El Clasico viewer's guide: What to watch for in Real Madrid vs. Barcelona
On Sunday, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona renew the greatest club rivalry in the sport for 90 minutes that are full of meaning for the current campaign and well beyond.
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Here are the top storylines going into El Clasico (2:45 p.m. ET on beIN Sports).
Neymar ban
In terms of the first material game note, Neymar is banned for the match after he earned a red card in a 2-0 loss to Malaga and proceeded to ironically applaud at the fourth official as he walked down the tunnel. Barcelona filed an appeal of the three-match ban, but the Appeals Committee rejected it. Now, the club is desperately appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the hopes to have Neymar available on Sunday.
While the punishment seems harsh considering the relatively harmless gesture, the hole left by the Brazilian winger’s suspension is one that the Catalan club currently cannot adequately plug. The closest natural replacement would be Arda Turan, but the Turkish midfielder is still recovering from a groin injury. So rarely-lauded Paco Alcacer is the best attacking option on manager Luis Enrique’s bench.
Enrique may opt to start Andre Gomes or Denis Suarez to help bolster the midfield instead, but neither of those midfield options have played well enough to deserve starting spots. Meanwhile, Rafinha recently underwent knee surgery.
To further illustrate Barcelona’s lack of depth in attack, Enrique called on central defender Gerard Pique to play as a forward when his team needed three goals in the latter stages of Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Juventus. The strategy did not work.
Enrique’s final Clasico
For Enrique, who spent five years at Real Madrid and eight years with Barcelona as a player, Sunday’s marquee fixture will be the final rivalry match for the exiting manager. After Barca failed to score a single goal over 180 minutes against Juventus in the Champions League quarterfinals, Enrique’s tenure is seemingly hitting its low point. Had he not already publicly announced his resignation, the manager would likely not have been welcomed back by the club.
The 46-year-old Spaniard won the Champions League and did the European treble in his first season, downgraded to a domestic double in his second season and now looks in position to only win the Copa del Rey in his third and final season on the sidelines of the Camp Nou.
La Liga title implications
Anything short of a victory for Barcelona on Sunday would effectively secure La Liga for Real Madrid, as the capital club leads the Catalans by three points with a game in hand. After El Clasico, Madrid only has six league matches remaining, so splitting a point with second-place Barca may as well be viewed as securing the crown. If the match ends in a draw, Real Madrid would need to lose two of its final six matches after having only suffered two defeats in its first 32 La Liga fixtures of the season. Also, Barcelona would need to be perfect to push the title to a second tie-breaker, as the La Liga rules state that head-to-head record serves as the first tie-breaker, and the two teams drew 1-1 at the Camp Nou in December.
If Los Blancos win, they may as well start spraying champagne after the final whistle and hop on the team bus for the championship parade. By the way, it would be Sergio Ramos’ first league title while wearing the captain’s arm band.
Sunday’s match should feature goals
While Real Madrid can all but secure the league title with a draw, don’t expect a drab affair on Sunday. Even without Gareth Bale available to play against Juventus, Real Madrid played one of the fastest tempo matches in recent memory against an equally attack-minded Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane could have played for a simple draw at home to advance to the last four of the Champions League. Instead, the Frenchman set up to attack at home and dominated Bayern Munich for the first half at the Santiago Bernabeu. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick to claim five of Real Madrid’s six goals over the two legs.
As a team, Real Madrid has scored at least one goal in every match this season across all competitions. The last time Los Blancos did not at least find the back of the net in a competitive fixture was nearly a year ago, in their Champions League semifinal away leg against Manchester City on Apr. 26, 2016.
In fact, Real Madrid has scored two or more goals in 11 of its last 12 matches. The only match of that dozen where Zidane’s men only scored one goal came against Atletico Madrid. Incidentally, since Zidane took over for Rafa Benitez, Real Madrid has managed at least one goal in every La Liga match except for a 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid on Feb. 27, 2016, which was the Frenchman’s first loss as a manager. The two Madrid teams have been drawn to meet in the semifinals of the Champions League.
Barcelona needs a win, so the visitors should be attacking from the onset. And Real Madrid has scored in every match this season without exception. It should make for an entertaining and eventful Sunday evening.
Ronaldo scoring goals
Yes, Ronaldo is banging in goals for Real Madrid, and that hardly counts as being newsworthy at this point in his distinguished career. The Portuguese attacker became the first player to 100 Champions League goals with his perfect hat trick against Bayern, though two of those goals appeared to be offside.
Still, the 32-year-old continues to show no signs of slowing down when it comes to scoring big goals, even if he has lost a bit of his pace on the wings. Ronaldo has scored at least one Clasico goal every season for the past six seasons. After failing to find the target in the Camp Nou in December, Ronaldo gets one last chance at the Santiago Bernabeu to keep his streak going.
Barcelona’s uncertain future
Along with Enrique leaving at the end of the season, Lionel Messi’s contract has still not been resolved, which means there is no guarantee that Messi vs. Ronaldo will continue into the distant future. Even if Messi renews his contract, Ronaldo is already 32, and with Messi turning 30 over the upcoming summer, the sad fact is that these two will no longer be the two best players on the planet in the near future.
Also, Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta‘s future with the club remains in doubt with only one year remaining on the veteran midfielder’s contract. When Iniesta hangs up his playing boots at the Camp Nou, that moment will truly mark the end of an era of Spanish midfield dominance highlighted by the Xavi Hernandez and Iniesta combo at Barcelona and on the national team level.
Though not entirely Iniesta’s fault, Barcelona’s midfield has struggled mightily to match the high level of the team’s attack this season, and a wider roster overhaul in the middle of the park appears to be necessary over the summer. Even if the club manages to keep Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez together, Iniesta’s diminished role or exit would signal a massive yet necessary shift in Barcelona’s midfield culture.
Iniesta turns 33 in May, but recent injuries have hampered his ability to consistently influence and manage games, especially with regards to his defensive responsibilities. How much longer will he play for the club? That depends on whether the scorer of the match-winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final wants to accept a reduced playing role.
Conceivably, Sunday could be the last time Iniesta plays a starting/significant role in a Clasico.
Prediction
Real Madrid is at home and is the in-form team. Oddsmakers give Real a clear edge, and it’s hard to argue against Los Blancos dominating Barcelona’s midfield on Sunday. With one extra night of rest and the comfort of having played a home game in midweek, Zidane’s men seem like a safe bet for a victory. In addition, Neymar’s suspension sets the table for a frustrating evening for Messi and company.
Real Madrid wins 2-0. Goals from Ronaldo in the first half, then Isco in the second half.
Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA
