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.
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.
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.
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
Barcelona vs Real Madrid : Fantasy XI
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Rudiger,Gavi, De Jong, Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius , Raphinha, Lewandowski.
