Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

On Saturday night, Real Madrid will host Barcelona in the most recent El Clasico, making Bernabeu the site of one of the most anticipated matches of the football season.

Real Madrid are in second place, three points behind Barcelona, although Barcelona has been the best club in Spain's premier division thus far this season. The Catalan side is now leading La Liga.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Although Real Madrid has struggled thus far in the 2024–25 season, they remain undefeated in the Spanish league after claiming 24 points (7 wins, three draws) in 10 games. This is good enough for second place.

With three points separating Carlo Ancelotti's team and Barcelona at the top of the league, a loss on Saturday would have profound implications even at this early stage of the season. However, they can draw confidence from their recent victories against Barcelona, having won their last four encounters against the Catalan club across all competitions.

Last season, Real Madrid won both league meetings with Barcelona, including a 3-2 victory at Bernabeu. Since March 2022, Los Blancos have not lost a league match at home against Barcelona.

Last weekend, Real Madrid prevailed 2-1 over Celta Vigo in La Liga. On Tuesday, they advanced to a crucial Champions League victory against Borussia Dortmund, prevailing 5-2 after overcoming a two-goal deficit.

Even though there have been some hiccups since Kylian Mbappe joined the team, and Jude Bellingham's goal and assist totals are much lower than last year, the team has gotten off to a good start this season. A victory on Saturday would tie them on points with their fiercest rivals.

Prior to the last international break of the year, Real Madrid will play four more league matches, including home matches against AC Milan and Osasuna, and three more Champions League fixtures.

There were question marks when Hansi Flick was appointed Barcelona's head coach, but the German has had an exceptional start to life at the club. The Catalan giants were in brilliant form in the early stages of 2024-25.

With nine wins out of ten league matches and 27 points, Barcelona is three points clear atop Spain's top flight. Despite significant injury problems, the team has been outstanding, scoring 33 goals and averaging more than three per game.

The team managed by Flick has won their past four matches in all competitions, including a 5-1 La Liga victory over Sevilla last weekend. They will also be riding high after a decisive Champions League victory.

After Wednesday's 4-1 victory against Bayern Munich, in which Raphinha scored a hat trick, and with players beginning to regain health, Barcelona's prospects are bright. The Catalan derby against Espanyol follows El Clasico.

At this point in the 2024–25 season, Flick's squad has only had one terrible day in Spain's first division, so a victory against Real Madrid this weekend would be a huge statement, and six points would be a lot.

Like Real Madrid, Barcelona still has four games left before the international break in November. In the league, they face Real Sociedad and Espanyol, and they also have a Champions League encounter against Red Star Belgrade.

Real Madrid x Barcelona Team News

Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo, two key Real Madrid players, will miss the next two to three weeks with injuries sustained in their encounter against Bayern. This is a devastating injury blow for the Spanish champions.

Given Rodrygo's absence, a change in formation is likely. Bellingham will play behind a front two of Vinicius Junior and Mbappe, while Andriy Lunin will take his place in goal.

While Bellingham has yet to score a goal this season, Vinicius scored a hat trick against Dortmund to bring his season total to eight, and Mbappe has scored eight goals in thirteen games.

David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, Courtois, and Rodrygo will all be injured, but Brahim Diaz might make a comeback and be a valid substitute in the second half.

Frenkie de Jong, Dani Olmo, and Gavi have all recovered from injuries they suffered this season, yet they may still start El Clasico from the bench.

The manager has given Marc Casado high marks for his play this season; he will probably keep Pedri and Casado in the middle of the field, with Fermin Lopez scoring twice against Bayern, starting at number 10.

Injuries have sidelined Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen; nevertheless, Eric Garcia's return to the team is possible.

Robert Lewandowski will keep playing in the final third of the pitch after an incredible season in which he scored 15 goals in 13 games across all competitions (12 goals in 10 La Liga outings).

Our Predictions

Full time draw @ 4.10 on Sky247.ng

The last time these two teams played to a tie in La Liga was in 2011, until December 2019. We are still deciding who will take home the spoils from this weekend's El Clasico, which promises to be an exciting matchup.

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