The El Clasico is the biggest game in the world is once again upon us for the second time this week. Spain’s biggest clubs; Barcelona and Real Madrid will face each other just three days after locking horns at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of their Copa Del Rey semi-final. However, this will be a La Liga clash.
Barca recorded a 3-0 victory on Wednesday night to book their spot in yet another Copa final. They will be looking to pour more misery on their bitter rivals in Saturday’s encounter.
Having lost two out of three El Clasicos already played this season, Madrid will determined to avoid a hattrick of losses to the old enemy.
Form guide:
Heading into the weekend’s big match, both teams have already played several matches in European and domestic competitions.
Losing their midweek Copa Del Rey battle against the Blaugrana put a dent in Madrid’s recent form. That result means that Santiago Solari’s side have lost two out of their three last fixtures (WWLWL).
This is something they will want to change this weekend. Madridristas won’t be keen on suffering another loss against their arch-rivals in their own backyard.
Meanwhile, confidence is sky-high among Ernesto Valverde’s men after their midweek victory.
In their last five matches, the Catalans have collected three wins and two draws without any defeats (DWDWW). Lionel Messi and co. will be hoping to repeat the same feat as they did in the first match this season when they trounced their rivals by 5-1.
At half-time on Wednesday, it didn’t seem likely that Madrid would be on the receiving end of a heavy defeat. This was because they absolutely dominated the first 45 minutes. It is difficult to say that Barca were outstanding in the second half. However, they scored three goals to secure a 4-1 aggregate victory and ease into the final of the competition.
Unless something incredible happens, Real Madrid is not going to win the league. They go into Saturday night’s Clasico in third spot in the table, nine points off leaders, Barca after 25 matches each.
Solari’s side did beat Levante in the league last weekend to return to winning ways. Unfortunately, seven defeats at this stage is simply not good enough for a team with ambitions of winning the title.
Los Blancos are locked in a battle with Atletico Madrid for second position. They will be desperate to give their supporters something to cheer following the Copa Del Rey disappointment.
Head to Head Record:
There have been 274 El Clasico clashes across all competitions, with Barcelona leading the way with 114 victories compared to Real’s 99. There have been 61 draws.
Barca has been dominating recent meetings as they won three and drawn two games of the last 5 matches between both sides. Their last two games at the Bernabau including the midweek tie have all resulted in victories for the men from Catalunya.
Worryingly, though, Madrid has not actually won a home Clasico in the league since October 2014.
Match Prediction:
The last time Real Madrid played El Clasico at home without Cristiano Ronaldo was on May 2, 2009. Barcelona won that match 6-2, with braces from Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry. Now with the Portuguese at Juventus, it will be an uphill battle for Los Merengues.
You can get amazing odds with Nigeria’s finest sports betting company; BetBiga for a Barca win.
You can also check BetBiga for great odds on both teams scoring. If history tells us anything, it’s that there will be goals in this game.
Bet on Messi:
Get great odds on Lionel Messi scoring once against Madrid from BetBiga. Nobody has found the back of the net on more occasions than the little magician in El Clasico history (18 goals in 26 La Liga encounters).
