Its the second Clasico of the season, Barcelona hosts Real Madrid on Sunday (4pm ET kickoff) in completely different circumstances to the previous fixture last October.
On that occasion, Real were the in form side and despite Neymar’s early goal, they dominated the Catalans thoroughly and claimed a 3-1 win after ninety minutes.
This time around, Barcelona are the team to beat in the whole of Europe with 27 victories from their last 30 matches including the 1-0 midweek win over Manchester City that should keep them in good spirits ahead of this one.
European champions Real have been in terrible form since the turn of the year and only managed to sneak into the Champions League quarterfinals after beating Schalke 5-4 on aggregate.
SEE ALSO — How to watch el Clasico online in the US; Sunday 4pm ET kickoff
They have also lost their lead at the top of the La Liga and a defeat to Barcelona come Sunday would see them slip four points behind their rivals with 10 matches to go.
Team News
Barcelona are expected to play in their usual 4-3-3 formation with Messi leading the attack. Sergio Busquets has been tipped to make a return to the side after returning to training on Thursday. If he eventually misses out, Javier Mascherano will take his place in midfield.
Dani Alves also returns from a suspension but Thomas Vermaelen is still on the sidelines and has not made a single appearance since moving from Arsenal in the summer.
For Real, £70 million summer signing James Rodriguez is the only man expected to miss this match with a broken foot but Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are set to join Isco in a midfield three.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema will be the front three for the Los Blancos while calamitous Casillas should return in goal.
Predicted Lineups
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NOTE TO FOOTBALL FANS IN THE UK:
If you live in England or the United Kingdom, the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match will not be shown live on TV or online. But you can watch it live online via fuboTV. More details below:
OR, you can use VyprVPN on a free 3-day trial:
After signing up for a VPN and setting your server to a USA location, sign up for the free 7-day trial to fuboTV to watch the match.
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