Spanish Supercup: Barcelona vs Osasuna Semifinal Preview
La Liga Champions vs. Copa del Rey Runners Up
Second Semifinal on Thursday
While other La Liga teams are in action this weekend, Barcelona, Osasuna, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will head to Saudi Arabia this week for the Supercopa de España. Wednesday’s Semifinal features a Madrid Derby between Real and Atletico. Then, on Thursday, 2022-23 La Liga champions Barcelona take on 2022-23 Copa del Rey runners up Osasuna. The winners of each Semifinal matchup will meet on Sunday for a chance to win silverware. For Thursday’s match, we’ll take a look at the odds in our Barcelona vs Osasuna Semifinal preview.
Barcelona vs. Osasuna
Date, time:
Location: Al-Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Head-to-Head
Barcelona have won their last four matches vs. Osasuna, which includes a 2-1 road victory last September in La Liga. Jules Kounde and Robert Lewandowski got on the scoresheet for FCB. Barcelona vs Osasuna Semifinal previews note that Barça are unbeaten in their last seven games vs. Osasuna. Osasuna have won just one of their last 15 matches vs. Barcelona and Barcelona have clearly been the better pick in this fixture for soccer betting.
Barcelona Kick off New Year With Two Wins
Barcelona went to fourth-tier club Barbastro in the Copa del Rey on Sunday. It wasn’t necessarily straightforward, as Barcelona eked out a 3-2 victory. Fermin Lopez, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski were on the scoresheet for Barcelona in the match. Brazilian forward Vitor Roque, who FCB signed at the beginning of January, made a brief cameo in the match and the 18-year old is still looking for his first Barcelona goal.
So far, Barça have won their first two matches in 2024 and defeated Las Palmas 2-1 in La Liga last week. It took a stoppage time penalty from Ilkay Gundogan to sink Las Palmas on the road. A look at the Barcelona standings shows that they’re currently in third place in La Liga, seven points behind Real Madrid and Girona.
Barcelona are the defending champions in both La Liga and the Supercopa de España, though. Last season, they defeated Real Betis in penalties following a 2-2 draw and Barcelona took down Real Madrid 3-1 in the final. Lewandowski got on the scoresheet in both matches.
With starting goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen still out, Iñaki Peña will continue to get minutes in goal. Meanwhile, Iñigo Martinez, Joao Cancelo, Pedri, Marcos Alonso and Gavi are all injured. Of those players, only Pedri and Cancelo have a shot to play in the Supercup. With players like Gundogan and Frenkie de Jong in midfield, Barcelona still have more than enough quality to reach the final again.
Osasuna Not to be Underestimated
Osasuna knocked some big names out of the Copa del Rey last season. The Pamplona club defeated Sevilla, Real Betis and Athletic Club en route to the final, where they lost 2-1 to Real Madrid. As Copa del Rey runners up, Osasuna are in their first-ever Supercopa de España. Osasuna also finished in seventh place in La Liga last season, which qualified them for one of the European tournaments, the UEFA Europa Conference League. However, they lost in qualifiers to Club Brugge.
This season, Osasuna are in 12th place in La Liga, with a 6-4-9 record. They did kick off 2024 with a 1-0 win over Almeria, though, as Ante Budimir scored the game’s only goal. On Sunday, they went on the road to third-tier side CD Castellon.
The match went into extra time and Jose Arnaiz scored the game-winner for Osasuna. This season, Budimir has been Osasuna’s key player and the Croatian has scored nine La Liga goals so far.
Chimy Avila is another player to watch for, as he’s Osasuna’s most potent creative force. Right now, just Johan Mojica and Ruben Garcia are on Osasuna’s injury list. Jagoba Arrasate will have a mostly healthy group of players to choose from as the underdogs try to upset Barcelona and reach their first Spanish Supercup final.
Match Analysis & Odds
For the second Semifinal of the Supercopa de España, Barcelona are -265 favorites. FCB have averaged over two goals per game in their last five matches vs. Osasuna and are on a 12-game scoring streak vs. the Pamplona side. Meanwhile, Osasuna have scored just four goals in their last seven matches vs. Barcelona and are +600 underdogs for Thursday’s match. Barcelona can trot out a front three of Joao Felix, Lewandowski and Raphinha for the match, which could spell trouble for Osasuna.
Currently, Barcelona -1, -1.5 displays -125 odds but their last few matches vs. Osasuna have been quite close. Bettors can also take Osasuna +1, +1.5 at -105 odds and it wouldn’t be too surprising if they’re able to keep things close in Riyadh. A draw would mean extra time, and potentially penalties, and a deadlock displays +425 odds.
Both teams have scored in each of Barcelona’s last six competitive matches. However, just one of Osasuna’s last six matches has finished with three or more goals. Here, over and under three goals both are priced at -115 odds.
