Viernes, 25 de octubre 2024, 16:40
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The Santiago Bernabéu will host a high-flying clash this Saturday. With a Barça arriving in top form and a Real Madrid determined to show the pride of the champion, the match that stops the planet has all the necessary ingredients to offer a spectacle not seen in a long time. The whites, led by a stellar Vinicius and a Mbappé who always carries enriched uranium in his boots, aim to make a strike that serves as a turning point in a season so far lackluster on their part. The blaugranas, commanded by a devastating Lewandowski and the unstoppable Lamine Yamal, have the opportunity to deliver another authoritative blow that could catapult them, perhaps definitively, in the championship. This alignment of stars redefines a classic that Messi and Cristiano ruled with an iron fist over an unforgettable decade.
Thirty encounters between the two giants of Spanish football saw the genius from Rosario and the Madeira star face off. Both marked an era and elevated even further a rivalry that has no equal in the world. The departure, first of the Portuguese and then the Argentine, created a void and the question of who would take up their legacy and when. That moment has arrived. A constellation of stars has emerged with the intention of forging their own legend in the most intense rivalry known to the king of sports. Their presence this Saturday on the pitch guarantees strong emotions.
The locals boast of Vinicius, who with 17 classics under his belt in which he has scored seven goals, faces the commitment riding the crest of the wave after the ‘hat-trick’ he scored on Tuesday against Borussia Dortmund and two days before receiving the Ballon d’Or that will crown him as the best footballer on the planet. Also of Mbappé, a novice in these matters but who has already left his mark against Barça. In the four occasions he faced the culé squad with the PSG shirt, he scored six goals, including a hat-trick at Camp Nou and a double at Parc des Princes that served to eliminate the blaugranas twice in the Champions League.
The visitors boast of a rejuvenated Lewandowski, current top scorer of the tournament with twelve goals, five of which he scored in the last two matchdays. The Pole, who terrorized Real Madrid when he belonged to Dortmund and did less damage with Bayern, will try to settle his pending account in the classics. He has played seven and scored two goals. A modest record for a ‘killer’ of his stature.
To the right of the Warsaw striker will be Lamine Yamal, a generational talent who has yet to score or assist against Real Madrid. The winger has fallen in the three classics he has participated in, but arrives at an optimal moment to leave the past behind. He has four goals and six assists so far in La Liga and surpasses Vinicius in several areas. He shoots, dribbles, and even receives more fouls than the Brazilian, which shows the enormous impact he has on a team that flies with Flick’s method.
The German coach has resurrected Barça in record time. The team that languished with Xavi Hernández is now a formidable machine that sows destruction in its path. The blaugranas, who lead La Liga with a three-point advantage over Real Madrid, have scored twelve more goals than the whites (33 versus 21) and have also made a dozen more shots on target (74 against 62). The suffocating pressure they practice and the advanced line they draw in defense have served to subdue almost all the rivals they have faced and they arrive at the Bernabéu after another morale boost by thrashing their nemesis.
Sacrifice
The duel with Bayern once again exposed the extremely high level of commitment that Barça players have with their coach’s principles. They covered 124.5 kilometers, 5.3 more than Bayern and 21.7 more than Real Madrid players covered a day earlier against Dortmund. Although they were two very different profile matches, the different level of sacrifice shown so far by whites and blaugranas plays in favor of a leader who, however, will have to row against the archive.
The last four classics fell on the side of Real Madrid, who are unbeaten in 40 matches at the Bernabéu across all competitions and have gone 42 consecutive matchdays without losing in La Liga, one short of the record set by Barça between the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The whites, who concede fewer goals (seven against ten), make more passes (6,209 against 5,930) and commit fewer fouls (121 against 130) than the blaugranas, recover Brahim but suffer the absences of Courtois, Carvajal, Alaba, and Rodrygo against an opponent who especially laments the absence of Ter Stegen. The main doubts in the lineups are in the midfield. Ancelotti debates between keeping Modric or adding more muscle, while Flick is unsure about the third pawn in a midfield where Casadó and Pedri seem untouchable.
-Probable lineups:
Real Madrid: Lunin, Lucas Vázquez, Militao, Rüdiger, Mendy, Tchouaméni, Valverde, Camavinga, Bellingham, Mbappé, and Vinicius.
Barcelona: Iñaki Peña, Koundé, Cubarsí, Iñigo Martínez, Balde, Casadó, Pedri, Fermín, Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski, and Raphinha.
Referee: Sánchez Martínez (Murcian Committee).
Time: 21:00 h.
Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu.
TV: Dazn.
