Spanish Super Cup: Barca vs Sociedad, Real vs Athletic

Barcelona faces Real Sociedad on Wednesday in Cordoba while holders Real Madrid play Athletic Bilbao in Malaga on Thursday after the latter two sides' preparations were disrupted by the weekend's snowstorm all over Spain.

When Spain's soccer federation signed a lucrative deal in 2019 to export its rebooted Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, they did not envisage matches in empty stadiums across southern Spain and tired teams negotiating record snowfall will disrupt their plans.

But that is what they will get when the mini-tournament begins on Wednesday after coronavirus restrictions in Spain and the gulf state pushed organisers to overhaul their initial plans and re-think the competition to fit today's unprecedented times.

READ ALSO: Real Madrid Crowned Champions Of Spain For The 34th Time In History

The federation then signed a three-year deal to play the competition in Saudi Arabia, pocketing a reported €120 million but attracting widespread criticism due to the gulf state's record on human rights.

Speculation indicates that the federation will renegotiate the deal due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Real have travelled straight to Malaga after spending three nights in Pamplona as chaos at Madrid's Barajas airport caused severe delays to their journey to and from their 0-0 draw at Osasuna.

Athletic, meanwhile, had their match at Atletico Madrid postponed after the team boarded a plane for the Spanish capital but were unable to land due to the thick snowfall.

Real won the 2020 edition in Jeddah by beating Atletico Madrid in a penalty shootout but head into the competition feeling drained by the travel upheaval and angry with league organisers for not calling off their game with Osasuna.

Barcelona, meanwhile, look to be in the best form of the four sides after hammering Granada 4-0 on Saturday, with Lionel Messi finally clicking with strike partners Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele.

Athletic, who won the competition in 2015, will be hoping to see the impact of new coach Marcelino's methods after losing his first game in charge 3-2 to Barca last week.

Real Sociedad are playing in the competition for the first time since 1982 and are in terrible form, winning only one of their last 12 matches in all competitions.

The Super Cup was the Spanish season's traditional curtain-raiser between the winners of LaLiga and the Copa del Rey played in August but federation president Luis Rubiales expanded it to four teams in 2019 to boost its global appeal.

Real and Barca qualify as league champions and runners-up respectively while Athletic and Real Sociedad are 2020 Copa finalists, although that showpiece has been postponed until this April due to the pandemic.