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Barcelona fans are fuming at the inclusion of veteran midfielder Sergio Busquets in their starting lineup to face Real Madrid in this season's maiden El Clasico. The 34-year-old has had a poor run of form for the Blaugrana in recent weeks, and fans widely expected manager Xavi Hernandez to bench him.
However, Xavi has continued to entrust his former teammate in the deep-lying role to the ire of the fans, who have taken to Twitter to slam the manager's decision. Here is a selection of tweets from the unhappy Camp Nou faithful:
Barcelona and Real Madrid prepare for their first El Clasico clash of the season
With the lineups now released, the world-renowned El Clasico is set to take place in due time. For their first clash of the season with their eternal rivals, Real Madrid will host Barcelona at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in what could be a title decider.
Both teams sit at the zenith of the La Liga table, having picked up 22 points from eight games. They have each won seven games and drawn just once, but the Blaugrana sit at the top of the Spanish tier on goal difference. While the Madridistas have scored 19 goals and conceded seven, their Catalan counterparts have scored 20 and conceded just once, against Real Sociedad.
In the last campaign, Madrid were clearly the better team, garnering a strong title win that saw them sit 13 points ahead of their eternal rivals. This time around, however, Barca have sat up and impressed in both attack and defense, which could potentially see Real fail to defend their title. Notably, the La Liga crown has not found its way to Camp Nou since 2019, following the Catalans' financial struggles, but a win against the Madridistas could make it happen.
In the Champions League, Barcelona have flattered to deceive, struggling to find their footing against clubs like Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. They currently languish in third place and could end up in the UEFA Europa League if they fail to secure a win in their next game and results go against them. For Real Madrid, continental life has been easy as the side have all but progressed to the knockout stages.
