Spain is gearing up for the biggest game of the season so far as La Liga champions Real Madrid host league leaders Barcelona for El Clasico on Saturday. Los Blancos have just returned from winning the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi to add to their ever-growing list of honours.
However, they are in serious danger of losing their league title to bitter rivals Barcelona as Ernesto Valverde’s men have opened up a 10-point lead over them. Lionel Messi has been on fire and Barca are defending better than they have for years, so the Catalans look like champions elect at present. Atletico Madrid and Valencia are still in the mix, but realistically Real Madrid are the only team that can stop Barcelona running away with the title.
There is a great deal at stake on Saturday, but that is typically the case with El Clasico. Last year Barcelona took four points off Real Madrid in the league but could not stop Zinedine Zidane’s men beating them to the title. Barcelona had won the title in the previous two seasons, but Real Madrid pipped them by three points in 2016-17. That cost Luis Enrique his job, and Barca have been galvanised under Valverde.
They got off to an inauspicious start, losing to 2-0 to Real Madrid in the Super Cup final. After that game, senior Barcelona players made some surprisingly frank comments about Real simply being the better team nowadays. It seemed hard to argue with that as Real Madrid had just won a second consecutive Champions League title, but the wheels have come off somewhat for Los Blancos this season.
Star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has scored just four league goals all season and Real Madrid are fourth in the table. They are 10 points behind Barcelona, five behind Atletico and four behind a much-improved Valencia side, but they have a game in hand. If they beat Barcelona on Saturday it will blow the title race wide open. Barca are just 1/4 to win La Liga with BMR’s green-listed bookmakers, while Real Madrid are out at 11/2. If they lose on Saturday, it will all but hand Barcelona the title before we even reach Christmas.
Real Madrid have home advantage and they are the favourites to win this game, with Betway offering 5/4 and various bookmakers offering 6/5. However, they will find it extremely difficult to beat Valverde’s men. They remain unbeaten this season, with 13 wins and three draws from 16 games. They have conceded just seven goals at a rate of 0.43 per game.
Last season they were yielding almost a goal per game, so Valverde’s influence is clear in this department. They have shrugged off the loss of Neymar to PSG and a long-term injury to replacement Ousmane Dembele and they lead the league for goals scored. Barca have banged in 42 goals in 16 games and Lionel Messi is the league’s top scorer, with 14.
The Argentinean is playing like a man possessed as he bids to win the World Player of the Year award back from Ronaldo. He is putting forward an extremely compelling case for individual honours and he has been virtually unplayable at times this season. He looks a great option to score at any time in this game at 11/10 with Paddy Power. That is a generous price when you consider that some bookmakers will only go to 8/13. Messi scored twice as Barcelona won 3-2 here last season and has the ability to terrorise Real’s defenders once again.
Barcelona look interesting at 21/10 with Bet Victor and Betfred to win this game, but a draw looks even more appealing at 3/1 with various green-listed bookmakers. That would allow Barcelona to preserve their 10-point lead, and would not be the worst result for Zidane’s jetlagged troops. William Hill is also offering 21/20 on Real Madrid receiving over three cards and 17/20 Barcelona receiving over three cards. El Clasico games are often heated affairs and bookings and sendings off are commonplace, so they both look good.
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