The Supercopa de España, which kicks off this Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, comes with an important change to its format. If a match ends in a draw after the regular 90 minutes, there will be no extra time. Instead, the match will be decided by penalties to avoid overloading players with extra minutes.

This new rule, also applied in the Women's Supercup, was agreed upon by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in October after receiving complaints from players and coaches about the heavy match load during the season.

How Will This Rule Work?

The new format will be applied this Wednesday during the first semifinal, should Barcelona and Athletic draw after 90 minutes. The same will happen in the second semifinal between Real Madrid and Mallorca, as well as in the final on Sunday. Additionally, there will be no third-place match.

This change aims to prevent what happened in last year’s edition, when Real Madrid and Atlético had to resolve their semifinal in extra time. This format is also used in other international tournaments, such as the UEFA Super Cup, where in 2023, Manchester City and Sevilla drew 1-1 and decided the match with penalties. Similarly, it applies in the Copa América, where extra time is only used in the final, not in the quarterfinals or semifinals.