Derbies for Super Cup glory have been going on all around Europe this year; Schalke 04 defeated Borussia Dortmund in penalties at the end of July to win the DFL Supercup, AC Milan took out Inter Milan this saturday with two second half goals to obtain the Supercoppa Italiana, and just this Sunday Manchester United came back from a 2-0 deficit to Manchester city and lifted the community shield. Now there is one more derby which concerns us Culés a lot more than these last three, Blaugranas vs Los Blancos.

As the beginning of La Liga draws nearer, the two powerhouses and arguably the two most gifted players in the planet prepare to face each other once again in 2011. Barcelona and Real Madrid have met four times this year and are scheduled to meet again to dispute the Spanish Super cup, which is fought out by the winner of La Liga and the winner of La Copa del Rey (King’s Cup). The first encounter of 2011 left Barcelona nearly tasting the domestic league title as Real Madrid was only able to pull a tie, Barcelona, eight points ahead at that time would eventually go on to win La Liga. The second match of the year would be the final for Copa del Rey, which the Merengues went on to win in overtime, bringing the first and only silverware piece since Mourinho took over, or since Guardiola found a hobby out of making Madrid fans miserable, I’m only kidding.

So here we are awaiting another two matches of arguably the biggest rivalry in sport’s history, Lakers-Celtics may have a shot at taking them out but today we talk about football. Which team comes into this match a bigger threat? Well, if we are judging by preseason matches, Real Madrid seems to be more fit to take on the Blaugrana, who has had a bit of difficulty touring the US, losing to Manchester United 2-1, Chivas 4-1, and pulling out an unconvincing win against Club America 2-0 this Saturday. Perhaps the joy of bringing home the Audi cup has given Barça a sense of relaxation and freedom, or it could be that they are all waiting for the rest of the team to join in to start taking play to the level they have us used to. Whatever it is, we can only hope it is gone by the 14th of august and we see Pep’s side enroll that tiki-taka style to produce goals. Mourinho’s side seems to be bulldozing through opponents on their preseason, managing to score 27 goals and receive only five, winning all seven of their matches throughout the US, Europe, and China. Don’t be too alarmed, the last time Barcelona faced Mourinho’s side on a hot streak, Guardiola’s side cruised through Real and put five past Casillas, this was last November.

Now with only a few days to go over what has been the cause of sloppiness, Guardiola must find a way to bring us the first reason to celebrate this season. If Pep is successful in bringing this one home, the flash of another six titles will shine in every Blaugrana fan throughout the world, the team will find a stronger bond and have a goal to look forward to, not to mention the amount of confidence this would bring right before La Liga. Let’s keep our net clean, but let’s get down and dirty, because every match we are hoping for a Messi ending!

Written by Barcaloco contributor Jorge Beltran