El Clasico: Real Madrid versus Barcelona preview

Real Madrid have had Barcelona’s number of late

Another edition of the Spanish Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid will take place at the Santiago Bernabeu Sunday.

Los Blancos won the first meeting at the Camp Nou 2-1 in a match that included Sergio Aguero’s first and only goal for the Catalans. They met again in January’s Spanish Super Cup where Real Madrid once emerged victorious with a 3-2 win in overtime.

The side managed by Carlo Ancelotti are riding a five-game winning streak against Barcelona and will look to make it six with a win at home.

With Real Madrid 15 points ahead, this iteration of El Clasico will be more about pride than anything else. For Barcelona, it should make for a good test to see how far they’ve progressed under Xavi Hernandez. The former midfielder was in charge during the Super Cup loss but that was without counting on the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Adama Traore and Dani Alves.

Since then, he’s managed to restore some of the club’s identity and instill confidence in the players that they can compete.

"“It is a spectacular day to play a great match and to show that we are embodying this idea of the game that we are understanding very well,” Xavi said.“We have grown as a team since November, but this does not mean anything. It does not indicate anything how you arrive, we have to show personality and try and impose our game.“Madrid are very good, they are in a great moment. They are in good form, they are the favorites. We are going with great enthusiasm and wanting to do well. We have to play better than them and have the ball more than them.”Source: Sport"

Barcelona is coming off a 2-1 win against Galatasaray where they unfortunately lost Sergiño Dest to injury. Gerard Pique was also subbed off with a knock but should be available and is likely to start.

As for Real Madrid, they’re two weeks removed from the comeback in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. Karim Benzema was the hero on the night and in the biggest news heading into the match, the Frenchman did not pass a fitness test ahead of the Clasico after he suffered an injury against Mallorca.

"“We never take risks,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said in a news conference on Saturday. “Tomorrow [Benzema] can’t play because he hasn’t trained, he feels some discomfort. It’s a small injury… [Gareth Bale] is one of the alternatives. We have Mariano [Diaz], we have [Luka] Jovic, I’ve played Isco and Rodrygo there too. There are a lot of options.”Source: ESPN"

Benzema has been one of the best, if not the best, player in LaLiga this season. Without him, Madrid are much less imposing. He, alongside Luka Modric, have been carrying Madrid all season. He is undoubtedly going to be a huge miss.

Despite playing midweek Barcelona is not going to go all out to try to get back to winning ways in El Clasico. Alves and Ronald Araujo are set to return to the starting lineup and Ousmane Dembele will start up front along with Aubameyang and Ferran Torres.

While a loss does not undo the progress Barcelona has gone through under Xavi, a win would prove they are on the right path and closer than some think to returning to being one of the best sides in Europe.