Real Madrid vs Barcelona: More than just three points at stake
Bitter rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona will be battling for more than just three points in Saturday’s El Clasico tie.
With Atletico Madrid finally slipping up, the La Liga title could be up for grabs, depending on how things play out this weekend. In addition, Barcelona, having lost the first El Clasico back in October, will be gunning for revenge following their 3-1 defeat at Camp Nou. As things stand, the hosts sit in third, on 63 points, while the visitors find themselves in second, on 65. League leaders Atleti, meanwhile, are just precariously clear by one point and will not be in action until Sunday. That means Diego Simeone’s troops could find themselves in second, or even possibly third even before they take on Real Betis on Sunday evening.
The hosts come into this match having easily swept aside Liverpool 3-1 in the quarter-finals in the UCL, albeit that win wasn’t without some controversy. Zinedine Zidane’s men are unbeaten in their last five La Liga games, with wins in three of them, and overall haven’t lost in the league since the start of January. However, they’ll have to take on Barcelona without Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, and Los Blancos will hope that Karim Benzema, who has been in absolutely outstanding form all season, with 18 goals so far.
Real Madrid are in a good spot to potentially win both the league and the Champions League this season, and not surprisingly, they’re also looking ahead to securing some big money signings for the upcoming terms. Kylian Mbappe is one of them, with the PSG star’s exploits making him the most-sought after player in the game. Then there’s Erling Haaland, who’s been all over the news lately with his own transfer saga and whether he’ll actually leave the Signal Iduna Park or if his agent, Mino Raiola is just making a big fuss to try to wrangle more money out of die Schwarzgelben.
Meanwhile, Barcelona, who were dumped out of the Champions League early by PSG, come into this game having secured a narrow 1-0 win over Real Valladolid. That means that Ronald Koeman’s side have had more time to prepare for this crunch clash, and a win here would see them leap-frog Atleti into top spot. The Blaugrana earned their sixth straight La Liga win thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembele, who was linked with a move away from the Camp Nou in recent weeks, but the French international may have done just enough lately to convince Barca’s bosses to give him a contract extension to remain put with the Catalan giants.
Barcelona, like Real Madrid will be looking to beef up their squad this summer. Lionel Messi, despite making a lot of noise last year, looks likely to remain put, and the multi-Ballon d’Or winner has been enjoying another excellent campaign in front of goal as he leads the scoring charts with 23 goals in the league (29 across all comps). The visitors have been given a huge boost with the return of veteran defender Gerard Pique to action following a long-term injury layoff due to a knee issue, but it’s not likely he’ll start and any involvement will be from the bench.
This game could also see two bits of history being made. Barcelona’s American defender, Sergino Dest already made history back in October as the first American to play in El Clasico. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to prevent the Blaguran from losing 3-1, but the 20-year-old could make history not one, but twice. How? Well, by assisting, and by scoring a goal himself – both of which, are certainly possible.
So, will Barcelona get revenge on Real Madrid for their loss earlier this season by handing Los Blancos a loss in their own back yard? That would make it a seventh straight La Liga win for the Blaugrana. Or will Zidane’s men do a double over their bitter rivals and start putting major pressure on cross-town rivals Atleti as the title race really heats up as we get into the last part of the 2020/2021 season?
