Real Madrid came from behind to produce their finest performance in the 2024/2025 season but this doesn’t mean that they are back yet. This doesn’t mean they will win the upcoming El Clasico.
The El Clasico is coming up and this one could be like the glory days of when Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were still coaching Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
Barcelona are top of La Liga, dominating the league with their youngsters especially Lamine Yamal who is unfortunately a doubt for the tie due to a problem with his hamstring which he got during international duties with Spain. Yamal is both a reflection of the strength of Barcelona’s academy La Masia and a sign of all that is wrong with the club.
Barcelona is in such a financial mess that they can’t afford to sign players and have to overwork young players that normally they should have eased into the game. They have lost their Sergio Busquet replacement Marc Bernal to a season-ending injury and now Lamine Yamal is a doubt. Will he be fine before the match? Let’s hope so.
Still, in the absence of Yamal, Barcelona can do a lot of damage to Madrid. They are in fine form winning 8 of their 9 matches with the team showing a quick understanding of how their coach Hansi Flick wants them to play. Barcelona play a more direct football with a 4-2-3-1 formation and are a more physical side. They run more without the ball and can sustain their pressing for larger parts of the game.
The system relies on a winger tucking into the midfield as an extra attacking midfielder to help form a box midfield with the central and defensive midfielder behind him. This allows Barcelona players to overload the midfield and have more passing options with the players always knowing where their teammates are.
Madrid, on the other hand, have a star-studded team with Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, red-hot Vuni Junior, and Kylian Mbappe but don’t have that chemistry yet. The signing of Kylian Mbappe should have elevated the squad but it has upset the balance they have in attack. He and Vinicius Jr want to occupy the same space in the left wing when Madrid attack. Also, the loss of Toni Kroos has caused a mess for Madrid in midfield as they find it difficult to control games.
True, Madrid hasn’t lost a La Liga match, they haven’t won most of their games convincingly. There is much to do for Madrid if they hope to beat Barcelona and as it looks, that doesn’t seem likely. What do you think?
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