It’s the match that grips the world and on Saturday, Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona clash at the Bernabeu in the latest rendition of the world famous El Clasico.
Madrid trail Barcelona by three points at the top of La Liga as their “Galacticos” have failed to fire, while Barca have hardly skipped a beat despite losing four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi to injury for the past two months.
The Argentine seems certain to feature after taking a full part in training this week, but it is still unknown whether coach Luis Enrique will risk his star from the start or allow him to ease back into action from the bench.
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In Messi’s absence, Luis Suarez and Neymar have propelled Barca to five wins in their last six league games and scored all of the European champions’ last 17 league goals.
Madrid will be hoping their own much-hyped front three can perform likewise after a slow start to the season provoked by poor form, injuries and off-field problems.
Saturday will be just the third time this season that all of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema start together. Benzema is struggling with an injury and remains under the cloud of a sex scandal involving blackmail.
But of the two groups, you’d have to argue, it’s the Barça trio that’s in better nick at the moment, with Neymar and Suarez flying high and Messi pushing for a return.
-The Passing battle-
Saturday’s Clasico will pit two of the best passing duos in Europe against one another. On the Real Madrid side, you’ve got Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. On the Barcelona side, there’s Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.
Statistics would seem to favor Real Madrid, with Modric and Kroos having collectively completed 92 percent of their passes this season, to Busquets and Iniesta’s approximately 88 percent completion rate.
Real also has the edge when it comes to assists, with Modric and Kroos having completed four between them. Busquets, meanwhile, has provided just one assist and Iniesta is yet to set up a teammate this season.
-Talking Tactics-
Tactically, expect the flank featuring Marcelo and Alves to be the key as both drive their respective offenses in the back and leave much room to be exploited.
Ronaldo is heavily reliant on Marcelo’s contributions so he could be limited if Marcelo isn’t rolling, while Barcelona will have to devote notable resources to cover for Alves’ runs forward so if Buquets slides over there that could leave a vulnerable midbelly for Madrid to exploit in transition. But again, these sides know each other so well that it’s hard to see either doing something which would leave itself so exposed.
But at the end of the day, all form and stats get tossed out the window when these two sides meet.
Last season saw Madrid comfortably win 3-1 when they were behind Barca in the table and saw a depleted Madrid side hang tough in a late 2-1 loss in the spring on the road.
The previous season saw Barca win a penaltyfest at the Bernabeu when many saw Madrid as the heavy favorites.
It’s just too tough to make a call either way for this fixture, all we can expect is a passionate and close duel lasting all 90 minutes.