Valencia and Real Madrid travel to the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah on Wednesday as both sides look to book a place in the Supercopa de Espana final.
Both sides find themselves in uncharted territory, with this year marking the first time that a four-team format has been used for the Supercopa.
Valencia will not view this game with trepidation given that this group of players defeated Barcelona in last year’s Copa del Rey final, spending most of the 90 minutes with a 2-0 advantage.
Moreover, Los Che can take inspiration from the fact that they deservedly beat Madrid 2-1 in La Liga last April – another occasion when Valencia largely dominated proceedings.
Prior to the winter break, Valencia were seconds away from another victory over Zinedine Zidane’s men, only for Karim Benzema to net a 95th-minute equaliser.
For whatever reason, the Andalusian side has a habit of turning up on these big occasions – the 2-0 win over Ajax in Amsterdam last month is another example – while often falling short against opponents they are expected to beat, such as Espanyol or Osasuna.
The meeting with Los Blancos in Saudi Arabia, therefore, serves as an excellent chance for Valencia to claim another scalp over a long-standing rival.
Madrid, on the other hand, may well use this game as an opportunity to further blood a number of new faces who are yet to fully ingratiate themselves under Zidane.
Despite a summer of considerable change, during which the club spent £275m, Zidane continues to rely on the old guard – players like Benzema, Casemiro, Luka Modric and Dani Calvajal.
At the same time, there is a new generation of talent – including the likes of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao and Luka JoJovic – waiting patiently for their moment to become centre-stage at the Bernabeu.
However, when there is any kind of silverware at stake, it is hard for Zidane to overlook a group of players who strolled to three successive Champions League titles.
That aura of success cannot last forever, though, and the Frenchman will know that youngsters and new arrivals succeeding on this stage can only bode well for the future.
Valencia boss Albert Caledes would have been devastated to lose key striker Rodrigo ahead of this game, with the talented Goncalo Guedes also out until the end of the month.
Cristiano Piccini has a broken knee cap, while Many Vallejo and Lee Kang in are both definitely out for this game.
Madrid continue to be without Eden Hazard, who is not back until next month, although James Rodriguez, Marcelo and Lucas Vazquez have all returned to training.
Marco Asensio on the other hand, remains sidelined for another three months at least as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
Probable Lineup
Valencia possible starting lineup: Domenech; Wass, Gabriel, Garay, Gaya; Parejo, Kondogbia, Soler, Cheryshev; Gomez, Gameiro
Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Militao, Mendy; Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Rodrygo, Vinicius, Benzema
