Barcelona visits Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday.
The match pits the champions of the Spanish League against the Copa del Rey holders. Barcelona took home the Spanish League title with a healthy margin over second place Real Madrid, while its Wednesday rivals managed to beat Los Blancos in the Copa del Rey final last season 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Barcelona is competing in its fifth straight Spanish Super Cup and is looking to win its fourth in five tries. A year ago, Barca took on Real Madrid in the two-legged competition and won the first leg at home 3-2. However, Madrid managed a 2-1 victory at home in the follow-up and ended Barcelona's bid for four straight Super Cups.
"I want to win everything that the team I coach has a chance to enter," said Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino, according to ESPN. "The Supercopa does not have the prestige of La Liga or the Champions League, but we will do our best to win it.
"Barcelona are favorites in nearly competitions it enters. But that does not mean anything is guaranteed. It can come down to who has a good night or a bad night," he added. "We must have sufficient intelligence to know there is another 90 minutes to come, at home. But we will play the same way, as Barcelona always play."
Atletico Madrid has competed in the Super Cup four other times; all of them came against Barcelona. Madrid won the tournament in 1985, but lost in 1991, 1992 and 1996.
Prediction: The teams battle to a 1-1 draw.
Start Time: 5 p.m. EST
TV: ESPN 2
Watch live Stream on watchespn.com.
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