Vital three points that could directly affect the title race
Real Madrid host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in a clásico that might prove quite significant in the title race. This fixture is a quintessential “six-pointer”, meaning that the winning side will both claim three points and also take them off their rivals.
Last season is an indication of how crucial it can be. Four points separated both sides in the end as Barcelona claimed their 28th La Liga title. But La Blaugrana had beaten Madrid in both legs of the clásico, taking a hugely important six points. Madrid will remember that and would want to do absolutely everything to avoid a repeat this season.
Lamine Yamal versus Kylian Mbappe
Lamine Yamal shone brightly in this fixture last season, producing three goals and two assists as Barcelona won four out of four games played against Madrid, including the Copa del Rey final and the Supercopa Espana. Yamal afterwards taunted Los Blancos, saying “they simply can’t beat us”. Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick on the last occasion they met but that wasn’t enough as his side fell to a 4-3 defeat. The French dangerman is in even better form this season, having scored 15 goals in 12 appearances so far. Can his efforts wipe the traces of last season’s grin off Barcelona players’ faces?
An incendiary atmosphere … maybe?
There is no shortage of choler when it comes to these two heavyweights. Take last season’s Copa del Rey final. The prologue featured referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea crying before the game, and then the night ended in absolute chaos: Antonio Rudiger throwing an ice cube at the referee, three Madrid players getting sent off right before the full-time whistle, everybody raging at the referee afterwards. Or perhaps the most recent fixture, Barcelona coming back from two goals down to win 4-3, and, again, everybody raging at the referee afterwards. A clásico is surely one of the most difficult games in the world to officiate, a fiesta of rage, dragons and dragon-killers all jammed together in a boiling cauldron in Spain.
Injuries, or what you will
The last few weeks have not been a pleasant period for either side fitness-wise. Jude Bellingham has returned for Madrid but Rudiger, Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal have all been sidelined and are doubts for Sunday. Barcelona have it even worse: Joan Garcia, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Dani Olmo and Gavi are all out, while Ferran Torres, even if back in contention, is lacking fitness after sitting out the last couple of weeks. How big an impact this may have on the tie is anybody’s guess.
Flicker out?
Hansi Flick will not be in the Barcelona dugout after being sent off against Girona for his touchline conduct. Barcelona have appealed and been turned down, appealed again and seem likely to be turned down yet again. So assistant Marcus Sorg will most likely be in charge while his superior will watch forlornly from the stands. An alternative to Sorg was Thiago Alcantara but he does not have a coaching licence.
