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Barcelona and Real Madrid meet in the first Clásico of the 2020/21 season at the Camp Nou, with both teams scoring 96 wins per piece.
Barcelona will host Real Madrid in an empty Camp Nou on Saturday, October 24, but Los Blancos coach Zinedine Zidane still hopes the occasion will be so special.
Both teams come to the game after suffering losses in LaLiga last weekend, although in the middle of the week they had different fortunes in the Champions League. After losing 1-0 to Getafe in Madrid last Saturday, Barça bounced back by defeating Ferencváros 5-1 in their first group match in the Champions League. Madrid, however, saw their embarrassing 1-0 home loss to newly promoted Cádiz exacerbated by an equally embarrassing home loss at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk (3-2).
Losing back-to-back home games to such weak opposition has naturally raised questions about Zidane’s future. But all can be forgiven if Marid can secure a rare victory over his archrivals in the Catalan capital on Saturday, with the French coach acknowledging that the match was an opportunity for him and his team to “redeem” amid the current mini-crisis.
Sergio Ramos was a major defeat for Madrid in the middle of the week and his return to Camp Nou will be an invaluable boost for the visitors, who are looking to win two consecutive league games against Barcelona for the first time since May 2008.
Barcelona: Messi and company will put aside problems off the field
While Madrid may be going through a mini-crisis on the pitch, Barcelona is in the midst of an unprecedented financial and institutional crisis that could culminate in the removal of President Josep Bartomeu following a vote of no-confidence referendum that could go ahead with the 1-2 November.
The criticized president, who was subjected to white bandanas by Barcelona fans before the coronavirus crisis forced all games behind closed doors, will be a man inside the Camp Nou who will be happy that the match is played in front of an empty stadium.
After sending a scathing letter to the board led by Bartomeu on Thursday about his management of the crisis at the club, Barcelona captains Lionel Messi, Gerard Piqué and company will put off the field problems as they seek to secure a victory. current champions.
the Blaugrana have failed to score in their last two games against Los Blancos (draw one and lose one), which will be an extra motivation for the new coach, Ronald Koeman, to take victory in his first Clásico on the coach’s bench.
As it is in the general showdown, both sides have even registered 96 victories. As Barcelona look to score their 400th goal against Madrid on Saturday night, you may be getting comfortable with the fact that the last time Los Blancos won their first Clásico of the season at the Camp Nou was in 2007.
However, without their support of 90,000 people, it will be a very different Camp Nou match played under very different circumstances. The 97th victory is at stake, and both parties are equally determined to take it.
Barcelona predicted XI vs Real Madrid
Starting XI: Neto, Sergiño Dest, Clement Lenglet, Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto; Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho; Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi (C)
Real Madrid predicted the XI vs Barcelona
Starting XI: Thibaut Courtois, Nacho, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos (C), Marcelo; Fede Valverde, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric; Vinicius, Karim Benzema.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Injuries and suspensions
Ronald Koeman will run out of first choice goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, as well as long-injured defender Samuel Umtiti. Jordi Alba had been a doubt, but he recovered quickly enough, following a hamstring injury suffered against Sevilla on October 4, to be included in Koeman’s Classic squad.
Zinedine Zidane, for his part, does not have a natural right back since both Dani Carvajal and Álvaro Odriozola are injured for the clash. Eden Hazard, who has yet to play this season, is also out, as are Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard and forward Mariano.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: what the coaches said
Ronald Koeman: “I am sure they are not going to leave the spaces that have been left in the last games. We are going to expect a more compact Madrid, with fewer spaces and, for them, it is important that Ramos is there. central and has a great personality on the field. Ramos can influence Madrid on Saturday. “
Zinedine Zidane: “They are a team that has always been a strong team. Each coach has contributed different things to the team, but Barça is always Barça. A competitive team that knows how to play football well and that can complicate your life. I’m not going to go into great detail about their game, but it’s good for us to have a game like this against them, one that will be difficult from the start.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: live in AS English
Remember that if you can’t be in front of a TV, you can follow every kick of the ball at Camp Nou with our highly imitable minute-by-minute live coverage, right here on AS English.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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