The El Clasico is one of the most fiercely contested and longest running rivalries on the planet; with the league title often decided in these titanic clashes between two of the world’s biggest clubs. This sense of rivalry is further deepened by the fact that they represent opposing political factions; Real representing Spanish nationalism and Barcelona viewed to be representing Catalan nationalism.
One of the biggest club games in the footballing world, it’s hard to remember a time when this affair hasn’t been a heated one, with fights and arguments all too commonplace during matches.
A conflict that has long surpassed the sporting dimensions, the storied history of the two clubs ensures that there is often a lot more at stake than mere bragging rights.
Real Madrid will be visiting the Camp Nou come December 3rd and will be fighting it out to ensure a win and to extend their lead on top of La Liga to 9 points, potentially dealing a hammer-blow to Barca’s title aspirations. Barcelona, on the other hand, will be hoping to take advantage of home soil to ensure that they come within one point of the Los Blancos with a victory.
With the match surely to be a hotly contested affair, we list 5 reasons why we think the Merengues will be leaving Catalonia with all 3 points.
#5 Barcelona are currently in a poor run of form
While the Blaugrana are currently 2nd in the La Liga standings, they already trail Real Madrid by 6 points with 1/3rd of the season already gone.
While they do boast a home advantage when the Los Blancos come to visit next weekend, they have been visibly labouring to get results in the past few weeks and a hungry Madrid side will punish the mistakes the so-called ‘lesser-sides’ have failed to capitalise on.
Barcelona failed to keep the pressure up on Madrid this weekend as they drew 1-1 to Real Sociedad at the Anoeta, with the Basque side comfortably outplaying their illustrious opponents. They also drew their last game at the Camp Nou 0-0 to Malaga, and arguably the visitors had more than their fair share of chances to win the game. That draw made it Barcelona’s worst start to a La Liga season since Messi’s debut 9 years ago.
Take the 3-1 loss to Manchester City in the Champions League into account and you get the feeling that the Catalans haven’t quite been themselves this past month.
And while all semblance of form is thrown out the window for these feisty affairs, Zidane will feel his side will go into this clash as favourites with their recent form having been pretty impeccable.
#4 The Zinedine Zidane factor
Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Sporting Gijon saw Zidane reach another milestone as Los Blancos boss.
The Frenchman has already broken the record for most points in a manager’s first 32 La Liga games in charge with 83; comparatively, Pep Guardiola had 81, Luis Enrique had 78 and Jose Mourinho had 77.
Saturday’s win at the Bernabeu meant Zidane had equalled Carlo Ancelotti’s record of going 31 games unbeaten for the Real Madrid. While he is more than likely to surpass that record when Madrid faceoff against La Cultural Leonesa in the Copa Del Rey on Wednesday evening, Zidane will no doubt be wanting to keep the unbeaten streak intact after they face Barcelona next weekend.
Having an incredible professional career has meant that he has had the utmost respect from his players and they all seem to be responding to his tactics very well. They’re playing their hearts out for the club and the results have shown on the pitch.
Zizou has already masterminded a 2-1 victory over the Blaugrana last April and will be looking for a similar response from his players this time around.
#3 Injuries to key players in Barcelona
Barcelona’s attacking triumvirate is arguably the best in world football, with the trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez constantly putting teams to the sword.
However, an over-reliance on these front 3 could eventually prove Barcelona’s undoing. Their win-rate with and without Messi make for a sombre reading; with their Argentine talisman, Barca have claimed 27/30 points and without him a mere 10/21.
Barcelona have looked jaded these past few weeks, with moments of individual brilliance often bailing them out. Of course, the long list of injuries they’ve had has played a part in some of their sub-par results. Andres Iniesta has been out with a serious knee injury since October, Samuel Umtiti’s hamstring injury has seen him missing their matches in November, Jeremy Mathieu has been out with a muscle injury and smaller niggling injuries to the likes of Pique and Alba has seen them miss a few matches too.
While Madrid have a long line of absentees through injuries as well , the likes of Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale, Alvaro Morata, Raphael Varane all currently out injured, their squad depth has seen them navigate their fixtures with relative ease.
When the two sides meet next Saturday, Madrid will feel they have the upper hand.
#2 Lightning fast counter attacks
Zidane’s tactics have often seen Real Madrid employ a 4-5-1 formation in defence, allowing them to soak up the pressure from opposition teams and then strike back through quick transitions in attack that sees the team punish any spaces left behind.
While Gareth Bale’s pace certainly helped, Madrid have the talent at their disposal to adequately replace him; a certain James Rodriguez comes to mind.
Real’s pace in attack has seen opposition defences often left in the dust; short, sharp passes to the wide men and before you know it, the speed merchants are on their bikes.
While people often deride Barcelona’s defence, they aren’t slackers in any sense of the word. However, if Barcelona commit too many men forward as they are wont to do in a home game, there is a high chance Real will pounce on any mistake and punish them for it.
#1 Ronaldo has rediscovered his goal-scoring touch
Early in the season, there was constant talk of Ronaldo having declined; of course, most of it was rubbish and incredibly premature as the Portugal and Real Madrid talisman has come to show in recent weeks.
After having a relatively poor start to the season for his astronomical standards, Ronaldo has come storming back into form these past few weeks. His 2 goals against Sporting Gijon saw him climb to the top of the charts for highest scorer in La Liga this season, with 10; surpassing Suarez’s and Messi’s tally of 8 in the process.
He had a tremendous showing in the derby against Atletico, scoring a hat-trick and turning back the years to show that he’s still capable of single-handedly winning games for his team.
Ronaldo already has 16 goals in the El Clasico, behind only Alfredo Di Stefano and Lionel Messi and if he continues his recent goal-scoring touch, there is no doubt he’ll be catching up to them in no time.
With the Portugal captain looking unstoppable recently, we feel his influence should see the tides turn in Real’s favour.
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