Battle rejoined in the Bernabéu

"The Supercup should be just one game," said Iker Casillas this week, echoing the thoughts of just about everybody short of sponsors and those hawking unofficial merchandise outside the stadiums of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Under normal circumstances, a match between the two giants of Spain and Europe is a welcome occurrence, taking place just twice in a season. Even more so a Supercup meeting; this is the first to be contested by Barcelona and Real since 1997. After the league fixture scheduled for December, Real and Barça will have played seven times in 2011.

But after last season's almost-unprecedented - a similar run took place in the pre-Civil War era - series of clásicos, which were far from living up to that moniker, grueling pre-season campaigns and the demands of the international calendar lend weight to Casillas' opinion. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola bemoaned his side's preparatory commitments - "We used to have pre-seasons, now we go on tours" - but that is the nature of the marketing beast. With Asia already hypnotized by European soccer, America is the next logical conquest, even if current evidence suggests that it will be an obstinate nut to crack.

Guardiola's lament did have some basis; charging around in the summer heat of Dallas, Miami andWashington is not ideal for professional athletes. "The tour went well, but the problem was that it was so hot we couldn't train and that makes it difficult for the team to gain intensity, as you have seen," he said.

Indeed, Barcelona's pre-season was a mixed bag. A triumph over Bayern Munich and a loss to Manchester United were followed by a heavy defeat to Chivas, and a 3-0 loss to Espanyol, the latter with a significantly weakened team. Overall, Barça scored 10 and conceded 12 goals in pre-season; Real scored 27 and conceded five, although it should be noted Barça largely faced a higher caliber of opponent.

Perhaps the biggest gain of Guardiola's summer was the chance to give his Spain international players a rest; Barça's La Roja contingent has played a tournament in each of the past three summers. Nonetheless, Guardiola has a defensive conundrum with Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Maxwell and Sergio Busquets nursing injuries. Vicente del Bosque would eagerly side with Casillas on the subject of the Supercup; the Spain coach ended Wednesday's match against Italy with defensive midfielders Busquets and Javi Martínez in his back line. Spain has a European qualifier on September 6, although its opponent, Liechtenstien, is unlikely to trouble a makeshift barricade if Del Bosque is obliged to throw one up.

José Mourinho's Real is in better shape overall going into the first leg, with most of its main components firing on all cylinders. Karim Benzema scored eight in pre-season, Gonzalo Higuaín is gaining match sharpness and the team's summer recruits have settled in quickly. Mourinho's only pending personnel issue is whether to hand the impressive Fabio Coentrao the right midfield berth or retain the scampering Ángel di María there. In terms of formation, it remains to be seen if Mourinho will adhere to his damage-limitation 4-2-3-1 structure of last season - which drew the ire of Barcelona, particularly in the case of the snarling and scrapping Pepe who was instructed to give his opponents' playmakers a torrid time and did so with gusto - or eschew his defensive proclivities.

The Supercup may be little more than a glorified friendly, but both sides will play to win to set down a marker for more glamorous challenges ahead. With luck, this time around Spain's two most expensive teams will not short change spectators.