Next Sunday (16:15, local time) the world will stop. Another El Clásico clash will take place at Camp Nou between FC Barcelona v Real Madrid. The most important game of the season in La Liga arrives in a very bad moment for Los Blancos, unable to win the last four matches in the competition and four points behind the rivals. However, it’s also the best opportunity to bounce back and redeem themselves after a poor start of the season.
All the lights will shed pointing to Julen Lopetegui. The manager risk his job position on Sunday. A bad result will mean he will be sacked, something that hasn’t happened yet because of the busy calendar. Real Madrid were able to win on Tuesday in the Champions League but this result is not enough to save his head.
Lopetegui will have the full squad available, with the exception of Daniel Carvajal. Therefore, we should expect a starting line-up with Nacho Fernández as a right back -the manager doesn’t trust Odriozola for important games- with Isco in the midfielder. Marco Asensio, who is disappointing this season, should start on the bench. In the attacking line, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema will be the leaders.
Gareth Bale arrived this week to the milestone of 200 games with the Real Madrid t-shirt. In that time he has scored 92 goals and gave 62 assists. We all remember his goals in the Champions League final in Lisbon in 2014 against Atlético Madrid and against Liverpool in 2018 in Kiev. Besides, his memorable goal in the Copa del Rey final against FC Barcelona will stay also in the history of the club.
The Welshman presents great numbers and stats, but his physical problems are always an obstacle for his development. This season he was called to be the leader of the team after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure. It was his opportunity. Bale started really well the season but little by little he’s hiding himself and, on Tuesday, he played really poor against Viktoria Plzen. Los Blancos will need the best Bale in El Clásico if they want to continue fighting for La Liga.
