Real Madrid dealt blow as star defender set to miss Supercopa final against Barcelona after picking up injury: Reports

Real Madrid have suffered a huge blow ahead of the Supercopa de Espana final against Barcelona, as Ferland Mendy has been ruled out of Sunday’s clash.

Xabi Alonso’s men booked their spot in the showpiece of the Spanish football tournament after defeating derby rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the semi-finals on Thursday. Elsewhere, Barcelona routed Athletic Bilbao in a 5-0 win to book a clash with their Clasico rivals.

Mendy played as a substitute against Los Rojiblancos, coming on for Raul Ascencio in the 69th minute. The Frenchman has had his game time curtailed this season due to injuries and looked set to feature in tonight’s crunch tie after playing in the semis.

But in a surprise turn of events, Mendy will not be available for action when Real Madrid take on Barcelona in the Super Copa de Espana final, with Cope reporting that he missed Los Blancos’ final training session in Jeddah.

In more damaging news, the report added that alongside Mendy, Antonio Rudiger and Trent Alexander-Arnold were also absent from the session, further reducing Xabi Alonso’s options in an already weakened defense.

Despite the defensive setback, Real Madrid fans can take encouragement from the return of Kylian Mbappe, who trained with the rest of the squad ahead of the final. Mbappe wasn’t included in the matchday squad that faced Atletico due to a left knee sprain.

Tonight’s meeting will mark the second time Real Madrid have faced each other this season. The first encounter was a league clash at the Santiago Bernabeu in October, with Alonso’s side edging their Clasico rivals in a 2-1 win.

“They final will be similar” – Ex-Barcelona star Abelardo Fernández predicts Spanish Super Cup final clash against Real Madrid

Former Barcelona defender Abelardo Fernandez has predicted the Supercopa final clash between his former side and Real Madrid. Fernandez acknowledged Barca’s comfortable victory against Bilbao but claimed that Madrid do not need to dominate games to win.

“Not at all,” he told Diario AS when asked if he sees an uneven final. “It's true that Barça qualified comfortably and Madrid struggled much more, but every match is different. Atleti deserved more in the semi-final based on their play and chances, but finishing is decisive. Madrid's advantage is that they don't need to play well to win matches because of the great individual players they have. That made the difference. The final will be similar.”

Interestingly, the two sides met in last season’s Supercopa final, with Barca emerging victorious in a 5-2 win.