Today in Spain's "La Liga," there will be an annual showdown between the "Barcelona" and Madrid "Real" teams, which attracts great interest. The highly important match will start at 17:15 at the "Camp Nou" stadium.
This match will be somewhat different - for the first time since 2007, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will play for either team. The loss of the Argentine is painful for the Catalans - L. Messi has not stood out or made a productive pass in only two out of nine matches this season in the Spanish league.
Visitors from Madrid have come to Barcelona with the aim of finally breaking their losing streak in the country's championship - "Real" has not been able to secure a victory for four consecutive matches. Regardless of the poor sports form of the "whites," they are only behind "Barcelona" by four points so far.
For your attention - the most interesting facts about the match:
"Barcelona" has scored at least one goal against Madrid's "Real" in 21 consecutive matches (48 in total) in the Spanish league. If the Catalans manage to defeat their opponents today, then it will be a repetition of the best "El Clasico" performance of all time, when from 1959 to 1969, "Real" was beaten by "Barcelona" 22 times in a row.
Madrid's "Real" has not lost to "Barcelona" in their own stronghold for four consecutive matches - two wins and two draws. In terms of league performance, "Real" has one win and two draws. The capital team has never managed to avoid defeat in four consecutive matches at the "Camp Nou" stadium in the league.
Defeating "Barca" at their stadium is not an easy task - the Catalans have not lost 41 home matches in a row (33 wins and 8 draws) in the league. This is the longest streak since February 1977, when Catalonia's pride managed to not lose 67 matches in front of their spectators.
The Madrid "Real" team has lost their last two "La Liga" matches - the last time the "whites" lost three times in a row to their opponents was in May 2009.
After Lionel Messi debuted against Madrid's "Real" for the first time, "Barcelona" failed to win both matches in which the Argentine did not play - a loss and a draw.
Madrid's "Real" won both of their meetings with "Barca" in which Cristiano Ronaldo did not play. Once, the "white" team managed to triumph in the King's Cup final without the Portuguese.
"Barcelona" will once again rely on Luis Suarez, who since his arrival (2014-15 season) has scored six goals against Madrid's "Real" in league matches. None of the players from both teams has scored more goals than the Uruguayan in that time.
Sergio Ramos has scored four goals with his head against "Barcelona" in the Spanish league. The last time the defender did this was in the 2016-17 season, when he scored a late equalizer at the "Camp Nou" fortress.
Ernesto Valverde, who has previously coached Bilbao "Athletic," "Espanyol," "Villarreal," and "Valencia," has lost 12 out of the last 20 matches against Madrid's "Real" in the league - eight victories and two draws.
For Julen Lopetegui, this will be his first "El Clasico" in his career. Among the recent six coaches of the teams, only Zinedine Zidane managed to avoid defeat in his first match against "Barca" - a 2-1 victory at the "Camp Nou" stadium in 2016.
Madrid's "Real" has only earned 14 points in the first nine rounds of the "La Liga" championship. This is the worst season start since the 2004-05 season, when only 13 points were collected in the same period.
Predicted starting line-ups:
"Barcelona": (4-4-2) Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Arthur; Luis Suarez, Coutinho.
"Real Madrid": (4-3-1-2) Thibaut Courtois; Nacho, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Isco; Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale.
