FINAL SCORE: Barcelona 1-3 Real Madrid
Finishing was the big difference in the first leg of the Supercopa de España. Barcelona had big spells of dominance, but not enough quality to play the right final ball final enough, and they wasted the good shots they had. Their only goal came from a penalty incorrectly awarded after a dive by Luis Suárez. Madrid, meanwhile, made the most of their chances with some top-notch finishing. But Ronaldo will be suspended for the second leg — and possibly longer after making contact with the official following his sending off. That’ll be as big of a story as the result.
90’ — GOAL! Barcelona 1-3 Real Madrid.
What a hit by Marco Asensio! Madrid doesn’t look like a team with 10 men as they break forward quickly and Asensio blasts the ball into the top corner from 20 yards out, just like Ronaldo did before him. Even with Ronaldo suspended for the second leg, it’s going to be very difficult for Barca to come back from this in the second leg.
83’ — RED CARD! Cristiano Ronaldo sent off!
Unbelievable decision, and worse reaction by Ronaldo. CR7 was shown a yellow card for taking off his shirt during his goal celebration, then a second yellow for diving. It was a bad call — Samuel Umtiti made some contact with Ronaldo during the play, but it was incidental, and probably should have been a no-call. Ronaldo, furious, shoves the official and will now almost certainly be suspended for additional La Liga matches.
80’ -- GOAL! Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid.
What a goal by Ronaldo and what a counter attack by Madrid! Ronaldo knocks the ball down for Isco, who returns the favor with a through ball. Ronaldo turns Piqué inside-out one-on-one, then blasts the ball into the top corner from 20 yards. Exceptional goal.
77’ — GOAL! Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid.
PENALTY! Barcelona has a chance to equalize from the spot. Keylor Navas makes a couple of huge saves, but is whistled for fouling Luis Suarez on a follow-up attack. Replays show Suarez dived.
Messi converts from the spot, and we’re level.
74’ — Sergio Busquets has a huge chance but puts it over the bar. One on one, inside the six, and he kicks it a mile high.
71’ — Madrid back in the game now. Marcelo has a shot saved, then 30 seconds later, a Ronaldo goal is ruled out for offside. CR7 was mere inches beyond the last defender.
70’ — Gorgeous cross by Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo *just* misses a scissor kick volley. Would have been really special.
66’ — Barcelona piling on the pressure since the subs. They’ve had most of the possession and won a few corners, but no huge chances yet. It feels like it’s coming, though.
And worse for Real Madrid, Mateo Kovacic is hurt. He’s coming off for Marco Asensio. Barcelona makes a change at the same time, bringing on Sergi Roberto for Andres Iniesta.
59’ — Both teams make substitutions. Cristiano Ronaldo enters the game for Karim Benzema, while Denis Suarez replaces Gerard Deulofeu.
55’ — Jordi Alba with an amazing block! Dani Carvajal thinks he has an easy goal from six yards, but Alba slides in out of nowhere to clear.
53’ — Deulofeu has ages to pick out a shot or a cross from point blank range. Chooses a shross and it goes out for a goal kick.
50’ — GOAL! Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid. Oh no, it’s an own goal by Gerard Piqué.
Marcelo sets it up, but his cross really wasn’t that dangerous. Piqué wasn’t under that much pressure and should have been able to put the ball out for a corner. Instead, he directs a gorgeous finish into the back of his own net.
46’ — And we’re back. Hopefully the second half features quite a bit more action than the first.
HALFTIME — Barcelona 0-0 Real Madrid
Blah.
37’ — By far the best chance of the game so far comes from Gareth Bale. Isco sets it up with a great dribbling move and a cutback towards the penalty spot, and Bale’s first-time shot is tipped over the bar by Marc-André ter Stegen.
28’ — Piqué gets a yellow for a deliberate handball in the box and honestly, he’s quite lucky it was only yellow.
25’ — Lionel Messi has a free kick sail perhaps 6 inches over the bar. Looked like it was heading for goal.
20’ — The first real event of this match is a bad foul and a shoving match. Casemiro goes in hard on Lionel Messi, and Barcelona doesn’t like that very much. Yellow card.
11’ — Everyone’s complaining about Real Madrid’s kits, and for good reason. The color clash in this game is obnoxious. Obviously Madrid has to get their third shirts in the shop window to sell them but... y’all really couldn’t just wear white?
5’ — No scoring chances yet, but Isco’s even getting reactions from the Barca fans with his dribbling skills. He won’t be a bench player this season.
1’ — Kickoff! Keep an eye on Gerard Deulofeu, No. 16 on Barca’s left. He’s the man tasked with replacing Neymar.
Almost time!
For the first time in five years, Real Madrid and Barcelona will open the Spanish soccer season by facing off against each other. Los Merengues won La Liga last year, while Barcelona captured the Copa del Rey, meaning the two big rivals get to square off in the Supercopa de España.
Once again, Cristiano Ronaldo has been rested for Madrid. He returned to training later than his teammates after the Confederations Cup, and had a short run-out in the UEFA Super Cup midweek. Expect him to come off the bench in the second half. As for injuries and suspensions, Barcelona is missing Andre Gomes and Thomas Vermaelen, while Madrid is without Jesus Vallejo due to injury and Luka Modric through suspension.
Sunday’s game is the first of two legs in the Supercopa de España, which is decided by aggregate score. The second leg will be head at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
This is a live blog, and will update constantly. When you refresh, you’ll see the most recent updates on the top of the page.
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid lineups
Barcelona lineup (4-3-3): Marc-André ter Stegen; Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Gerard Piqué, Aleix Vidal; Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta; Gerard Deulofeu, Luis Suárez, Lionel Messi
Real Madrid lineup (4-3-3): Keylor Navas; Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphaël Varane, Dani Carvajal; Casemiro, Mateo Kovacic, Toni Kroos; Isco, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale
How to watch El Clásico online
American fans can find the match on WatchESPN, in both English and Spanish.
Supercopa de España match info
Match date/time: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, 10 p.m. local
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
TV: ESPN (U.S. - English), ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), Sky Sports (U.K.), TV3 (Spain)
Make friends: Check out FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes and Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid.