Spanish Super Cup: Five Best Teams In Tournament's History As Barcelona Reaches Final, Madrid Derby Looms

Barcelona thrashed Athletic Club 5-0 in the first semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup to secure a ticket to the final.

In the match played at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Saudi Arabia, goals came from Raphina, Ferran Torres, Fermin Lopez and Roony Bardghji as the Catalans qualified for a third successive Super Cup final.

Barcelona will be taking on the winner of the second semifinal between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to be played tonight.

Should Madrid beat Atletico, the football fans will be treated to an El Clasico to decide the winners of the Spanish Super Cup.

Two-team tournament:

The Spanish Super Cup was founded in 1982 as a two-team tournament. In the initial years just two teams used to compete to decide the winners. The two teams that used to play the Spanish Super Cup were the winners of La Liga and Copa Del Rey.

Until 1995, if the same team clinched the La Liga and Copa Del Rey, then it was automatically declared as the winner of the Spanish Super Cup. From 1996 to 2019, if a team won the double of winning the La Liga and Copa Del Rey, then the previous year's runner-up of the Spanish Super Cup was invited to compete in the subsequent year's Spanish Super Cup match.

The Spanish Super Cup was contested over two legs (one match each played at the home ground of the two teams).

Four team tournament:

In 2019, the Spanish Football Federation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement under which the tournament had to be played in the Middle Eastern Country for for three years.

This was also the time when the tournament's format got revamped and it was expanded to become a four-team competition. The four teams are: the winners and runners-ups of the Copa del Rey and La Liga.

However if the same team ended up winning the Copa del Rey and La Liga then the third-placed team in La Liga qualified to play in the Spanish Super Cup. This happened for the 2024 edition of the Spanish Super Cup. Real Madrid won 2022–23 Copa del Rey winners and 2022–23 La Liga runners-up, so Atlético Madrid, which finished third in 2022–23 La Liga season became eligible to play in the Spanish Super Cup.

The first time the Spanish Super Cup final was played in Saudi Arabia was in 2020. It moved back to Spain for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic but returned to Saudi Arabia for subsequent editions.

According to the current agreement, the tournament will be played in Saudi till 2029 but a BBC report states that there are rumours of to extend the deal further by five years.

Spanish Football Federation's agreement with Saudi Arabia to move the tournament to the Middle East has come under heavy criticism as the critics say that the federation has turned the tournament into a cash grab opportunity.

The location has also led to a sense of disconnect between the club fans and the tournament.

Barcelona and Real Madrid have been the two most dominant teams in the history of the Spanish Super Cup. Barca have clinched the Spanish Super Cup 15 times and Madrid have won the title on 13 occasions.

Here is a look at the top five most successful teams in the tournament's history: