Real Madrid vs Barcelona is, here again, the first Classico of the season, with both super clubs with 22 points on top of the table.

Match Details:

• When: Sunday, October 16, 2022, at 7:45 pm.
• Where: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain
• How to Watch: Voot and Sports18 Khel

Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Match Preview

Seven wins and one draw out of eight games. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona boast identical records in La Liga and face off on Sunday in an eagerly-anticipated El Clasico at the Bernabeu.

Both of these famous rivals have been near-perfect in the league. Barca have won every game since being held to a goalless draw at home by Rayo Vallecano on the opening game of the season.

📊 The standings in #LaLigaSantander after 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆 8⃣.@socios | #TheFansGame pic.twitter.com/aPtBDUYyrg

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) October 10, 2022

Since then, they went on a run of battering teams, but the goals have dried up recently and they have only won their last couple of league games against Mallorca and Celta Vigo by a goal to nil.

Real Madrid looked like they were going to steamroll every team in the league, until ten-man Osasuna held out for a point at the start of the month. Since then, they beat city rivals Getafe 1-0.

But neither side can take a huge amount of confidence from their midweek displays in the Champions League.

Not only is @Drake the first artist to hit 50 billion @Spotify streams, but now he'll also be the first artist to appear on the @FCBarcelona jersey during this weekend's El Clásico match ❤️🦉💙 pic.twitter.com/WLqMLsCSxr

— Spotify News (@SpotifyNews) October 14, 2022

Madrid needed a goal deep into injury time to rescue a point in Poland against a Shakhtar Donetsk side whose preparation was hampered by the sound of air raid sirens.

Barca needed Robert Lewandowski to dig them out of a hole against Inter Milan in a 3-3 draw at the Nou Camp and they have won only once in the group.

Recent Head-to-Head:

Real Madrid have had an edge over Barcelona in the El Clasico duels. But in the mot recent clash in March 2022, it was the Catalans who had the last laugh as they thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doing the star turn by scoring a brace in a demolition at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The first El Clasico of the 2021-22 season saw Real prevailing over Barca 2-1 at Camp Nou. David Alaba's first goal for Los Blancos was timely and brilliant, before Lucas Vazquez and Sergio Aguero traded stoppage time goals for the 2-1 final score. That win in October, 2021, was the fourth El Clasico win in a row for Real Madrid, the first time it had happened since 1965.

🇧🇷 GOLAÇOS 🇧🇷
⚽ @vinijr
⚽ @edermilitao #RMCity pic.twitter.com/d5ONjYKU3o

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) October 13, 2022

Key Facts:

• Real Madrid have won their last two games against Barcelona in all competitions, last winning three in row against them in 1978 (all three in LaLiga).
• After winning 3-1 in the reverse fixture this season, Real Madrid are looking to complete a league double over Barcelona for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
• Barcelona have won five of their last seven away games against Real Madrid in all competitions (L2), though they lost last time out, 0-2 in LaLiga in March 2020 – they lost two in a row for the last time away from home in 2008, under Frank Rijkaard.
• Real Madrid have only lost one of their last 19 LaLiga games (W14 D4), 1-2 vs Levante in January 2021, after losing three of their previous six in the competition (W2 D1).
• Barcelona have won their last nine away LaLiga games and could win 10 in a row away from home in a single season for the third time in their history – 10 in January 2011 under Pep Guardiola and 10 in January 2013 under Tito Vilanova and Jordi Roura.
• Only Bayern Munich (15), Inter Milan (14) and Montpellier (14) have scored more headed goals than Real Madrid (13) in the top five European leagues this season.
• Karim Benzema has scored at least one goal in each of his last six LaLiga games (eight goals in total) and could become the fourth Real Madrid player to score in seven or more in a row in the competition in the 21st century after Ruud van Nistelrooy (2007), Cristiano Ronaldo (four times) and Gareth Bale (2018).
• Barcelona's Lionel Messi is the top scorer in El Clásico in all competitions (26) and in LaLiga (18, but he has failed to score in his last six games against Real Madrid, equalling his longest run without scoring against them in all competitions – six between April 2014 and December 2016.
• Karim Benzema has failed to score in his last nine appearances against Barcelona in all competitions, his longest run without scoring against a single opponent as a Real Madrid player.
• If Barcelona lose this game, Ronald Koeman will become the first Blaugrana manager to lose his first two LaLiga games against Real Madrid since Joaquim Rifé in 1980 (two).

Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Players to watch

Two of the world's best goalscorers go head-to-head here. Karim Benzema is remarkably on a five-game scoring drought and has failed to score since August.

Robert Lewandowski scored a double in the last eight minutes against Inter Milan in midweek to take his tally to 14 goals in 14 games for club and country this season.

Lewandowski before his first #ElClásico
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ❝We can win the Clásico if we stick together❞ https://t.co/ggfOKErlnw

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 13, 2022

Predicted Line-ups:

Real Madrid Predicted XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Modric, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr

Barcelona Predicted XI: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, E Garcia, Balde; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati

RM vs BAR: Dream11 Predictions:

Kylian Mbappe has issued an apologetic statement on Instagram claiming responsibility for Real Madrid's frustrating 1-2 defeat against Athletic Bilbao in LalIga last night. Bilbao keeper Julen Agirrezabala saved Mbappe's attempt from the penalty spot in the 68th minute, ruining a huge chance for Madrid to grab an equalizer. Following the defeat, Mbappe posted a message to the fans on Instagram to convey an apology. 

Kylian Mbappe has issued this message after #RealMadrid's 2-1 defeat at Athletic Club this evening (via IG). pic.twitter.com/IkGrQaG8zM

— Football España (@footballespana_) December 4, 2024

Real Madrid faces a tough defeat 

Real Madrid spoiled a golden opportunity to decrease the points gap between them and league-leaders Barcelona, who are currently atop with 37 points in 16 matches. Real Madrid has accumulated 33 points so far, playing one game less than their eternal rivals. 

🔚 FINAL I GOOOOOAAAAAAZEEEEEEEEEN!

Enorme victoria del Athletic sobre el @realmadrid en un auténtico partidazo en San Mamés.

👏 ZORIONAK, MUTILAK! #AthleticRealMadrid #AthleticClub 🦁 pic.twitter.com/uOq8lnB1lo

— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) December 4, 2024

The match against Athletic Bilbao has been a rollercoaster ride for Los Blancos, as Kylian Mbappe's early goal was ruled out for offside in the 12th minute. Both teams failed to produce any goal in the first half. Alejandro Remiro scored in the 53rd minute to hand Bilbao the lead. 15 minutes later, Kylian Mbappe took the penalty in search of the equalizer but Julen Agirrezabala came out on top to deny his strike. Jude Bellingham found the equalizer in the 78th minute of the game, but all their efforts remained unfruitful as Gorka Guruzeta scored the winning goal for Bilbao, only two minutes after Bellingham found the net. 

Real Madrid have already faced 5 defeats across all competitions this season, compared to their two defeats in the whole 2023-24 season. Athletic Bilbao has also found the winning ways against Real Madrid since March of 2015. 

Mbappe's woes continue

What should have been a dream take-off, turned into a dreadful dream for Kylian Mbappe. The French superstar has struggled to find his form for the Los Blancos. Although he has scored 10 goals in 20 games across all competitions, it does not equal or surpass the calibre he once provided in PSG and France shirts. 

This penalty miss against Athletic is Mbappe's second missed penalty in his Real Madrid career, while the first one came last week against Liverpool in Madrid's Champions League outing. On the other hand, Mbappe found the in the 12th minute but the flag was up for offside. Mbappe has been caught offside 22 times so far this season including last night!

However, these lackluster and inconsistent performances from Kylian Mbappe since the start of this season have taken a toll on his mental health. According to L'Equipe's reports in November 2024, Kylian Mbappe has been dealing with a psychological problem and emotionally devastated. Antoine Simonneau, a correspondent for 'L'Equipe' in Madrid, revealed to Carrusel Deportivo that Mbappe is the focus of many people’s anger in France. 

Mbappe also faced an unpleasant experience while dealing with France's national team coach Didier Deschamps. Deschamps dropped Mbappe from France's squad for their UEFA Nations League clashes against Israel and Italy in November due to his poor form. 

