El Clasico, one of the biggest matches in the world of football, is taking place at Barcelona’s Camp Nou this Sunday evening. The hosts have already been crowned the champions of La Liga, but it doesn’t mean they won’t be motivated to beat their ancient rivals at the home ground. Can they do it? Find out in this Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match preview!
Barcelona
This season, Barça have won their 25th Spanish title. They’re still long away from Real Madrid, who have eight titles more. Still, winning the trophy in 2017/2018 season is definitely a big achievement, considering that there are now several top-class teams in La Liga – Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia.
Unfortunately for Barça fans, their team failed to do very well in the Champions League. Unlike Los Blancos who have reached the final of this competition, Barcelona got knock out by AS Roma in the quarterfinal. That’s something that has left a big scare on the emotions of Barcelona’s players, fans, and management. A way to show they’re sorry for that failure is to beat their biggest rivals on Sunday evening!
So, do they have what it takes to beat Real Madrid? Well, they’ve already done it this season. They beat Real in Madrid in the first half of the 2017/2018 La Liga season. The score in that match was 3:0, with Lionel Messi being the man of the match with one goal to his name and a fabulous assist to Vidal in the stoppage time.
It appears that he’s gonna be the crucial man again, especially considering his performance in his previous match for Barça. They played against Deportivo La Coruna a week ago, in a match that ended 4:2 Barça. Guess who scored three goals in that game? Messi did…
The hat-trick brought him one step closer to winning the award of the top scorer in La Liga this season. He currently has 32 goals to his name. But, unfortunately for the Messiah, the race isn’t yet over. Cristiano is behind him with eight goals left and with four games left to play, anything can happen.
Real Madrid
Obviously, the main focus of Los Blancos is the Champions League. They want to become the first team ever to win this competition three times in a row. But, there’s still nearly three weeks left before the final, so they need to try to improve their La Liga position.
Right now, Real Madrid are at the third place, trailing behind Atletico Madrid with four points less. That difference can be even smaller, as Los Blancos have played one game fewer than the Atleti. What this means is that if they manage to beat Barcelona, they will make one giant leap towards the second spot on the table.
But, can they beat the mighty Barça in Catalonia, in front of more than 80k spectators at Europe’s largest stadium? Well, they did it in the Super Cup last year. Actually, in the last seven matches played between these two teams at Camp Nou, Real were the victors on four occasions.
Team News
Barcelona absentees:
- None
Real Madrid absentees:
- Isco (injury)
- Daniel Carvajal (injury)
Possible Lineups
Barcelona:
Ter Stegen – Pique, Umtiti, Roberto, Alba – Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic – Messi, Dembele, Suarez
Real Madrid:
Navas – Ramos, Varane, Hernández, Marcelo – Kroos, Modric, Vázquez, Bale – Ronaldo, Benzema
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Match Prediction
Same as always, El Clasico is expected to be a super-exciting game. Both teams have a huge amount of talent in each area on the pitch, although the attack is what really stands out. To put it this way, Barça have Messi, Real have Ronaldo. What this means is that we’re likely to see a lot of goals on this match!
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Betting Tips
- BTS @1.40 (bwin)
- Over 2.5 Goals @1.30 (Unibet)
- Lionel Messi to Score Anytime @1.67 (BetFred)
- Cristiano Ronaldo to Score Anytime @2.08 (888Sport)