Real Madrid might face Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup Final

Thanks in part to Toni Kroos' wonderful goal from a corner, Real Madrid defeated Valencia 3-1 on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, and secured a spot in the final of the Spanish Super Cup.

Kroos beat Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domenech with a brilliantly executed instinctive strike in the 15th minute. He opened the account for Los Blancos before Isco doubled the tally in the 39th minute. Later, Luka Modric scored a classy third with a curled finish and took the scoreboard to 3-0 in the 65th minute.

Valencia was able to score only during injury time, that too from a penalty.

The King Abdullah Sports City stadium was just a bit more than half full. Reports claim that the official attendance at the stadium was 40,877. The arena's maximum capacity is 62,345.

The Spanish Super Cup final might either see a Madrid derby or a Clásico clash on Sunday evening. So far, Real has won 10 Supercopa de Espana titles. After a convincing win over Valencia in the semi-finals, Zinedine Zidane's men look confident.

Meanwhile, there has been a controversy regarding the new format of the ongoing tournament. Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said that he preferred the old format. He also stated that the Spanish Super Cup is being held in Saudi Arabia only because of the money involved.

The new format of the competition includes the two top teams in La Liga, along with the finalists of the Copa del Rey.

BBC reports that Valverde said, "The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business, it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here. It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine. It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure."

The decision of organising the tournament in Saudi Arabia has been highly criticised, given that the country is involved in numerous human rights issues. The deal was signed only after Saudi Arabia agreed that women would be allowed to attend the matches.

Valencia qualified for the tournament for being the winners of the Copa Del Rey. They are unhappy because through this competition, they would earn only two million euros as compared to the six million euros each for Barcelona and Real Madrid, and three million euros for Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona will take on Atletico Madrid in the second semi-final on Thursday.