El Clasico: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Preview, Odds, Prediction

Barcelona and Real Madrid clash in the world’s most popular football game, El Clasico. The two sides promise to deliver an exciting show, which is the case whenever they meet. Barca is in serious trouble, with problems overwhelming Blaugrana both on and off the field. However, despite not playing as expected, Ronald Koeman’s boys won the last two matches, boosting morale before the most important game of the year. On the other side, following a few pretty pale performances, Real demolished Shakhtar in Ukraine and is fired up before coming to Camp Nou.

Preview

Barcelona (+175) wasn’t in the current position in the last fifteen years. Los Culos aren’t attractive as before, and the players avoid the club because of all the financial problems and unclear future. Ronald Koeman was on the verge of being fired, but after seeing that there aren’t quality head coaches willing to take over the job at Camp Nou, Barcelona backed off from such intention.

Blaugrana suffered two big blows against Benfica and Atletico Madrid, losing those matches without a goal scored. Even though both took place on the road, that can’t be an alibi for Koeman and his crew. Simply, Barca played beneath every expectation.

Yet, they would bounce back in the saddle with two victories in a row, the first against Valencia, 3-1 and the second against Dynamo Kyiv in the UCL, 1-0. The latter wasn’t very impressive, but still, it was a victory. It was the third in a row for Barca at home.

Real Madrid (+145) also had some unpleasant surprises along the way; playing without goals against Villarreal, they would lose to Sheriff at home in the UCL, which is one of the biggest sensations in the competition’s history. After that, Real suffered another loss against Espanyol on the road, 2-1.

All that was erased with a big win in Ukraine against Shakhtar, 0-5. This was very important for the Madridians, who lost their games against the Miners in the previous UCL edition.

Overall, Real plays solid on the road, having one loss and four triumphs in the past five away matches. The only loss was against Espanyol, while the wins came vs. Betis, Inter, Valencia, and Shakhtar.

Latest News

Araujo, Braithwaite, and Wague are ineligible, while Alba, Dembele, and Pedri wait Sunday to see their current state and then decide whether they can help.

In Real, Gareth Bale won’t play, the same as Ceballos, Isco and Luka Jovic, all due to various injuries.

Head to Head Games

We’ve seen 246 competitive games between these two teams, and the Los Blancos have a slight edge over their fiercest rivals, winning 98 times, twice more than Barcelona.

They faced twice last season, with Real winning in both meetings, 1-3 at Camp Nou and 2-1 at Santiago.

Prediction

After looking closely at the whole picture, our pick here would be Real. Why? Because they don’t have the pressure of winning like Barca does right now, and on top of everything else, because it seems that Los Blancos play much better. Barcelona’s performance against Dynamo Kyiv is the one situation that convinced us to back up the guests.

Pick: Real Madrid +145

Here are the previews for more derbies set for this weekend:

• Manchester United vs. Liverpool
• Ajax vs. PSV
• Inter Milan vs. Juventus