The greatest matchup in football is ahead of us. Real Madrid host Barcelona looking to go top of the table with a win over bitter rivals.
Europe has been struck hard by recent terror attacks in France, and Saturday’s El Clasico will not just be a footballing spectacle, but rather a statement that life will go on in Europe, despite someones efforts to instill fear. However, this is probably the first time people are talking more about police security than what is to be expected on the pitch.
Helicopters, drones, police dogs, special forces, hundreds of surveillance cameras… If you find yourself going to Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday you can expect to see all of this, and much more. But, let’s focus on the footballing side. The international break is behind us, and it’s business as usual in La Liga. Round 12 brings us the first El Clasico of the season, with Real Madrid hosting Barcelona who are currently top of the pile, three points clear of the Los Blancos.
Real Madrid lost the pace in the last round, losing 3-2 to Sevilla at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, despite taking the lead. It was the first defeat for Los Blancos in Rafa Benitez’s era. Benitez hasn’t really been welcomed with open arms by the fans, primarily because of their fear he will kill their attacking philosophy, as the coach is known of creating hard working teams on the expense of flair. Indeed, since he arrived Madrid are looking considerably stronger at the back, but at the same time, they aren’t scoring as many goals as they did under Carlo Ancelotti. Cristiano Ronaldo has thus far failed to replicate his form of the previous seasons and has failed to find the net in a number of games – something that didn’t go to well with him. There were reports of his feuds with Benitez, and even some rumours he could leave the Spanish capital at the end of the season, but some clever PR has cleared all the smoke, and apparently all is well in the dressing room. Whatever the case might be with their star man, Real Madrid will definitively need to put in a strong performance against Barcelona. Neymar and Suarez are tearing up defenses in the absence of Messi, and Madrid’s defense was exposed many at times against seemingly weaker oppositions (i.e. Celta). So, their defensive record cannot be entirely credited to the back line, rather to the man on goal – Keylor Navas. His performances have made Real Madrid fans forget about De Gea.
So, the spirits may be a little low in the Real Madrid dressing room after a loss to Sevilla, but the international break has given their coach enough time reassess everything and El Clasico will be a whole different story. The good thing is that they will be boosted by the return of James, but Benzema is probably out because of his off field problems and that means no BBC.
On the other side, Luis Enrique would probably enjoy one more week of the international break because that would mean Messi is back to full match fitness. But, his return to light training has signaled that he will probably feature. However, he is not the only one to suffer a spell on the sidelines. Important players like Andres Iniesta, Claudio Bravo, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Rafinha Alcantara have all in recent weeks struggled with some injuries, but that hasn’t taken a toll on their league form as the duo upfront wrecked havoc. The Catalan outfit can come relaxed to Bernabeu, knowing that they can lose and still be level on points with Madrid. This kind of psyhological advantage has proven crucial time and again.
One other news has been stealing the headlines lately, as Messi has been linked with an unlikely move to Barclays Premier League, Arsenal to be more precise. The reasons are in his long standing tax problems in Spain. No matter how far fetched it might seem, it is surely going to stir up some spirits ahead of the El Clasico.
Match facts
- Each of the last nine clásicos in La Liga have seen both sides score, the longest such run since 1946-1952 (13 games in a row).
- Real Madrid have gone 22 La Liga home games in a row unbeaten (W19 D3) and they have just conceded one goal in their last five there.
- In their last 100 La Liga home games, Real Madrid have scored 338 goals at an average of 3.38 goals per game.
- On the other hand, Barcelona have now gone 15 La Liga away games in a row scoring at least once; with 41 goals in this period at an average of 2,7 goals per game.
- Real Madrid have only won two of their last seven La Liga home games against Barcelona (D1 L4).
- Real Madrid have not lost a La Liga home game with BenÃtez in charge (W4 D1), conceding just one goal in five games.
- Rafa BenÃtez has lost six of his 10 games as manager in La Liga against Barcelona (W3 D1).
- Real Madrid have not held a higher ball possession figure against Barcelona in a La Liga game since 7th May 2008 (54.3%).
- Barcelona have won more penalties than any other team in the Top 5 European Leagues this season (eight).
- Messi has been involved in eight of the last nine Barcelona goals against Real Madrid at Bernabéu in all competitions (five goals, three assists).
- The last 17 Barcelona goals have been scored by either Neymar (nine) or Luis Suárez (eight)
- Cristiano Ronaldo has scored six of his eight La Liga goals this season in the first half of games.
- The Portuguese player is the only Real Madrid player to have started in all 15 games this season in all competitions.
Head to head
Team news
Rafa Benitez is expected to reshuffle his defensive line a bit, with Marcelo returning to the starting lineup instead on Nacho and Varane pairing up with Ramos in place of Pepe. In midfield, Casemiro could also be dropped, Isco taking the central position and James starting the first match since his injury. Los Blancos fans are however not likely to enjoy their famous BBC trio (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo) due Benzema’s off-field problems revolving around a sex-tape scandal of his national teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
On the other side, the biggest question for Barcelona is Messi’s match fitness. He has has returned to training just days before the El Clasico, but it is not likely Enrique will risk him from the start, so we could see him come off the bench in the second half. Javier Mascherano has served his two match ban, but he played two intense World Cup qualifiers for Argentina (against Brazil and Colombia), despite picking up a knock in training. Enrique is therefore more likely to feature rested Mathieu. Another important absentee is Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic who missed the game against Villareal, but has returned to training and could join Messi on the bench and look for his chance in the second half.
Probable Line-ups
Real Madrid: Navas; Marcelo, Danilo, Ramos, Varane; Kroos, Isco, Modric; Bale, Ronaldo, James
Barcelona: Bravo; Alba, Dani Alves, Mathieu, Pique, Iniesta, Busquets, Sergi Roberto; Neymar, Suarez, Munir
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