El Clasico Showdown

Matchday 11 in La Liga brings us a game we’ve all been waiting for: El Clasico. And, based on the La Liga table after 10 games, it is these matches that will decide where the league title ends up.

Despite securing a La Liga and Champions League double last season, Madrid haven’t been that easy on the eye this season. After securing the services of Kylian Mbappe, many of us were expected Madrid to blow all of their opponents away this season —but that hasn’t been the case. True, Mbappe has had to deal with a few muscle injuries since joining, but Madrid have struggled to integrate in to the team, not least because he is best when he plays off the left side, preferiing to take up positions that Vini Jr occupies in this Madrid team. Barca have been the team to watch

The other big talking point for this El Clasico is that Real Madrid could equal Barcelona’s all-time unbeaten record in La Liga of 43 games. Barca set the record back in 2018 and Madrid can avoid defeat they’ll equal it.

Derby breakdown ⚔️ Real Madrid vs Barcelona

• Venue: Santiago Bernabeu

• Date: Saturday 26th October

• Kick-off: 20:00 BST

This season, Barcelona seem determined to take the spotlight off Real Madrid. Sacking club legend Xavi over the summer wasn’t easy but it was necessary. New manager Hansi Flick has built up the confidence of the players and has got this Barca team playing again.

They’ve set a blistering pace this season, winning 9 of their first 10 league games and scoring 33 goals in the process. The only loss of the season was a shock 4-2 defeat away to Osasuna, when Barca somehow conceded 4 goals.

The trip to the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening will be the toughest test of the season so far for Hansi Flick’s team. Heading into matchday 11, the reigning La Liga champions sit in 2nd place having picked up 24 points.

Head-to-Head & Current Form 📅

Going back to 1929, Barcelona and Real Madrid have been involved in 257 official games against each other. There have been 105 wins for Real Madrid and 100 wins for with 52 draws.

In recent times, Barcelona haven‘t beaten Madrid in the last four competitive meetings. The last time Barcelona beat Madrid at the Bernabeu in a competitive match was a 1-nil Copa del Rey victory back in March 2023.

Regardless of the head-to-head, it’s Barcelona that have been the team to watch in La Liga this season. Hansi Flick has made a tremendous start to his time as Barcelona manager: 9 wins from 10 in La Liga and 10 wins from 12 in all competitions.

Flick has Barcelona playing an energetic and attacking style of football that is getting results and providing plenty of chances for Robert Lewandowski. Compared to last season when Lewandowski looked isolated jup front, Flick has encouraged the Polish striker to drop a little deeper and link up the play allowing quicker players like Raphinha and Lamine Yamal to get in behind opponents’ defences.

The worry for Barca fans is that, before El Clasico on Saturday night, Barca have a tough game to get through against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. However, the way that Flick wants his teams to play places a great emphasis on fitness. This Barca squad is extremely fit and have suffered no injuries to key players this season.

Again, Flick takes a large part of the credit for this improvement as one of the first changes he made as Barcelona manager was overhauling the approach top player fitness. Flick brought in Julio Tous as head fitness coach and Germán Fernández as strength coach, who are both specialists in injury prevention.

Regardless of how the game against Bayern Munich goes on Wednesday night, Barca come into El Clasico with 4 wins from 5 in the league, with the last game being the 5-1 thrashing of Sevilla.

Despite securing a La Liga and Champions League double last season, and then winning the Club World Cup in June, Madrid haven’t been that easy on the eye this season. After securing the services of Kylian Mbappe, many of us were expecting Madrid to blow all of their opponents away this season —but that hasn’t been the case.

True, Mbappe has had to deal with a few muscle injuries since joining, but Madrid have struggled to integrate Mbappe into the team. The issue has been that Ancelotti is having to play Mbappe through the middle as a number 9, even though the Frenchman is best when he plays off the left side. Obviously, Vini Jr has the left forward position locked down in this Madrid team.

Madrid come into this game on the back of 4 wins from 5 in La Liga, and a big comeback win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in which Vini Jr netted a hat-trick. With Vini flying and Mbappe starting to look more comfortable through the middle, Madrid will be full of confidence on Saturday.

Tactical breakdown 🎯

Barca are the in-form team, but Madrid have a front line that will score goals against anyone meaning this El Clasico could be one of the best El Clasico’s in years.

The match is all about Barcelona’s fluid attacking patterns and wing play versus Madrid’s powerful direct approach that often goes through the middle of the pitch or down the left through Vini Jr.

Ancelotti sets this Madrid team up in a 4-3-3 formation with a single pivot playing the number 6 role and two central midfielders playing slightly higher up as number 8s. The latest injury worry for Ancelotti is Rodrygo who was forced off with a thigh injury towards the end of the game against Dortmund on Tuesday night.

If Rodrygo isn’t fit to play, Ancelotti could change from his preferred formation, and play two up front with a number 10 behind them.

