La Liga, Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Preview, stats and more
Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid will lock horns in the first El Clasico of 2020/21 season on Saturday. Both the sides will be aiming for redemption after suffering respective defeats in their previous encounters. Barca lost 0-1 to Getafe in their last league game, while defending champions Madrid were stunned (0-1) by Cadiz. Here is the match preview.
The high-voltage game will be played at the Camp Nou. There is no live broadcast for La Liga on Indian TV channels this season, while live streaming will be available on the official La Liga Facebook page. Besides, the action begins at 7:30 PM IST.
Goal-keeper Neto will get an extended run as Marc-Andre ter Stegen is recovering from knee injury. Centre-back Samuel Umtiti is also injured and won't feature in the squad this week. However, Jordi Alba could be back in the XI, having trained with his team-mates on Thursday. With seven points from their opening four games, the Catalans would want to climb up the ladder.
🦾🔵🔴 The squad for #ElClásico! pic.twitter.com/uMTjqL4A6V
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 23, 2020
Real Madrid have had their fair share of injuries with both Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Odriozola sidelined for the game. Also, Eden Hazard and Martin Odegaard haven't been unable to recover on time and will thereby be unavailable. Meanwhile, captain Sergio Ramos returns to the fray, after a knee injury forced him to miss the Champions League game against Shakhtar.
📋✅ Our 20-man squad for #ElClásico!
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) October 23, 2020
#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/hI8KBbDorX
Both Barcelona and Real Madrid will square-off for the 182nd time in La Liga. While Madrid have had the edge over with 73 wins as compared to Barca's 72, the remaining 36 games have been drawn. Interestingly, the two sides have recorded 96 victories apiece from a total of 244 games (overall). Besides, Madrid registered a 2-0 victory over Barca in the previous meeting.
Legend Lionel Messi holds the record for scoring most number of goals (26) for Barcelona against Real Madrid (eight more than the previous record set by Alfredo di Stefano). His club Barcelona are just one goal shy of their 400th against their rivals. This could be the first time since May 2008 when Real Madrid could beat Barca in consecutive La Liga matches.
Barcelona: Neto; Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Dest; De Jong, Busquets; Fati, Coutinho, Trincao; Messi. Real Madrid: Courtois; Nacho, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Vinicius, Benzema, Asensio. Dream11 team prediction (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Dest, Varane, Ramos (vc), Lenglet; Modric, De Jong; Junior, Coutinho, Fati (c), Messi. Match prediction: 1-1.
