What a tortuous season this has been for Barcelona! After a solid start to La-Liga and UEFA Champions League, the Catalan giants were obliterated from UCL by a solid Juventus side and are on the brim of losing the Spanish liga title to arch rivals Real. Barcelona face Real Madrid in La Liga on Sunday in what is known as the El Gran Clásico. They are currently 3 points adrift from Madrid having played a game more. But points are not the only concern for Barcelona’s boss Luis Enrique, who announced his abdication from the team’s duties by the end of the ongoing season.
Barcelona has major line up issues for the upcoming El-Clásico. With Barcelona’s scintillating winger Neymar Jr. banned for 3 games, Jeremy Mathieu side-lined and Rafinha & Aleix Vidal injured, picking a perfect line up for a season deciding match will be an uphill task.
On the other hand, Real Madrid are ravaging every other team they are facing. After securing a place in UEFA champions league’s semi-finals (beating Bayern by 6-3 on aggregate score), Real will be looking forward to seal the deal at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. Gareth Bale has been seen training, albeit his place in the starting line up is still skeptical. Other than Bale, Varane and Pepe joined the injury list recently, leaving Zidane with lesser choices for the Clásico.
So, how could both the sides fare against each other? Here is our predicted line-ups for Sundays Clásico –
Real Madrid XI
Keylor Navas (GK), Marcelo (LB), Ramos (CB), Nacho Fernandez (CB), Dani Carvajal (RB), Casemiro (MF), Luka Modric (MF), Toni Kroos (MF), Cristiano Ronaldo (FW), Karim Benzema (FW) and Gareth Bale (FW).
FC Barcelona
Ter Stegen (GK), Jordi Alba (LB), Pique (CB), Samuel Umtiti (CB), Sergio Roberto (RB), Ivan Rakitic (MF), Andres Iniesta (MF), Sergio Busquets (MF), Lionel Messi (FW), Luis Suarez (FW) and Paco Alacer (FW).
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