After a dire end to 2024, Barcelona have opened the new year on a positive note and could claim their first trophy of the Hansi Flick era this weekend.

Flick’s Barca have jetted out to the Middle East for the four-team Spanish Super Cup and are involved in Sunday’s final having toppled Athletic Club 2-0 on Wednesday night.

La Blaugrana will have the edge over a familiar foe in the competition’s showpiece event having played the evening before Real Madrid beat Mallorca 3-0, but they’ll be well aware that they’re taking on a Los Blancos team out for revenge given what unfolded in the Spanish capital on 26 October.

Flick’s squad has gotten healthier to kick-off 2025, but there are unlikely to be wholesale changes from their semi-final triumph. Here’s the team the German could pick for Sunday’s final.

GK: Inaki Pena – Barcelona’s injury woes have eased, but number one Marc-Andre ter Stegen remains sidelined. Pena will once again get the nod.

RB: Jules Kounde – Madrid’s fluidity in attack means Kounde will be seeing several faces down his flank on Sunday, but the Frenchman has the tools to shun any superstar who attempts to overwhelm him.

CB: Pau Cubarsi – Recent reports suggest Flick is keen to build his defence around the teenager, with captain Ronald Araujo linked with a departure.

CB: Inigo Martinez – Araujo’s back from injury, but Barcelona’s impressive centre-back pairing won’t be broken apart this weekend after they kept a clean sheet in Wednesday’s semi-final win.

LB: Alejandro Balde – The young left-back has struggled to replicate the heights of his breakout year – injuries haven’t helped in that regard – but Balde offered plenty of guile and attacking thrust against Athletic Club. He’s comfortably Barca’s leading option at the position.

CM: Marc Casado – La Masia’s latest shining light has been utterly superb this season, and Frenkie de Jong can’t get into the team as a result. He’ll team up with his compatriot at the base of midfield in a bid to tame Jude Bellingham and company.

CM: Pedri – The footballing world is a better place when Pedri is free from injury and performing at his apex. He and Casado have established a joyous dynamic in Flick’s midfield pivot.

RM: Lamine Yamal – The teenager should be relatively fresh for Sunday’s final having come off on the hour against Athletic having netted Barca’s second. Yamal tore Madrid apart in the October Clasico.

AM: Gavi – Flick’s eased Gavi back in since returning from a long-term knee injury, and he produced his best performance of the season in Wednesday’s semi-final in a more advanced role. With Dani Olmo absent. the diminutive Spaniard should continue in the same role.

LM: Raphinha – The Brazilian has enjoyed a stellar scoring season, but he was mightily wasteful on Wednesday night. Flick will hope his stand-in skipper hasn’t left his scoring boots in 2024.

ST: Robert Lewandowski – Lewandowski was also guilty of wasting chances against Athletic, but he tends to show up in this fixture. The Pole has ten goals in 16 games against Madrid, four of which memorably arrived during his Borussia Dortmund pomp.