It’s Real Madrid against Barcelona. It’s one of the biggest fixtures in football. And after a two-year exile, these two teams will return to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. The Madrid club returned to their iconic home earlier this season with the stadium’s renovations entering their final stages. Sunday’s match will have a capacity restricted to a sold-out 60,000 fans.La Liga leaders Real Madrid head into tonight’s El Clasico aiming to make it six successive wins over their bitter rivals Barcelona but it’s not going to be easy because the Catalans have improved significantly under new boss Xavi. These teams have already met twice this season, with Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos winning away in the league and also edging past their Catalan rivals in extra time in the Spanish Super Cup.Iconic El Clásico moments ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/DhrZPBXK2w— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 18, 2022 Real will begin the game 15 points ahead of their visitors, who sit third behind Sevilla and are unbeaten in the league since 4 December when Xavi suffered his sole defeat in the competition against Real Betis. But it goes without saying that derby matches such as this one haven’t got much to do with the teams’ point tally. It’s about pride, passion and inspiration. The Whites, who will play wearing all-black commemorative kits tonight, will be without their captain and best goalscorer Karim Benzema, who picked up a calf injury in his team’s win over Mallorca on Monday. The Frenchman has scored 22 goals in 25 games in La Liga during this campaign and will be a huge miss. Ancelotti has to decide who would be the best man to deputise tonight: Gareth Bale, Luka Jovic, Mariano Diaz or maybe someone else.On the other side, Barcelona are brimming with confidence and are free to rely on their new star attacker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Auba’s form is a huge contrast to his final months in north London, with the Gabon international falling out with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta and being stripped of the club captaincy following a disciplinary breach. He will be relishing a chance to show what he’s got in the biggest match of Spanish football.La Liga estimate that El Clasico will have an audience of around 650 million people worldwide.— @mundodeportivo pic.twitter.com/OO4EuiQZfy— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) March 19, 2022 Barca’s progress has continued with added efficiency in front of goal as they comfortably overcame Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Napoli and Athletic Club, scoring four goals against all of them. The challenge against Madrid will be to really test how far they have come.Who will prevail? Will Real Madrid make a decisive stride towards the title or will their rivals Barcelona spoil the party by reaffirming their own revival? Who can step up in Benzema’s absence? Which set of players is more motivated? These questions will be answered tonight!LA LIGA – ROUND 29FridayAthletic Club – Getafe 1-1 (1-1)/Berchiche 29 – Unal 3/SaturdayDeportivo Alaves – Granada 2-3 (0-0)/Escalante 52, Vallejo 57 – Escudero 50, Puertas 77, Suarez 87/Elche – Valencia 0-1 (0-0)/Guedes 50/Osasuna – Levante 3-1 (1-0)/Avila 44, Budimir 57, Brasanac 64 – Marti 76/Rayo Vallecano – Atletico Madrid 0-1 (0-0)/Koke 49/Sunday16:00: (2.15) Espanyol (3.25) Mallorca (3.60)18:15: (4.50) Cadiz (3.60) Villareal (1.90)18:15: (2.35) Celta (3.30) Betis (3.05)20:30: (2.15) Sevilla (3.05) Sociedad (3.90)23:00: (2.25) Real Madrid (3.40) Barcelona (3.20)***odds are subject to change
