BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 18: Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona competes for the ball with Karim Benzema of Real Madrid during the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Camp Nou on December 18, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Real Madrid vs Barcelona: The most important El Clasico since a long time
After worrying Champions League first-leg performances for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, the top two in La Liga will clash in a title decider at the Santiago Bernabéu.
An up-and-down title race in Spain will make its biggest turn of the season as the two eternal Clásico rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona meet with just two points separating them at the top.
Real Madrid would have expected to come into this clash with the advantage but after the whites lost in stunning fashion against mid-table Levante last weekend, Barcelona enters the match with a two-point gap at the summit.
The Blaugrana were not convincing in a 1-1 draw against Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, but Real Madrid’s misery was compounded following a come-from-behind defeat to Manchester City at home in midweek.
The match on Sunday will go a massive way in deciding one of the most tightly-contested La Liga races of recent memory, and neither side enters in fantastic form. Barcelona possess the distinct advantage of Lionel Messi, the best player in the world fresh off a four-goal performance in his last league game.
However, Los Blancos will surely be up for this one, in their home stadium, as Zinedine Zidane‘s men look to change the fortunes of one of the season’s most tumultuous weeks. If Madrid bow out of the Champions League, having already lost in the Copa del Rey to Real Sociedad at the quarterfinal stage, the league will be their only remaining opportunity for silverware in 2019/20.
I firmly believe that this title race will go right down to the final day, unlike in years’ past, and that this match will have a huge impact on the result. Both sides have major issues, but any El Clásico garners the attention of nearly every football fan from around the globe as the sport’s showpiece fixture.
Neither side is perfect, but this game will go a long way in defining both of their seasons. For Barcelona, this is a massive opportunity to put a stranglehold on their fifth title in the last six years, while Real will look to avenge a poor week and return to the top of the table.
