On Sunday afternoon, one of the biggest matches on the football schedule will take place at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid welcomes fierce rivals Barcelona for the most recent El Clasico.
Team Form
Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti’s team has won seven and drawn one of their eight league games this season to total 22 points, which is a sign of the caliber needed to finish first in 2022ā23. However, the number is insufficient to sit at the top of the table.
Real Madrid’s lone drawĀ came against Osasuna at home on October 2. They managed to get back to winning ways in the league last weekend, defeating Getafe 1-0, and then drew 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night in the Champions League.
Before the conclusion of the month, Real Madrid will play another five times, including matches against RB Leipzig in the Champions League and Barcelona, Elche, Sevilla, and Girona in Spain’s top division.
Real Madrid La Liga Form: W W W W D W
Next weekend:
Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet in El ClĆ”sico tied at the top of La Liga āļø pic.twitter.com/W4zx1I57hL
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 9, 2022
Barcelona
Real Madrid has quickly advanced to the Champions League knockout phase, but Barcelona will have to work hard to avoid missing the last 16 for the second consecutive season.
The Catalan team’s Wednesday night 3-3 tie with Inter Milan dropped them to the third position in Group C, three points behind Inter. Who now just need to defeat Viktoria Plzen at home the following week to guarantee their place in the knockout stage with Bayern Munich.
Barcelona has struggled in the Champions League, but their league record remains unblemished since their uninspiring goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano to start the 2022ā23 season.
With a solid start to their domestic campaign, Xavi’s team has won each of their last seven league matches against Real Sociedad, Rayo Vallecano, Sevilla, Cadiz, Elche, Mallorca, and Celta Vigo. They have also scored 20 goals and given up just one.
Barcelona La Liga Form: W W W W W W
Squad Report
Real Madrid
Due to a hamstring injury, Dani Ceballos will undoubtedly be out for Real Madrid once more. Thibaut Courtois may have lost the fight to recover from a back ailment in time for El Clasico.
Despite sustaining a severe head injury when scoring his team’s equalizer against Shakhtar in the Champions League, Antonio Rudiger is also considered fit.
Barcelona
There are still injuries keeping Memphis Depay, Hector Bellerin, Ronald Araujo, and Andreas Christensen from playing, but Xavi’s team has no new concerns over their readiness for the game.
Jules Kounde is anticipated to recover from injury in time for the Catalan team. The Frenchman is slated to start in the middle of the defense, with Eric Garcia taking the place of Gerard Pique.
Real Madrid’s possible starting lineup:
Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Modric, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius
Barcelona’s possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Roberto, Kounde, E Garcia, Balde; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati
āļøBarcelona will wear Drake's OVO branding on the front of the home kit against Real Madrid on Sunday.
He became the first artist to hit 50 billion streams on Spotify. pic.twitter.com/0tgRJw2acH
— BarƧa Universal (@BarcaUniversal) October 14, 2022
Head to Head
- Real Madrid vs. Barcelona record:Ā Real Madrid 101 wins, Barcelona 97 wins, 51 draws
Due to a recent end to their winning streak, Real Madrid has a slight advantage in the overall series. Before Barcelona abruptly ended it last time with a 4-0 La Liga triumph at the Bernabeu this past March, Los Blancos had won five straight matches, with four of those coming in La Liga and one coming in the Supercopa de Espaa.
Before Real Madrid’s recent success, Barcelona had a lengthy unbeaten streak against their rivals. From December 2017 to December 2019, Barcelona played seven games without losing, winning four and drawing three others.
Time, Date & Venue
Date: October 16, 2022
Time: 03:15 pm, BST
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Prediction
Real Madrid will have had an extra day to rest before this match, which could be vital. While Barcelona was involved in a match with Inter throughout the week that required a lot of energy.Ā
However, Xavi’s team is tough to predict in the league right now. We have a hunch that a close game might conclude with the points being split.
