Real Madrid vs Barcelona - El Clasico team news and prediction
El Clasico remains one of the most watched games in world football and with so much at stake in LaLiga riding on Real Madrid's welcome of Barcelona on Saturday, there is plenty of focus on the two title contenders.
Ahead of the huge match, we provide all the necessary pre-game information, including where to watch the match, what time El Clasico kicks off, team news and probable XIs.
When is kick off?
Saturday 10th April, 20:00 GMT
Where is the match?
Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, Madrid
What channel is it on?
Premier Sports 1 / LaLiga TV
Form Guide
Real Madrid and Barcelona have been in superb form domestically of late, lifting them to within three points and one point, respectively, of league leaders Atletico Madrid. Victory for one side would likely end the other's title hopes for another season. Los Blancos are unbeaten in their last nine LaLiga outings, winning seven of those, with their sole league defeat since the beginning of December coming in a 2-1 home loss to Levante.
Zinedine Zidane's side secured all three points when these two met at Camp Nou back in October and confidence will be high in the Real Madrid camp following Tuesday's 3-1 Champions League win over Liverpool.
Barcelona's current 19-game unbeaten streak is the longest in the 2020/21 LaLiga campaign with a late 1-0 win over Real Valladolid on Monday night moving them to second and within a point of Atletico. The Blaugrana have won 16 of those 19 matches, dropping points against Valencia, Eibar and Cadiz in that run. Crucially, those three draws were at home. On the road, Ronald Koeman has overseen nine successive victories.
Team News
Zinedine Zidane is without first choice centre-back pairing Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane. The former sustained a calf injury on international duty, while the latter tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Their absence didn't hinder Los Blancos in midweek as they earned a 3-1 Champions League win over Liverpool, but the proposition of facing Lionel Messi without the two defenders is a tough one. Dani Carvajal is also a doubt for Zidane's side, though Lucas Vazquez is expected to start at right-back regardless.
Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto have both been included in the Barcelona squad for El Clasico following injury, with the former set to start in Ronald Koeman's recently favoured three-man defence. Backup goalkeeper Neto will be assessed, but Coutinho and Ansu Fati are long-term absentees for Barcelona. Antoine Griezmann celebrated the birth of his third child this week - also, like his first two, born on April 8th - but is expected to start.
Probable XIs
Real Madrid (433) - Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Nacho, Mendy; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius Junior
Barcelona (343) - Ter Stegen; Pique, Lenglet, De Jong; Dest, Busquets, Pedri, Alba; Griezmann, Messi, Dembele
Key Battle: Thibaut Courtois vs Marc-Andre ter Stegen
In the race for the Golden Glove in LaLiga, Jan Oblak (14) leads the way. Thibaut Courtois (12) and Marc-Andre ter Stegen (10) are hoping to make a late push for the goalkeeper award. The latter (80.3%) has the superior save success rate while the former (66) has made more saves in what promises to be a huge battle between the sticks in Madrid.
Courtois has conceded twice in his last five home appearances, though the absence of both Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane is likely to impact the Belgian's defensive resolve. Ter Stegen, meanwhile, has conceded just three times in his last six LaLiga outings on the road, in what should be one of the main mini-battles in El Clasico.
Score Prediction: Real Madrid 2-2 Barcelona
