrid derby between Real and Atlético for the third time with the current format.

The 'merengues' won the 2020 edition on penalties, while in 2024 they also eliminated the 'rojiblancos' in the semi-finals (5-3). Barça and Madrid are going for their fourth consecutive final, after the Azulgrana victories in 2023 and 2025 (3-1 and 5-2) and the triumph for the Whites in 2024 (4-1).

⚽The 2026 Spanish Super Cup, fully defined before the end of LaLiga 24/25

In 2022 there was also a Clásico in the Super Cup, but in the 'semis' (Madrid victory by 3-2 in extra time). Although there is still one matchday of LaLiga to play, the third and fourth place are already defined because Atlético already won the direct match against Athletic and the 'lions' did the same with Villarreal (5th).

In addition, both teams secured their qualification as third and fourth in the LaLiga table, since Real Madrid is runner-up in LaLiga and Copa. This is established by the general regulations of the RFEF in cases where the Copa finalists are first and second in LaLiga:

• If any of the finalists of the Spanish Championship/Copa de S.M. el Rey had also qualified in first or second place in the First Division Championship, the two clubs of the Spanish Championship/Copa S.M. el Rey will be maintained and the places corresponding to the First Division will be awarded to the next or following classified clubs

🥅The 5 finals of the Spanish Super Cup with the current format:

1. 2020: Real Madrid 1-1 Atlético de Madrid, in Arabia (penalties: MAD - ATM).
2. 2021: Athletic Club 3-2 FC Barcelona, in Seville.
3. 2022: Real Madrid 2-0 Athletic Club, in Arabia.
4. 2023: FC Barcelona 3-1 Real Madrid, in Arabia.
5. 2024: Real Madrid 4-1 FC Barcelona, in Arabia.
6. 2025: FC Barcelona 5-2 Real Madrid, in Arabia.