GR Real Madrid predicted lineup | Courtouis, Vazquez, Militao, Rüdiger, Mendy, Tchouameni, Modric, Bellingham, Valverde, Mbappé, Vini Jr 

Hansi Flick sets his Barcelona team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is a change from how Barcelona have traditionally set up with the single pivot anchoring the midfield. However, the shape changes to a traditional 4-3-3 in certain phases of the game, when Barcelopna are on top.

Flick’s 4-2-3-1 set up gives Barca more defensive stability, allowing the wingers, Lamal and Raphinha, to press high up the pitch and look to win the ball back in the opponent’s final third.

GR Barcelona predicted lineup | Peña, Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Martínez, Balde, Pedri, Gavi, Fermin, Yamal, Raphinha, Lewandowski

Players to watch 👀

Vini Jr | 5 Goals & 4 Assists in La Liga this season

Vini Jr had an incredible 2023/24 season and it was him, as well as Jude Bellingham, who carried Madrid to their La Liga and Champions League double. Vini provided 11 assists and scored 24 goals in all competitions last season, including the second goal that clinched the Champions League final for Madrid. His match-winning performances and consistent output are the reasons why Vini Jr is the favourite to win this year’s Ballon D’or award.

Vini Jr can go either way but scores most of his goals when cutting in from the left and hitting powerful shots with his right foot. He demonstrated this ability recently in Madrid’s 5-2 home win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. On Saturday he will come up against Jules Koundé, one of the best defenders in the game who combines agility and pace. This will be a key battle in deciding the outcome of the game.

Lamine Yamal | 4 Goals & 6 Assists in La Liga this season

Lamine Yamal has continued his exceptional form for Spain in Euro 2024 for Barcelona this season. Aged just 17 Yamal is playing with a high level of confidence that sees him attempt things that other players just wouldn’t. He won La Liga’s player of the month for September and with his 10 goal involvements already, Yamal is on track for his best season yet.

Like Vini Jr, Yamal is known for his willingness to take players on and create chances. Where he stand out is for his creative passing and ability to cut in from the right wing and shoot whilst running at pace.

Jude Bellingham | 0 Goals & 1 Assist in La Liga this season

Bellingham was a key attacking player for Madrid last season. But this season he has dealt with a muscle injury that kept him out for the best part of a month and has also been played in a deeper, more defensive role to accommodate Kylian Mbappe.

Although his goal contributions are way down on last season, Bellingham is a big game player and his defensive work and composure will be key on Saturday night.

Gavi | 0 Goals & 0 Assists in La Liga this season 

Last weekend in Barcelona’s 5-1 win over Sevilla, Gavi made his comeback after an 11-month injury layoff. The Spanish midfielder suffered an ACL in jury playing for Spain back in November 2023, but he is now getting up to match fitness and is likely to feature on Saturday.

Gavi is a complete midfielder who can play across the midfield. He brings a high work rate, aggressive tackling, accurate passing and leadership qualities to this Barcelona team. Should he play in El Clasico on Saturday, his job will be to disrupt Valverde and Bellingham from carrying the ball forward, whilst also linking up with Lewandownski and getting the ball out wide to Yamal.

Top goal scorers ⚽️

Madrid are lagging behind Barca on the goalscoring charts this season. Interestingly, despite bagging 10 goals in his first 10 appearances for Los Blancos last season, Jude Bellingham has not scored a single goal this season. This is a side effect of Mbappe joining, which has forced Ancelotti to play Bellingham in a more defensive role.

Madrid have scored a total of 21 goals scored in La Liga, with 9 players scoring at least 1 goal, and only 4 players scoring more than 1 goal in the league:

Barcelona have recorded much more impressive scoring stats in the league this season, with a total of 33 goals scored. The goals have been distributed throughout the team, with 9 players having scored at least 1 goal and 6 players who have scored more than 1 goal.

Robert Lewandowski is on track to be the club’s top goalscorer again this season, and if he continues at his current rate he will beat last season’s tally of 19 goals.

Most assists 🎯

Now that Toni Kroos has retired, other players are now having to take on his role as assist king at Real Madrid. So far Vini Jr has stepped up, as has Real Madrid’s oldest ever player Luka Modric, but 11 players across the squad have provided at least 1 assist in the league this season.

Having scored more goals than Madrid, it makes sense that Barcelona also have more players who have provided assists. In the first 10 games in the La Liga season, there have been 12 Barcelona players who have provided at least 1 assist.

In the league, 17-year-old sensation Yamine Lamal leads the way in assists followed by Raphinha. Both of these players are having phenomenal seasons, with 10 goal involvements each.

Most fouls / yellow cards 🟨

Comparing the two teams’s disciplinary records in La Liga, there isn’t much between them. Madrid players have received a total of 16 yellow cards in 10 games, whilst Barcelona have been shown 17 yellows.

Surprisingly, the most booked players for Madrid are forwards.

When looking at Barcelona, the statistic that jumps out is the fact that their opponents commit much more fouls. Whereas Barcelona players have received 17 yellow cards in their first 10 games, their opponents have received 29 yellows.

Fan Highlights: Your MVP Reviews!

Join Our Social Team Online

Follow the Play-by-Play