However, Mbappe has issued a message via his Instagram story and offered hope for the fans. He said:

"Bad result. A big mistake in a match where every detail counts. I take FULL responsibility for it. A difficult moment but it’s the best time to change this situation and show WHO I AM”.

Ancelotti backs Mbappe

Real Madrid gaffer Carlo Ancelotti has expressed his confidence in Mbappe. However, he admitted that the French superstar has yet to showcase his utmost potential. 

"He is at a lot more than just 1% (of his potential), but he's not at his best," Ancelotti told a press conference.

"However, we have to give him time to adapt (to Real Madrid). He has scored 10 goals and is working hard to improve and to do better.

"I haven't spoken to him yet. It was a complicated, even, hard-fought, competitive game. We missed a penalty... I don't evaluate a player's game because of a missed penalty... sometimes you score and sometimes you miss. Obviously, he's sad, disappointed, but we have to keep going."

via The Business Standard

Raphinha scored a brace while Ferran Torres, Frenkie de Jong and Pau Victor scored a goal each to help FC Barcelona return to winning ways in La Liga after three games against Mallorca at the Son Moix Stadium on Tuesday. With this win, Hansi Flick's men extended their lead at the points table to four points.

Torres at the top for Barcelona

After three winless games, Hansi Flick changed his playing eleven for the away fixture. He included Ferran Torres in the most advanced role while benching Robert Lewandowski for the match. Inaki Peña, Jules Kounde, Pau Cubarsí, Inigo Martinez, and Alejandro Balde formed the defensive lineup for the Catalan club while Pedri, Marc Casadó, and Dani Olmo were given the responsibility of controlling the midfield.

Captain Raphinha and Lamine Yamal continued as the offensive players for Flick.

Barcelona looked into control from the minute go by trapping the home side offside quite a few times before scoring in the first real opportunity they got. In the 11th minute of the match, Ferran Torres took advantage of a mix-up in defence between Valjent and Mojica and scored the first goal of the night for Barcelona.

Eight minutes later, Torres could have doubled the lead, but Mallorca goalkeeper Leo Roman stopped the Spaniard's efforts from a great ball by Balde.

Read Also | Celebrating Leap Day: Seven footballers born on February 29

Yamal and Raphinha ripped through the defence in second half

However, after the goal, the Mallorcan defence tightened up to block countless attacks from the visitors and frustrate them till they found their way back right before the first half. In the 44th minute of the match, Pablo Maffeo got behind the Barcelona defence and found Vedat Muriqi with a great pass. The Kosovan striker did the rest to level the scoreboard.

Right after the second-half break, Barcelona looked at their best with both Lamine Yamal and Raphinha causing a few problems for the opponent's defenders. In the 53rd minute, Olmo found Lamine Yamal inside the box and Mojica fouled the Spaniard to hand Barcelona a penalty. Raphinha stepped up and restored the lead for his team in the 55th minute.

In the 74th minute, Lamine Yamal made a picture-perfect assist from right to find Raphinha in the far post for Barcelona's third goal of the night; his 11 of the season in 16 league games. With the game nearly in the pocket, Flick made a few substitutions and Frenkie de Jong found the net coming off from the bench. He scored Barca's fourth goal from a rebound ball in the 79th minute.

Pau Victor, another sub for the La Liga table topper, rounded off the score line after an interception. With this win, Barcelona returned to winning ways in the Spanish league after three games.

Barcelona are currently leading the league table with 37 points after 16 games while Real Madrid are following them with 33 points after 14 games.
 

Players who earn a place in the starting eleven crash into the headlines mostly, but those who come off the bench are never insignificant. Depending on the situation and for various other tactical and strategic moves, substitute players can make huge differences when things start getting tough on the pitch. 

Sportzpoint explores the greatest substitutions that changed the football history and remained folkloric.

Mario Gotze

(Germany vs Argentina, FIFA World Cup Final 2014)

Mario Gotze lived the dream of every footballer back in 2014 when he scored the only goal against Argentina in the Final to take Germany to their fourth World Cup glory. 

