Ahead of the Clásico at the Camp Nou – Real falters – Barça regains confidence – sport

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are in a resinous season. The two heavyweights meet in the league on Saturday.

Zinédine Zidane scratched his head thoughtfully for a moment before delivering a devastating judgment in a calm voice and blank stare. “We lack a bit of everything,” said the Real Madrid coach after the Champions League disgrace against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday: “Above all, self-confidence, which is the most important thing.”

Ironically, ahead of the legendary Clásico at FC Barcelona on Saturday, all the alarm bells are ringing for the royal family.

With a 2-3 home loss to the weakened crown-related Ukrainian series champion, the Spanish champion entered his first crisis of the season. Just like a few days earlier in the 1-0 home defeat in the League to newly promoted FC Cádiz, the record champion missed almost everything on defense and offense.

Barça is not horse-proof either

But even Barcelona’s arch-nemesis has had a rather resinous start to the season. The team doesn’t seem to have really met new coach Ronald Koeman: “We have to avoid the moments in the game where we disconnect,” said the Dutchman recently.

Last weekend Messi and company lost 1-0 in Getafe, before only a 1-1 draw against Sevilla. After all, the Catalans were able to gain some self-confidence in a 5-1 win over Ferencvaros in the Champions League on Tuesday.

El Clásico is not the league’s top duel

Barça is ninth in the standings in the direct duel against Real, but they have only played 4 games and, therefore, one less than the third-placed from Madrid. In previous years, the Classic was always the duel between the two best teams in the Spanish league. On Saturday, however, two sick heavyweights face off at the Camp Nou without fans.