Barcelona and Real Madrid will lock horns in the La Liga matchday 10 at Camp Nou on Sunday. The kick-off is at 16:15 CEST.

Preview

Funnily enough, rumours over Ronald Koeman getting sacked from the Camp Nou dugout if Barca fail to win in the upcoming El Clasico are very much alive ahead of the game but the Catalans are only two points behind Real Madrid in the La Liga table right now. Carlo Ancelotti, however, doesn't feel the same kind of pressure as his Dutch counterpart. Moreover, the Blaugrana and the Whites are now only five and three points behind league leaders Real Sociedad respectively, both having a game in hand over the Basques.

As for their most recent performances, Barca will play hosts to their bitter rivals on the back of consecutive victories of Valencia (3-1) in the domestic league and Dynamo Kyiv (1-0) in the Champions League while Madrid have managed to end their three-game run without a win in all competitions by destroying Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in the CL in mid-week.

Team news

Ronald Araujo, Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Martin Braithwaite are all unavailable for the hosts through injury while Jordi Alba remains doubtful after picking up a an ankle issue against Dynamo. Isco, Dani Ceballos, Gareth Bale and Luka Jovic, in turn, won't help the visitors at Camp Nou on the weekend due to respective injury woes.

Prediction

It was Zinedine Zidane who defeated Koeman's Barca twice in the 2020/21 season and it looks like Ancelotti is more than likely to repeat the Frenchman's success this term or at least in Sunday's encounter in Catalonia. If the Blaugrana couldn't take a single point away from Real with Lionel Messi in their squad, we can't see them winning without the Argentine this time around too, especially given Karim Benzema's phenomenal form this season so far.

Tip

Real Madrid to win at 2.516 with 1XBET.