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On Sunday night, Real Madrid travels to Barcelona needing a victory to maintain their tenuous title ambitions. The good news for Carlo Ancelotti’s team is that they have recently outperformed Barcelona in this head-to-head matchup, with Real Madrid triumphing in five of their past six La Liga contests versus Barcelona. Barcelona had gone seven games without losing before that run of games (W4 D3).
Real Madrid has won both of its most recent La Liga trips to Camp Nou; from January 1963 to February 1965, they were the only team to defeat Barcelona three times in a row on the road. Making three this weekend will be difficult considering Barcelona has won all 12 of their games at home Their greatest home unbeaten start at this stage of the season since 2019–20 (W10 D2) in La Liga.
With 13 league games remaining, Barcelona leads the Spanish top division by nine points. Xavi’s team has a 94.2% chance of winning the league, according to our Opta supercomputer projections, therefore Real’s chances of a shock triumph are over if they lose all three games.
Barcelona, which has already won the Spanish Super Cup, may win a treble between the Copa del Rey and La Liga. Real Madrid, on the other hand, will face Chelsea in the quarterfinals of the Champions League with the hopes of reversing the outcome of the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg losing to Barcelona 1-0 in the first leg two weeks ago.
Without Pedri, the Blaugrana are a completely different team, and it was thought that he had a decent chance of playing in the Clásico. Nevertheless, his hamstring didn’t feel right during training on Friday, and he might not be able to recover in time for the match on Sunday.
They won’t risk Ousmane Dembélé while he is still outside. The majority of Madrid’s offensive output will fall on Vincius Jnior, who has had several run-ins with Ronald Araujo in recent Clásico history. Karim Benzema is expected to be out for the visitors after picking up an injury against Liverpool after scoring the game’s lone goal. Prepare for a second
Previous Meeting
Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona: 2 March 2023 (Copa del Rey)
This season, Barcelona and Real Madrid have already faced off three times. They still have to play the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal, where Barcelona holds a 1-0 lead, in two weeks. Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 3-1 in the inaugural Clásico, but Barcelona has made strides since then.
Their first victory under Xavi’s leadership was a 3-1 victory in the Spanish Super Cup. Going into the excellent Copa del Rey match, they had the slimmest of leads.
After Barcelona took the lead in that game’s first leg, it sat back, absorbed the pressure, and attempted to attack Real Madrid on the break. The two squads appeared to have traded places Madrid dominated the ball, as seen by their shirts. Madrid would undoubtedly advance if they played the same style in the second leg, according to Carlo Ancelotti. Xavi was questioned about his betrayal of Barcelona’s aesthetic.
Real Madrid failed to take a single shot on goal in this 1-0 loss, their first such failure in a competitive home game since 2010. This season, Barcelona and Real Madrid have already faced off three times. They still have to play the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal, where Barcelona holds a 1-0 lead, in two weeks. Real Madrid prevailed 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the inaugural Clásico, although Barcelona has in a competitive home game since 2010, failed to do this.
In an endeavor to maintain those leads, one “suffered,” as the Spanish would say. Prior to it, they were defeated by Almera. Barcelona may have established an unstoppable lead at the top of the standings, but Aslético Madrid and Real Madrid will be punishing themselves for not maintaining a closer rivalry as the year’s final quarter approaches.
Until Barcelona starts to win the way they are used to, there will be questions and reservations about Xavi at Camp Nou, but he is producing results.
That’s the main focus, at least for the time being.
It’s unclear what Real Madrid will be concentrating on this campaign. They have been drawn against Chelsea after their comfortable victory over Liverpool in the Champions League.
games this phrase (W10 D2).
Barcelona’s key players are Robert Lewandowski
The big summer acquisition for Barcelona has stalled. That may seem strange to say about a guy who has 25 goals this season in all competitions, but he has only managed two goals in nine La Liga games since the World Cup’s conclusion, and he only achieved one in the Europa League defeat to Manchester United, a penalty.
Raphinha, who joined Barcelona from Premier League club Leeds United after a much slower start to the season, has warmed up and is now the team’s most dangerous offensive threat. Lewandowski struggled to have an impact on the game, and the Brazilian scored the game-winning goal against Athletic Bilbao recently.
Ferran Torres has scored goals in both of Barcelona’s games this season
He will become just the second player from either team to score in their first three Clásicos in the competition in the twenty-first century after Samuel Eto’o in 2005 if he scores in La Liga
versus Real Madrid (two goals in total) (three).
Yet, Lewandowski was acquired by Barcelona for these specific contests, so soon, he must excel in one of them
Eduardo Camavinga, Real Madrid
Although Kylian Mbappé made a U-turn and elected to stay at PSG last summer, Eduardo Camavinga was reportedly the one to lose out when Aurélien Tchouaméni signed from Monaco.
For Los Blancos, the 20-year-old was more of a work-in-progress than Tchouaméni. Since the return of the World Cup, Camavinga has carved out a niche for himself in Ancelotti’s plans and might just be the most essential player in the group in terms of adaptability. Injuries have plagued David Alaba and Ferland Mendy, and Nacho isn’t always available to play.
The French midfielder has filled a critical void for Real Madrid by spending a substantial portion of his time at left defense. In recent times It appears like Ancelotti has Camavinga on the agenda before Tchouaméni. He began both of Liverpool’s Champions League Round of 16 matches, and he performed admirably in both.
Regardless of where he is positioned, Camavinga will undoubtedly play a key role once more while Mendy and Alaba are still injured.
Pedri’s injury, which is a very significant one for Barcelona, appears to have upset the balance of the entire team. But they continue to succeed. Although they don’t need one as much as Real Madrid does in this match, the Opta supercomputer still predicts a home victory.
It increases FC Barcelona’s odds of winning on Sunday to 42.7%.
The team led by Carlo Ancelotti is still in contention for a treble. A victory on Sunday is essential to keep the dream of a triple alive in La Liga, which is a difficult task.
The Supercomputer just can’t see it happening and gives Madrid just a 28.3% chance of winning three in a row at Camp Nou for just the second