Barcelona – Real Madrid. Forecast and call for the Spanish championship

Ronald Koeman, who took over at Barcelona in August, will face his first big test as head of the team. On Saturday, the culés will play the first Clásico of this season. And, like the opponent, they are not in the best shape for the biggest fight.

A week ago, Koeman suffered his first loss as coach of the Blue Grants. The visiting team lost the minimum to Getafe in the match for the national championship. It is true that on Tuesday Barcelona defeated Ferencvaros in the Champions League match (5: 1). What particularly pleases the fans of the Catalan club: for the first time in the history of the most prestigious European Cup, two players who have not reached the age of 18 have scored for one team: Ansu Fati and Pedri scored. However, in the La Liga standings, Barça are in an unusual ninth place, although they have two reserve games.

The situation at La Real is much more complicated. Yes, the “creamy” are still third in the championship. But the last game was also minimally lost, and at home, against Cádiz. And then followed by the defeat to Shakhtar in the Champions League. So, for Zinedine Zidane, El Clásico also becomes a kind of stumbling block. The reaction of the fans after the third consecutive loss is understandable. But what will the club’s management say? Whatever is said, but “Barcelona” needs to be beaten to calm the public.

By the way, the last time the teams approached El Clásico after synchronized defeats in the championship back in April 2003. Interestingly, they also lost with the same score: Real lost in San Sebastián and Barcelona lost to Deportivo. Both games ended 2: 4. After that, the rivals tied a world match between them – 1: 1. Zidane also played then and was marked with a yellow card.

However, the “creamy” mentor is unlikely to live up to the memories now. Hazard, Carvajal and Edegor are injured, in addition, the participation of Mariano Díaz and Álvaro Audriosola in the game is questionable. And everything else is in an incomprehensible form (and how else to explain the results of recent matches?). It is true that Sergio Ramos, a living legend, must be returned to El Clásico. The captain had 44 games against Barcelona and holds the record for this indicator. His organizational and motivational skills, as well as his famous “reckless play” (Ramos is also Real Madrid’s record holder for the number of yellow cards in La Liga, El Clásico and the Champions League!) May be exactly what the player needs. Zidane’s team break out of the current routine.

Lionel Messi has one less fight in the showdown with Real Madrid. And for the Catalans, he, of course, is not a less significant character than Ramos for Madrid. Also, Leo has played 5 games this season, scoring two goals and giving three assists! And, of course, you wouldn’t mind increasing your personal account. Meanwhile, he is the El Clásico record holder for the number of goals scored: 26.

Although Barça also has the phenomenal Fati, who is currently the team’s top scorer. He has 3 goals in the League and 1 in the Champions League. The Spaniard has mixed perfectly with Kuman’s attack in Barcelona and threatens to break some of Messi’s records. It’s too early to talk about this though – the guy isn’t 18 yet, but he started the season off right. And if a Ramos is enough for Messi and Fati is another question. Bookmakers, for example, believe that it will not be enough. And we will risk predicting the victory of the Catalans with an advantage of 1-2 goals.

Approximate compositions:
Barcelona: Net; Roberto, Piqué, Langle, Dest; De Jong, Busquets; Fati, Coutinho, Trincan; Messi.
“Real Madrid”: Courtois; Nacho, Varan, Ramos, Mendi; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Vinicius, Benzema, Asensio.

October 24, Saturday