Barcelona – Real Madrid: Derby for La Liga

El clásico is here!

The Spanish derby will take place next Saturday on the 23th March at 9pm at the Santiago Bernabéu. This derby has a different feel about it – previously the meetings of Barcelona and Real Madrid have centered around the rivalry and press statements of the coaches (Mourinho, Guardiola, Ancelotti and Martino). Now what matters is football, the players and the keepers. The time for football is now.

Real Madrid are the current leaders of BBVA La Liga and they currently find themselves in good form thanks to their players and style of play. The foundations of the team are made up by world class footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Garreth Bale, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos. This team, thanks to the class of its players, has managed to reach first place in the Liga BBVA and has demonstrated some spectacular football up to now. 

Real Madrid and Barcelona in the
fight for BBVA La Liga

However, Real Madrid have just played the Champion's league match against Shalke 04 (winning against the German team 3-1) and, as mentioned by Carlo Ancelotti, the team is definitely tired from the journey and the lack of rest. Apart from some disruptions in the team and the injury of Jesé at the beginning of the match, they feel in shape. But it’s safe to say that they will play against a Barcelona side which will match them in terms of power. 

The derby of stars returns…

Ronaldinho, Zidane, Ronaldo, Raúl, Laudrup…The classic Barcelona – Real Madrid derby was always filled with stars fighting for their place in history, fighting to become a legend. Now, it’s the turn of Messi, Neymar Jr., Iniesta, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale…each derby has a game changing player and recently has determined who is on better form - Messi or Ronaldo. Which of them will make the difference this time?

The derby will be full of stars,
Messi, Ronaldo, Bale and Neymar

And the stars will shine brighter than ever before, since this will be the one of the first duel of the attacking pairs: Messi and Neymar Jr vs Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale, or in other words who is more deadly. Neymar Jr. has rapidly adapted to Barcelona’s style of play and has become the best partner for Messi. However in the case of Gareth Bale, the most expensive player in history, his arrival to Madrid was done at the last minute and left him no time to do adequate pre-season training with the club. In recent fixtures, Barcelona – Real Madrid has been a fight between Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, the two best football players of present times, but now they have united with potential future Balon d´or winners to give this derby a bit more potency and drama.

As of today, there has not been a derby with so many media stars and cup titles such as between Barcelona – Real Madrid, and on the pitch this Saturday there will be: 12 World cup winners, 10 Champions League winners, 6 Balon d´or winners, 5 Golden Boot winners, 6 with Zamora trophies  and 4 with Pichichi trophies. Without a doubt this is a game filled with talent but the real question is: who is going to lose?