Barcelona vs Real Madrid: La Liga Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups and Fantasy XI

The Blaugranas welcome bitter rivals the Los Merengues to Catalonia for Barcelona vs Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday.

Match Preview:

• Location: Barcelona, Spain
• Stadium: Camp Nou
• Date: Sunday 19 March
• Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT/ 1:30 AM IST
• Referee: Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea
• VAR: TBC

Barcelona vs Real Madrid: La Liga Match Preview

Xavi's men have won two of their encounters with Los Blancos this term – the Supercopa de Espana final and their recent Copa del Rey semi-final first leg – with Carlo Ancelotti's charges taking the three points in their La Liga meeting back in the capital.

With Barcelona's lead at the top of the table at a whopping nine points, this is likely Real Madrid's last stand to defend their title.

Team News:

Barcelona:

Xavi has been dealt a rather sizeable blow on the eve of El Clasico, with star midfielder Pedri ruled out with a hamstring problem.

🎙️ Xavi: "We need to show our best version."#ElClásico pic.twitter.com/GD2CUbdyHl

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 18, 2023

Ousmane Dembele too has been sidelined and won't return until after the March internationals, but Barça have a clean bill of health otherwise.

Ronald Araujo is available for selection again after serving a one-match suspension.

Real Madrid:

The only injury headache that Ancelotti has to worry about concerns David Alaba, who is set to miss out on the trip to Camp Nou with a hamstring problem.

📋✅ Our squad for #ElClásico! pic.twitter.com/s8m1sl6HQW

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 18, 2023

Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Head to Head:

In 48 head-to-head encounters between the two sides, Barcelona have won 22 games, lost 16 and drawn 10.

👀🌱🦋 Calling all MOTOCULERS – Gear up, @rosalia is on our team this #ElClásico. 19/03/2023

👊 @Spotify pic.twitter.com/Q0OmhrndkZ

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 15, 2023

Predicted Line-ups:

Barcelona predicted lineup (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Busquets, Gavi, De Jong; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Torres

Real Madrid predicted lineup (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Tchouameni, Modric, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius

✨ MEMORIES ✨
🆚 @FCBarcelona#ElClásico pic.twitter.com/Mler9k9BUs

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 18, 2023

Barcelona vs Real Madrid : Fantasy XI

Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Rudiger,Gavi, De Jong, Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius , Raphinha, Lewandowski.