What a goal to win it! 🤯 🇩🇪 @MarioGoetze, #OnThisDay in 2014 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ #FIFAWorldCup | @DFB_Team pic.twitter.com/gluKvx1o8v

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 13, 2022

Gotze came off the bench replacing the legendary Miroslav Klose, only two minutes before the full-time whistle but the game ended goalless. However, in the 113 minute of AET, Gotze received Schurrle's pass on the left and from a close range to the goal; and his left-footed strike fooled Argentina keeper Romero to end up in the goal. 

Argentina could not bounce back from this late setback and Germany lifted the World Cup 2014. Mario Gotze's substitution remained one of the most impactful in the history of football. 

Gareth Bale

(Real Madrid vs Liverpool, UCL Final 2017-18)

Gareth Bale admitted in an interview with FourFourTwo that he was very frustrated after not getting a start for Real Madrid in the 2017-18 UCL Final against Liverpool. However, Bale's fallout with Real Madrid's then-manager Zinedine Zidane led us to experience one of the greatest substitutions in the Champions League's history.

After a goalless first half, Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the 51st minute; but Sadio Mane only took 4 minutes to equalize for Liverpool. In the 61st minute, Bale replaced Isco but who would have thought that the Welshman was going to rewrite history and all by himself? 

#GoalOfTheDay | Gareth Bale vs Liverpool (2018) pic.twitter.com/B4dA2c4FV2

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 19, 2023

Only 3 minutes after Bale came on, Marcelo's cross found him in the box and Bale produced an acrobatic overhead volley, and the ball ended up in the net. Bale sealed the victory for Madrid in the 83rd minute with a rocketed strike which made Liverpool keeper Karius fumble and the ball went inside. Coming off the bench, Gareth Bale scored this heroic brace to lead Real Madrid to win their third consecutive UCL title.

Eder

(Portugal vs France, EURO 2016 Final)

Eder became an overnight sensation after slotting a late strike to win Portugal the EURO 2016, their first-ever major trophy in history. 

France and Portugal both wasted opportunities in the full-time but things became very wrong for Portugal way before. In the 25th minute, the talisman Cristiano Ronaldo faced a rough challenge from Dimitri Payet, and he was subbed off injured. However, Eder came off the bench in the 79th minute of the Final but the 90-minute of play ended in a stalemate of a 0-0 scoreline.

🇵🇹🚀 7 years ago today: Portugal beat France 1-0 in the EURO 2016 final courtesy of this goal from Éder in extra-time! pic.twitter.com/vsNwduJugw

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) July 10, 2023

But it was Eder, who only played 13 minutes in the tournament, stepped up and broke the deadlock to score the only goal in the final in the 109th minute. France could not produce a comeback as Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo lifted their first-ever major international trophy.

Ilkay Gundogan

(Manchester City vs Aston Villa, 2021-22 Premier League)

It was a neck-to-neck battle between Manchester City and Liverpool in the 2021-22 Premier League title race. Before heading into the last matchday on 22 May 2022, Manchester City was atop the table with 90 points in 37 matches and Liverpool was positioned just behind with 89 points in the same number of games.

Manchester City was set to face Aston Villa in the last match of the season and a win would ensure their fourth consecutive PL title. However, things did not go as planned for Pep Guardiola's men as Matty Cash scored for Villa in the 37th minute, and Philippe Coutinho extended the lead in the 69th minute. Coincidentally, Ilkay Gundogan replaced Bernardo Silva just one minute before Villa's second goal. Man City's title contender Liverpool was playing Wolves at the same time and they were held to a 1-1 draw after 70 minutes.

Run it back. ⏪@IlkayGuendogan's return to @ManCity has got us thinking about his iconic super-sub performance to help win the 2021/22 title 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/ENkxMiRUnQ

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 23, 2024

What happened afterward will always be written in golden words in the Premier League's history. It was Ilkay Gundogan who scored City's first goal in the 76th minute as his powerful header went in. Just two minutes later, Rodri placed a powerful strike to level the scoreline by 2-2 and City was back on top of the table.

𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 🏆 @ManCity pic.twitter.com/DSU9p1cmcO

— Premier League India (@PLforIndia) May 29, 2022

It did not take much time for Gundogan to score his second and City's third as he put the ball inside with a close-range tap-in to almost win the league for City! The match eventually ended as City won the game by 3-2 and clinched their fourth consecutive PL title, all thanks to the German's magic after coming off the bench. 

Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 

(Manchester United vs Bayern Munich, 1998-99 UCL Final)

The world witnessed one of the greatest UCL finals ever on 27 May 1999 when Manchester United and Bayern Munich faced off for the coveted glory. Manchester United won the game by 2-1 in such an otherworldly manner that it still mesmerizes the next generation, and everything happened because of two substitute players, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. 

Bayern Munich took an early by scoring in the 6th minute of the match. Manchester United could not break the deadlock and headed into the break trailing 0-1. Teddy Sheringham replaced Jesper Blomqvist in the 67th minute and Solskjaer was brought in by Sir Alex Ferguson to replace Andy Cole in the 81st minute. 

On this day in 1999, Manchester United completed the historic treble after scoring two injury time goals to beat Bayern Munich! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/odhsJL5BqG

— SPORTbible (@sportbible) May 26, 2021

The game was in favour of Bayern even after 90 minutes but Sheringham slotted the ball home in just one minute into the injury time to equalize for the Red Devils. Solskjaer achieved the final glory with a simple tap-in only after two minutes, and thus the two substitutes led United to the Champions League victory.

Luis Díaz netted a hat-trick to keep Liverpool at the top of the league table with a flawless record, while AC Milan shocked Real Madrid on their home turf. Celtic, Borussia Dortmund, PSV Eindhoven, GNK Dinamo, and Monaco also secured wins.

Meanwhile, Viktor Gyökeres scored three goals as Sporting CP pulled off the night’s biggest upset against Manchester City. Sit back and relax, as we bring all the updates of the match week 4 of the UEFA Champions League 2024 - 25 league phase round.

Read Also| Pau Cubarsi Injury Update: The defender gets 10 stitches after getting injured in the Champions League match against Crvena Zvezda

Tuesday night's action

Sparta Praha 1-2 Brest

The away team was in fine form tonight, causing a consecutive defeat to Sparta Praha. Edimilson Fernandes opened the scoring in the 37th minute to give Brest an early advantage, which they doubled in the second half courtesy of an own goal by Sparta midfielder Kairinen in the 79th minute.

Victor Olatunji ensured that the visiting team did not leave with a clean sheet when he fired home a left-footed shot to the center of the goal at stoppage time.

Feyenoord 1-3 RB Salzburg

It was a tough night for Feyenoord, who lost Nadje to a red card in the 45th minute, allowing Salzburg to take advantage. Striker Karim Konate seized the opportunity, scoring twice.

Moussa pulled one back for Feyenoord in the 81st minute, but Salzburg wasn’t finished; Guindo struck in the 86th minute to secure a comfortable victory for the visitors.

Stuttgart 0-2 Atalanta

FC Barcelona defender Paul Cubarsi had to go through a rigorous payment of getting 10 stitches on his face after facing a brutal injury in the Crvena Zvezda vs Barcelona UEFA Champions League 2024/25 match.

In the 63rd minute of the game while defending a low ball in Barcelona's box Cubarsi suffered nearly a career threatening injury. It was Crvena captain Spajić who went for the ball with a high boot and Cubarsi also went for the ball with his header. 

Unfortunately, the high boot from Spajić caught the face of Cubarsi and an immidiate medical attention was called by the Barcelona players on the field. The game was stopped for nearly 3-4 minutes as Cubarsi recieved an early attention from the doctors. 

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A post shared by FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona)

He was soon subbed off as Sergi Dominguez replaced him on the filed. Spajić was shown a yellow card for this offence. 

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick after the match confirmed that Pau Cubarsi is all fine and recieved 10 stitches on his face after the injury. His teammate Gavi showed respect for the 17 year old defender by calling him a fighter on his Instagram story.

Barcelona thrashed Crvena Zvezda by 2-5 in an away fixture as Robert Lewandowski scored a brace for them. Jules Kounde provided three assists in the match while Raphinha, Inigo Martinez and Fermin Lopez scored a goal apiece in the match. Barcelona now have moved to 6th position in the UEFA Champions League table with 9 points from 4 games.