10/24/2020 9:00
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 10/24/2020 9:00 AM
Barcelona and Lionel Messi host Real Madrid in a new edition of the Spanish classic, which on this seventh date of La Liga Santander
faces two teams that are far from ideal although the visitor is more affected by two recent bad results and at home , in the domestic tournament and in the debut in the Champions League.
It will be the first duel between the two Spanish giants in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, so this meeting will
be played from 11 a.m. (Argentina time)
in a Camp Nou stadium without an audience in the stands, with Juan's refereeing Martínez Munuera.
It can be seen live and direct on channel 116 of Flow / Cablevisión, and through DirecTV Sports (channels 610 and 1610 HD)
.
An hour before the game the starting line-up of the premises was known and the Dutch DT Ronald Koeman
surprised again by leaving Antoine Griezmann on the bench again
.
The eleven chosen: Net;
Sergiño Dest, Gerard Piqué, Clément Lenglet, Jordi Alba;
Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Philippe Coutinho;
Pedri, Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati.
DT: Ronald Koeman.
On the Real Madrid side there was also a surprise.
Croatian Luka Modric will also start sitting among the
Merengue
substitutes
.
Consequently, Zidane will put Courtois on the court;
Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Mendy;
Casemiro, Kroos, Valverde, Vinicius, Benzema, Marco Asencio
📋✅ Our starting XI for # ElClásico!
@Liberbank |
#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/T6cCIbwW4R
- Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) October 24, 2020
The previous
A tight schedule affected both of them in the preview of this 181 edition of the Spanish classic
, since Champions League matches for two teams had already been added to the League's programming for two teams that had come from yielding many of their players to different teams for the dispute over the FIFA date two weeks ago.
The luck of both was uneven in their last matches, corresponding to the continental tournament that was launched in the group stage:
Barça
beat Ferencvaros 5-1, the weakest rival in their area,
Merengue
lost 3-2 in Shakhtar Donetsk at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium in Madrid.
Messi converts from a penalty in the 5 to 1 against Ferencvaros, in Barcelona's debut in the Champions League.
(AP)
Real Madrid, in addition, had already left the home unbeaten in the season on the sixth round of the League, when they fell 1-0 last weekend against Cádiz, one of the newly promoted, in the first of the blows unexpected for those directed by Zinedine Zidane.
Nor was the excursion he made to Madrid the previous day positive for Barcelona, where he was defeated by Getafe 1-0.
📍 Camp Nou
🔥 Leo's best goals #Messi in # ElClásico 🔥
🔥 Which one is your favorite?
pic.twitter.com/b1x3XdJWma
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) October 23, 2020
Thus, it
is the first time in 17 years that the two protagonists of the classic arrive preceded by defeats
: in the day before the clash of April 19, 2003 (they matched 1 to 1 at the Santiago Bernabéu),
Barça
had fallen 4 to 2 against Deportivo La Coruña and Madrid for the same result against Real Sociedad.
Beyond the lackluster that a priori this classic is announced,
both are in any case potential leaders of the League
, if they get the points from the matches they have pending:
Barcelona (which has 7) with Elche and Athletic de Bilbao, and Real Madrid (10) against Getafe
.
🔥¡ @ ANSUFATI vs Real Madrid!
🔝
Who wants to # ElClásico?
🔵🔴 # ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/7AF6y1lkMz
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) October 23, 2020
When it comes to numbers,
Lionel Messi is the top scorer in the classic, with the 26 goals he scored against Real Madrid in the 43 times
he faced him, in addition to having provided 14 assists.
The first goal was converted on November 19, 2005, and in the crosses with
Merengue
he took 19 victories, 13 defeats and 11 draws.
None of the 26 goals were achieved in the Copa del Rey: 18 come from La Liga, six from the Super Cup and two were achieved in the Champions League.
More than half of those shouts (15 of 26) were made at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, scene of the last defeat, by 2 to 0 on March 1, when it was still possible to play with the public, prior to the pandemic.
Leo Messi celebrates his goal against Real, on May 6, 2018. For now, it was the last he did.
The striking thing about the Argentine's statistics against the white team is the negative streak that he drags, since this Saturday will be 902 days since he made the last one, on May 6, 2018, in a 2 to 2 at the Camp Nou:
Leo and Luis Suárez converted for the local, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale did it for the visit
.
Of them, only the Argentine will return to play the classic;
the other three are gone.
🛬👊 Our players are already in Barcelona concentrated for # ElClásico! @PalladiumHG |
#MVPalladium pic.twitter.com/P75GB8mfIp
- Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) October 23, 2020
Since then, five games have passed without Leo not scoring on the scoreboard.
Still, the balance is in favor: three victories (all in the 2018/19 season), one draw and one defeat.
It is also striking that
the negative streak was built from the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus
, since the drought coincides with the departure of the Portuguese.
Without Ronaldo, the presence of Sergio Ramos, who returns to Real after being absent due to injury against Shakhtar, will
further season Leo Messi's rivalry with Merengue
, as the last crosses of the culé captain with his Real Madrid pair they were spicy.
Leo Messi and Sergio Ramos, embraced at the end of a classic.
But they have had many crosses.
(EFE)
Ramos will force to be in the game with his left knee hit after a heavy hit a week ago.
His presence is key in a low moment.
It incites to the fight and the maximum delivery to each one of its companions in a hard battle.
It will be his classic 45. In 23 he received cards, and five were expulsions.
On the other hand, he has four goals against Barcelona.
🇧🇷⚽✨ @Ronaldo, 'O phenomenon'!
🆚 @FCBarcelona_es
🗓 # ElClásico 2005/06
🏆 @ LaLiga @ futbolmahou |
#ElSaborQueNosUne pic.twitter.com/pHCzD6EA3q
- Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) October 23, 2020
Zidane said that they will be in an "important stage to change the image"
, given that "the good thing about football is that you can change the situation."
And it is that a third consecutive defeat at the hands of the eternal Barça rival would end up making the crisis explode, eventually threatening the position of the French coach.
"It is what is said (that the position is played in that game). What changes? Nothing changes. Last year it was the same, in my first stage the same. What I have to do is do my job," he said. the white technician.
Zinedine Zidane already had to answer about the risk of his continuity at Real Madrid.
(EFE)
After ending like a whirlwind last season, when they won 10 of 11 matches after confinement to take the league title, the merengues started the season differently.
The defensive strength that sustained them in the latter part of the season weakened and the offensive performance of Karim Benzema, who scored one goal in five games, also declined.
📋 CALL
⚽ # ElClásico
🔵🔴 # ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/iHiLxR8BhI
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) October 23, 2020
The
club
, where the waters are riots in the institutional, takes three strong wins and a draw in five games, but coach Ronald Koeman does not trust the wrong time of the rival.
"I do not expect a vulnerable Real Madrid, I hope otherwise," he
said this Friday, given that "it is a great team, with experienced people, who know how to withstand this pressure and know themselves, better than anyone else, that it is time to win the game after two defeats. "
Koeman seems to be recovering a team that ended last season very touched after the 8-2 suffered in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
"The coach uses a very direct message that the dressing room liked, and the dose of work has increased," said defender Gerard Piqué, in an interview with the newspaper La Vanguardia.
Thibaut Courtois suffers for the goal against Raphael Varane against Shakhtar, for the Champions League.
(Reuters)
Without Suárez,
captain Leo Messi knew how to associate successfully with the young Ansu Fati
, although the Argentine star has not yet found his best moment.
"I have no doubts about his performance and we will see him in the next matches, I am sure," Koeman said, although he admitted that his "performance could be better."
The question in attack for Barcelona is whether Koeman will opt for Antoine Griezmann
, who said on Friday that "like any player he has options to play", without going any further, or will he bet on Ousmane Dembele or Francisco Trincao.
The Dutch coach is also confident of being able to count on Jordi Alba, after overcoming a muscle injury.
Possible formations
Barcelona
: Net;
Sergiño Dest, Gerard Piqué, Clément Lenglet, Jordi Alba;
Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Philippe Coutinho;
Pedri, Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati.
DT
: Ronald Koeman.
Real Madrid
: Thibaut Courtois;
Nacho Fernández, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Ferland Mendy;
Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric, Federico Valverde;
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.
DT
: Zinedine Zidane.
Time
: 11 (from Argentina).
TV
: DirecTV Sports and Cablevisión channel 116.
Referee
: Juan Martínez Munuera.
Stadium
: Camp Nou.
