The first el Clásico of the season kicks off on Saturday at Noon ET with both Real Madrid and Barcelona looking to take the first set of points off their most fierce rival. The match itself comes quite early in the campaign with neither team having settled into a rhythm just yet. However this clash is like very few others in that the back-story involving a certain Luis Suarez is likely to dominate the back pages over the coming days.

With Suarez’s potential inclusion in mind, here are a number of key matchups which are likely to dictate the final result next Saturday in Madrid.

Programming note: For viewers in the United States, this Saturday’s el Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona will be shown live on beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS Espanol and DishWorld (with coverage beginning at 11am ET). Even if you don’t have a TV subscription to beIN SPORTS, you can access those channels via online streaming service DishWorld for $10/month. Read our review of DishWorld. And sign up for DishWorld via their website.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Dani Alves

With a second successive Ballon d’Or emerging slowly over the horizon, Cristiano Ronaldo has started the 2014-15 campaign in fantastic form with the Portuguese star averaging a goal ratio of more than two goals per game from the start of this season. Ronaldo netted two in Madrid’s convincing 5-0 victory away at Levante last weekend, as well as one goal against Liverpool on Wednesday, setting himself up perfectly to take on Barcelona this Saturday.

Dani Alves is not the defender he was two or three seasons ago. The Brazilian was on the cusp of the Camp Nou exit door all summer with a swap deal for PSG’s Marquinhos having been seriously mulled over by those in power at both clubs. However Alves retains his spot at right-back this season but is looking to be struggling.

In last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Eibar, Alves struggled defensively and showed a real lack of urgency when covering his designated zone on the right side. With the lack of help from the forwards in Barcelona’s 4-3-3 system, this cannot be repeated next weekend or Ronaldo will cause Alves real problems.

READ MORE — How to watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona online.

2. Andres Iniesta vs Toni Kroos

Toni Kroos has enjoyed a positive start to life in Madrid although the German has yet to be tested. He does not have the natural energy of his predecessor Di Maria and the surging runs of Iniesta will prove a real test for him to deal with; the match could depend on it.

If we rewind to Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Madrid last year, Kroos was a holding midfield in Bayern’s 4-1-4-1 system and was often left alone to deal with the counter attacks from Ancelotti’s charges.

Kroos didn’t have the energy for this and was often nothing more than a mere passenger watching Bale and Ronaldo whizz past him. Although this is no disgrace, it is something he needs to work on.

Perhaps we will see a selfless performance from Kroos, performing a man-to-man marking role on Iniesta to limit the Spanish playmaker’s effectiveness in the final third. Of course given the fact Real are the home team, this is unlikely, but Kroos cannot be left one vs one against an Iniesta forward run.

Luka Modric will have to put in a strong shift as a box-to-box midfielder to support Kroos, which may see Rodriguez drop out of the team.

3. Lionel Messi/Neymar/Luis Suarez vs The Real Madrid back four

This is the front three everybody has been waiting to see. Messi, Neymar and Suarez are able to line up together for the first time Saturday and the battle with Madrid’s defense will be an interesting one to say the least.

It is hard enough trying to keep a handle on Messi but with the added threat of Neymar and Suarez on either side, Madrid’s defense looks to be in for an impossible task. How fit Suarez will be is still unknown but the friendly matches he has played, as well as the training sessions, will have done him no harm at all.

Marcelo has often been accused of clumsiness at left-back, diving into challenges too eagerly and leaving a sizable gap in behind. This is something he absolutely cannot afford to do against Suarez. Whilst on the left-flank, there appears to be quite the partnership developing between Neymar and Messi with a number of instances of interplay between the two leaving Eibar’s defense simply befuddled last weekend.

Messi is one goal short of equaling Telmo Zarra’s all time La Liga goalscoring record of 251 goals and the Argentine would enjoy nothing more than achieving such success in the Bernabeu. Messi has yet to hit full flight this term but has looked considerably more comfortable in Luis Enrique’s system than he did last year. The aforementioned link with Neymar is making the pair all the more dangerous and Sergio Ramos and Pepe will have to look to find the middle ground between closing down too far and leaving gaps behind and stepping off too far and allowing Messi a shooting opportunity from the edge of the box. They will have their hands full for sure.