El Clásico is here! Will Real Madrid confirm its dominance? And how can Barcelona take their rivals by surprise?

The second El Clásico of the season is here, the expected duel is scheduled for Wednesday at 8 pm. This time, Real Madrid and Barcelona will face off in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup. The favourite is clear, but as Los Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti himself said, these matches are always fifty-fifty.

For the third season, the Spanish Super Cup is being played in an unconventional way. Instead of the usual summer pre-season duel between the winner of La Liga and the winner of the Copa del Rey, four teams – the Copa del Rey finalists and the first two La Liga teams – will take part in the final tournament from the 2019/20 edition.

The tournament has traditionally been played in Saudi Arabia, with the first edition held in Jeddah, and this year the tournament will be played in Riyadh. Only last year was it played in Seville due to the coronavirus situation. This move was chosen by La Liga president Javier Tebas to increase the profits from these duels. The players, however, do not agree and often speak out against it.

In the current edition, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will fight for the trophy. The most recent winner is a team from the Basque Country, who beat Barcelona in the final. This year’s semi-finals have brought together rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona and Atlético Madrid and Athletic, two related clubs from the past.

The last El Clásico came on 24 October in La Liga. The duel at the Camp Nou was clearly dominated by Real Madrid, who were in control of the match throughout. Although the 2-1 scoreline doesn’t look that bright, the picture on the pitch was clear. Alaba sent Real into the lead in the 32nd minute, after which Madrid squandered several chances.

In the 94th minute Vazquez added an insurance goal and in the 97th minute Agüero reduced it to 1: 2. But that was only Barcelona’s second shot on target, otherwise the Catalans had almost no chance.

Real Madrid

Let’s start from Real Madrid’s point of view. If one were to look for a paper favourite, almost everyone would point to Madrid. Los Blancos are safely leading La Liga, having lost only twice and have a 17-point lead on Barcelona. Moreover, it’s not just about results, there’s a real fear coming from the team, especially the attacking duo of Vinícius-Benzema.

But as we mentioned, these big games don’t have a favourite. Real Madrid will have to give a 100% performance to beat a motivated Barcelona. Indeed, the Catalans will want to break the dominance of the Merengues, which has lasted since December 2019. Real have won the last 4 El Clásico in a row (2::1, 2::1, 3::1, 2::0), not even losing five consecutive clashes.

Ancelotti will want to rely on the reliable Courtois – Alaba – Militao – CKM – Benzema axis. The midfield of Casemiro, Kroos, Modric has dominated even at an advanced age and Real have been in control of the game almost every time thanks to them. The Belgian goalkeeper regularly works his magic and his saves can hold the team. The midfield is very reliable, Benzema is in charge of scoring goals.

That’s where he and Vinícius should help now. Together they have scored 34 goals and are the best attacking duo in Europe. It is the defence that is Barcelona’s big weakness and it is through the wing spaces that Real’s strikers could push forward. Especially with the 38-year-old Dani Alvés likely to play on a rampant Vinícius.

Regarding the line-up, Ancelotti is almost all but certain, with the only question mark hanging over the right-back position. That’s where Lucas Vázquez is now starting, but number one Dani Carvajal has recovered. If he is fully fit, he will start.

Barcelona

Barcelona are drowning in a big crisis this season, even the return of Xavi hasn’t helped so far. The iconic club is trying to bet on young talents, but this is more of a vision for the future, logically it cannot bring immediate success.

Recently, the unwanted Luuk de Jong has made a splash, scoring two goals in two games. Another important news for Xavi is the fact that Ferran Torres and Pedri have recovered and can start. According to reports from the Spanish media, Xavi will want to risk everything and send them into the game immediately.

And how could the Catalans surprise Real? Madrid look very strong, but they have a weakness in standard situations, defending which gives Real quite big problems. Barcelona have three good headers in their squad (De Jong, Piqué, Busquéts), if at least one of them can assert himself, this could be the way to go.

The other option is right-back. If Lucas Vázquez plays, in the tougher games you can often tell that the right-back position is not natural for him and he just fills in there. He often supports the attack and then leaves a lot of space behind him, his defending is also not at the highest level.

These are two things that Barcelona could push through. Otherwise, if we take it objectively, he loses to Real Madrid in all other aspects. Culés’ big problem is also efficiency, which the players clearly need to improve. Los Blancos can offer them maybe 1-2 chances per game, and these must be converted by Busquéts and co. unconditionally.

Predicted line-ups

Real Madrid

Courtois
Carvajal – Militao – Alaba – Mendy
Casemiro
Kroos – Modric
Asensio – Benzema – Vinícius

Barcelona

ter Stegen
Alves – Piqué – García – Alba
Gavi – Busquéts – Pedri
Ferrán – L. de Jong – Depay

Source: Livesport