Barcelona vs Real Madrid preview

October 25, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Real Madrid vs BarcelonaThe first El Clasico of the season comes at a bad time for Barcelona with the Catalans sharing spoils in their last two fixtures, but they, nonetheless, remain the favourites to win the match and increase their advantage to six points.

Meanwhile, Real are hoping to record the fifth straight victory that would seem them neutralize the three-point gap in the La Liga standings.

New Barcelona boss Tata Martino was always going to face a difficult task having taken over the reigns just before the season was about to start, but he has coped surprisingly well with the pressures of his new job.

While winning the Spanish Super Cup trophy, the Catalans recorded eight victories in La Liga on the bounce and won their first two Champions League fixtures as well.

Some of those triumphs were achieved without Lionel Messi, who spent some time on the sidelines, but new signing Neymar and his fellow attackers did brilliantly to compensate for the Argentine’s absence.

However, the team have now suffered two slip-ups in a row, sharing spoils with Osasuna and AC Milan, although we cannot say a point from San Siro is such a poor result.

Having said that, Barcelona will be looking to return to winning ways when they take on bitter rivals Real Madrid, with home win paying 1.85 (17/20).

After netting 8 goals in 7 league outings this term, Leo Messi is just 1.73 (8/11) to score on Saturday evening as well.

Gerard Pique is a major doubt with a hamstring injury, whereas Jordi Alba, Ibrahim Afellay and Jonathan Dos Santos are definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Valdes – Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Adriano – Iniesta, Busquets, Xavi – Sanchez, Messi, Neymar.

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Real Madrid may not have impressed with their performances under Carlo Ancelotti, but they have managed to keep the results respectable.

Sheer individual quality of Cristiano Ronaldo saved them several times already this season, with late goals against Elche and Levante likely to prove extremely important.

Home defeat to local rivals Atletico was definitely the lowest point of the season, but the good news is los Blancos are mere three points behind Barca at the moment.

The team were again extremely fortunate to record a midweek victory over Juventus, but with the Champions League qualification in the bag they can now fully focus on the all-important El Clasico match.

Real Madrid are no less than 4.50 (7/2) to triumph at Camp Nou, with Cristiano Ronaldo 2.33 (4/3) to continue his scoring run.

Neither Xabi Alonso nor Raphael Varane are expected to start, while Gareth Bale should also be on the bench as he is clearly lacking match fitness.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Lopez – Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo – Modric, Illaramendi, Khedira – Di Maria, Benzema, Ronaldo.

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