Spanish Super Cup: Did you know?

FC Barcelona face Osasuna in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup this Thursday, with a place in the final against one of the two Madrid clubs waiting for the winner. The Catalans are looking to win the title for the fifteenth time, and here are a few more nuggets of trivia to whet your appetite for the event being held once again in Saudi Arabia.

At the home of Al-Nassr

All three games are being played at the Al-Awwal Stadium (also known as the KSU Stadium), which holds 25,000 and is the usual home ground of Al-Nassr, the club where Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is now plying his trade. The venue is also being used for the Supercoppa Italiana the week after, which for the first time is imitating the Spanish idea of a four-way knockout format (featuring league champions and runners-up Napoli and Lazio and the two cup finalists from last season, Inter Milan and Fiorentina).

Familiar venue

Barça were at the same stadium just two years ago to play the Maradona Cup, a friendly event in which they played Boca Juniors in honour of the Argentine legend of both clubs, who had died a year earlier. Following a 1-1 draw, Boca took the trophy on penalties.

Only male and female winners

Barça won the Super Cup last season with a tremendous performance to beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the final. One week later, the women won their own version of the tournament, beating Real Sociedad 3-0. That made Barça the first team to ever win both the men's and women's editions in the same season, a feat that they will be hoping to repeat this year.

Marc André ter Stegen, most appearances

The German keeper has amassed nine appearances in this competition since joining the club in 2014-15, which equates to nine of the 13 games that Barça have played in his ten seasons here. He will be missing out this season through injury, as he also did in 2019-20 and 2016-17. However, should Barça reach the final this year, and should Sergi Roberto play in both games, then he would equal that record (only counting players in the current squad).

Records for Messi, Guardiola and Cruyff

Leo Messi has the most goals in this competition, 14 across 20 different games, including goals in four conseuctive finals from 2009 to 2012. Meanwhile, both Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola won this trophy three times as Barça manager. Current boos Xavi already has one in the bag and is now hoping to add a second.

Curiously, as a player, it was in the Spanish Super Cup that Xavi scored his first ever Barça goal, against Mallorca in 1999.