El Clasico is one of the marquee sporting events in the world. When Barcelona and Real Madrid square off, everyone stops and watches the two Spanish giants put on a clinic.
However, the battle between these rivals has become slightly underwhelming compared to previous years. Barca has a nine-point lead at the top of the table in La Liga and Madrid is in third place, 10 points adrift of the Catalans.
Apart from the heart-warming tribute to the late Johan Cruyff, this will be a must-watch game. Zinedine Zidane will be coaching in his first Clasico for Los Blancos and the fanbase will be hoping that he can make amends for the embarrassing 4-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu in November.
Here are three things to watch in El Clasico on Saturday…
The full backs
Real has conceded the most goals (28) among the top four teams in La Liga this season. Inconsistent play from Madrid’s full backs is a major reason why it has been easier to break down compared to other clubs.
Danilo has been the main culprit. The former Porto man has been disastrous since he arrived in the Spanish capital this summer, but it appears as if Marcelo and Dani Carvajal will start this match.
Both full backs will have to be wary of Jordi Alba and Dani Alves. Barca’s duo has incredible pace and vision in the final third. Even though only one goal in the first meeting was created on the flank, Alba and Alves were still allowed too much space on their respective sides of the field.
Marcelo is just as dangerous in the final third, but Cristiano Ronaldo probably won’t help the Brazilian defensively, so the left back will have to be extra cautious.
The BBC’s fitness
Barca’s ‘MSN’ trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar are the obvious attacking threats for the hosts. Real will counter with its ‘BBC’ of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have seldom played together over the past few months.
The ‘BBC’ has started just 11 league games this season due to respective injuries to Bale and Benzema. All three are healthy now, but questions remain about their fitness, especially in a match of this magnitude at the Camp Nou.
Bale has advised his teammates to push forward. It sounds like a ridiculous task seeing as how Barca has scored 54 goals while conceding just 10 at home in La Liga this campaign.
Zidane may still favour a more flamboyant approach, given the fact that Los Merengues have nothing to lose at this point in the year. If that’s the case, the trio’s physical shape will be put to the test right away.
Can Real Madrid shut down Sergio Busquets?
There has been one constant in every Barcelona triumph since 2008. His name is Sergio Busquets.
Messi, Neymar and Suarez have stolen all of the headlines, but Busquets is the engine of the operation. He can anticipate where and when the ball will be dispossessed by one of his teammates, he’ll then recover the ball, and restart the attack.
Whenever Los Cules have the ball, every attacking move goes through the Spanish international. That is why Madrid has to close him down.
The likes of Atletico Madrid and Arsenal have tried to neutralize Busquets, but it’s physically and mentally draining to carry this out for 90 minutes.
Casemiro is the key to this plan for Real. The Brazilian will be flanked by two creative midfielders, possibly Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, which will not aid him at all.
