Today, the world of football stops again for the classic of the Spanish league. Real Madrid and Barcelona, ancient enemies like no other in the beautiful game, meet this afternoon (4:15 p.m.) in the Santiago Bernabeuon the ninth day of the championship.
The blaugranes come into the match as leaders with 21 points, the same as the whites (the goal difference gives them an advantage), although their draw against Inter Milan (3-3), a result that leaves them on the verge of removal of the Champions League, has set off all the alarms in the Catalan club. Those from Madrid, on the other hand, made sure with their draw against the Ukrainian Shakhtar (1-1) to qualify for the round of 16.
Despite the European disaster, in the domestic competition, the Barcelona He has been much more reliable, with 20 goals scored and only one conceded. In addition, he has the top scorer in the championship, Robert Lewandowskiwho has added nine goals in eight games.
Madrid follows him to slipstream, although he has not been so solid in defense, since they have conceded a goal in all games except the last one, against Getafe (0-1). Benzema, the whites’ great offensive reference, is not so fine this season, only three goals, although it must be taken into account that he suffered an injury before the national team break and has only played five games.
Confirmed line-up of Madrid today
The whites have some other important casualties, such as that of Courtois, but Ancelotti comes out with everything against Barcelona, since he already rotated in the last Champions League game to keep the starters fresh ahead of the Clásico. The Italian has chosen the following starting eleven: Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Tchouameni, Kroos, Modric, Valverde; Vinicius and Benzema.
Confirmed alignment of the Barça today
Barcelona’s lineup is much more conditioned by long-term casualties (Araujo, Christensen, Memphis) and by the bad timing of some players (Piqué, Alba). Xavi has chosen this starting eleven: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Kound, Eric Garcia, Bucket; Frenkie De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski and Dembele.
