Football - La Liga - December 18, 2019

Real Madrid vs Barcelona : Pre Match Report

It is happening two months late, but better late than not at all.

Aditya Sreevatsa December 18, 2019

904 4 min read

FC Barcelona are gonna face their arch rival Real Madrid in the renowned El Clasico at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening. This will not be only any other La Liga match, but the world’s biggest derby. And this time, it will be more politically-charged up than ever.

It was originally pencilled in for October 26th, but got postponed. It was put back when the violent protests broke out at the beginning of October.

The protests were the response to the jailing of nine leaders from 2017’s failed Catalonia independence movement.

Both clubs will be meeting in their 179th La Liga ‘El Classico’, where both of them are tied of 72 each side. This time it will be a home fixture for the Catalan side. It would be interesting to see how Zidane react to this fixture after coming back to his old side. Both Benzema and Messi would be under scale as they have led their side to the top of the table till now.

At this moment, both of them are sharing the same points at the league top which make the fixture more deciding for the trophy.

Barcelona and Madrid have slipped up in their most recent outings, where Barcelona held to a 2-2 draw by Real Sociedad and Madrid unable to capitalise the following day as they drew 1-1 against Valencia.

Team news

Barcelona:

Ousmane Dembele will remain absent for Barcelona. Arthur is also struggling with his injury. The snowboarding sessions have slowed his recovery. Nelson Semedo seems to available after returning from injury last weekend.

Real Madrid:

Eden Hazard will miss his first chance to become a part of the historic night. He will be out with a foot injury. Not only the Belgian, Marcelo, James Rodriguez, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez are also been ruled out.

Ferland Mendy is expected to come back into the side after returning from suspension. Casemiro is also expected to return to the starting line-up after being rested last weekend. Both Vinicius and Gareth Bale will be looking for a place in the eleven.

Predicted line-ups:

Barcelona:

Ter Stegen; Semedo,Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, De Jong; Messi, Suarez, Griezmann.

Real Madrid:

Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Valverde; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius.