Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Preview and Prediction

Published by William | Filed under Football (aka soccer), Predictions

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11/29 20:00 Real Madrid at Barcelona – Odds | Stats


The time has come for perhaps the most anticipated match of the La Liga season. The defending treble winning champions of Barcelona host Real Madrid in the latest version of “El Clasico”. The winner of this highly anticipated derby will take control of the top spot in the La Liga standings, which could certainly serve as the difference as to who will be crowned as the Spanish champions come season end.


Barcelona:


Barcelona is dealing with a bit of an injury crisis as they head into the anticipated showdown with “Los Galacticos”. Catalan stars Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are both still questionable with muscle injuries after missing the 2-0 Champions League victory over Inter Milan earlier this week. Both trained Thursday with the team but a decision is not likely to be made on whether or not they will feature until game time. Meanwhile, Yaya Toure looks to return to the pitch after recovering from a bout with the H1N1 virus. Dani Alves suffered an ankle knock against Inter and missed training on Thursday but he is probable to start for Barca.


Real Madrid:


The big news stemming from Real Madrid this week is that world class winger Cristiano Ronaldo saw his first action this week in quite a few weeks after recovering from a nagging ankle injury suffered in a World Cup qualifier with Portugal. CR9 came on with about 20 minutes remaining in Real’s 1-0 victory over Zurich in this week’s Champions League group stage match. While seeing some positive movement from Ronaldo on the pitch, questions still remain about his overall fitness and whether the ankle is fully healed. Meanwhile, right back Raul Albiol suffered a minor knee injury against Zurich and is expected to be replaced by Ezequiel Garay for the match.


Prediction:


This match has been on both teams calendars for quite some time and it will certainly be exciting to see who comes out on top. Real has not been themselves while being without Ronaldo for much of the season and they are surely happy to have him back in the starting XI. Whether he is fully healthy remains to be seen. On the other hand, despite not having both Messi and Ibrahimovic this week against Inter Milan, Barca seemed to have no problem holding them off without them which further displays their depth. This one is tough to call but I like Barcelona at home in what is going to be an amazing match.


Pick:


Barcelona 3 – 2 Real Madrid


Bet of the Match:


Barcelona at 1.85 from Interwetten