Overview
The upcoming El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid is of particular importance, directly affecting the outcome of this year's La Liga championship race.
If the Blaugrana win, they will be crowned champions. Meanwhile, if Real Madrid win 3 points, they will narrow the gap with their opponents to 1 point to continue to nurture hope.
Barcelona entered the El Clasico with sadness after being eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals by Inter Milan. However, coach Hansi Flick's team still has the right to be confident as they are in impressive form in the La Liga arena. Moreover, they will also put all their efforts into the domestic arena.
Flick's side are unbeaten in their last 15 La Liga games, including 13 wins and two draws. During that time alone, the Catalan team with dangerous explosions such as Lewandowski, Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres scored a total of 40 goals, an average of 2.6 goals/match.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of the season, Barcelona have scored 91 goals. They only need 9 more goals to reach the milestone of 100 goals, something they have not done since the 2016-2017 season. Barca's strong attacking power is expected to continue to develop when facing Real Madrid.
For Real Madrid, after a surprise defeat to Valencia in round 30, they have improved their form significantly in La Liga. They won 4 consecutive victories against Alaves, Athletic Bilbao, Getafe and Celta Vigo.
During that time, coach Carlo Ancelotti's team defended quite well, keeping a clean sheet of 4/5. However, in the context of almost complete absence of the defense with injuries to Rudiger, Alaba, Mendy, Militao and Carvajal, the Bernabeu team still cannot help but worry about a sharp attack by Barcelona.
Flick has enjoyed three El Clasico wins since replacing Xavi. He led Barcelona to a 4-0 win at the Bernabeu last October. Barca have also experienced the feeling of victory in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey final against Los Blancos since then, with the scores of 5-2 and 3-2.
Personnel situation
Jules Kounde is an absentee for Barcelona, with Eric Garcia continuing at right-back. Alejandro Balde is training again and can play. In case Balde is not fit enough, Gerard Martin can still start at left-back.
On the other side of the front line, there have been few changes in personnel since last weekend. Arda Guler is likely to keep his place against Rodrygo. David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Eduardo Camavinga and Antonio Rudiger are still absent due to injury.
Expected lineup:
Barcelona: Szczesny, Martin, Martinez, Cubarsi, E. Garcia, De Jong, Pedri, Raphinha, Olmo, Yamal, Lewandowski.
Real Madrid: Courtois, F. Garcia, Asencio, Tchouameni, Vazquez, Ceballos, Valverde, Bellingham, Guler, Vinicius, Mbappe.
The match between Barcelona and Real Madrid takes place at 9:15 p.m. on May 11 (Vietnam time).
