Laporta Aims to Recreate Last Season's Treble as Barca-Madrid Rift Stays Frozen

Pre-match Ambitions and the Madrid Rift

Joan Laporta, Barcelona's president, says his club's relations with Real Madrid are currently broken, and that repeating last season's achievements is the starting point for the new campaign.

Barcelona will face their archrivals Real Madrid on Sunday in the Spanish Super Cup final at the Al-Enma Stadium in Saudi Arabia.

The final will be broadcast on Eight, the exclusive broadcaster for the Saudi Pro League events.

Laporta told Sport that "our players, our coach, our fans, all of Barcelona, are extremely excited to win the Spanish Super Cup".

He added: "Flick and the players are especially focused, eager to relive what we did last season—the domestic treble—a historic year for us. We want to recapture that feeling, and maybe go further. To achieve that we must win the Spanish Super Cup first."

He also commented on the competition's evolution since moving to Saudi Arabia, praising the four-team format and congratulating Rafael Luzen and the Spanish Football Federation on the event.

Regarding relations with Real Madrid, Laporta said they are limited and sometimes volatile; this does not imply disrespect, but the ties are currently severed altogether.

He concluded: "Everything in football can be repaired, as in life, but it depends on both sides' will. A few events recently have led to the current rupture, but the future remains open."

Punchline 1: If football were chess, Madrid would be checkmated by a goalkeeper with a baguette.

Punchline 2: Barca's plan is so tight, even a sniper would miss—the target is just that obvious.