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Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Real Madrid | La Liga MD35
Real Madrid and Barcelona face off at the Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday night as part of match day 35 of La Liga – the weekend that could potentially end the title race.
Los Blancos were firmly in the race to compete for La Liga, but their performances after the international break saw them fall significantly behind Barcelona on the points table.
With 11 points between them and just four games to go, there does not appear to be much hope for Alvaro Arbeloa and Co. What they will look to do, however, is fight until the end.
The Catalans enter the game on the back of five straight wins while Real Madrid step in having won just two of their last seven games across all competitions.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Real Madrid.
Chaos in the dressing room
There is no more apt place to begin a conversation about Real Madrid’s approach to El Clasico than the politics and turmoil inside the dressing room.
Regardless of how vehemently the dressing room speak out to hide the news or to insist that it will not affect their performance against Barcelona, there is simply no way that it does not impact the team’s mentality ahead of the big game.
A sense of cohesion, unity, and togetherness is crucial for big games that require the team to function as a unit, and knowing that the differences between players are at an all-time high will create serious hurdles in Real Madrid’s ability to function together.
Further, there is now a clear divide between the manager Alvaro Arbeloa and a major part of the dressing room who do not respect the coach.
With so many rumours of the appointment of the next manager, it remains unclear how diligently Real Madrid are willing to listen to the under-fire manager. Without a plan and with their egos in their head, the team will likely get nowhere.
Personnel crisis in midfield
Barcelona enter El Clasico without Lamine Yamal which comes as a massive blow for them. Further, Raphinha is just returning from injury and is unlikely to start.
Real Madrid, however, are not without their own set of problems and their primary crisis lies in midfield.
The recent physical altercation between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni left the former injured with a traumatic brain injury and unavailable for El Clasico, meaning that the captain is set to miss the game.
Arda Guler’s season-ending injury weeks ago only compounds the trouble in that respect, given that he has been one of the few bright sparks in the position for the team this season. Dani Ceballos, further, is also unavailable.
Arbeloa, thus, has his hands tied at the moment in midfield with Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni the only guaranteed starters.
The third midfield position must be filled by either the out-of-form Eduardo Camavinga or the young academy talent Thiago Pitarch whose rise has not pleased the Real Madrid hierarchy.
Which of the two players Arbeloa hopes to start on the night will play a crucial role in deciding the result. Pitarch is the superior option, but Arbeloa must be ready to go against Florentino Perez and Co.’s wishes to make that selection.
Avoiding an embarrassment
Never in the history of El Clasico has the La Liga title been decided in a direct match-up between Barcelona and Real Madrid. That, however, can change tomorrow.
The team’s win over Espanyol ensured the title race is alive for another week, and Real Madrid’s only hope of extending it further is by winning tonight against Hansi Flick’s men.
As matters stand, Barcelona sit on 88 points after 34 games, and Real Madrid trail by 11 points as they sit on 77 points with as many games played.
With just three games to go after the Clasico tonight, Barcelona need just a point over Real Madrid to be crowned champions.
While it might seem inevitable that Barcelona are crowned champions, Real Madrid will just want to avoid the situation of being on the losing end at the Spotify Camp Nou on the same night that Barcelona win the league title by downing them directly.
Further, Flick’s men are currently on course to finish the season with 100 points in what would be a stunning record. Real Madrid, needless to say, hold the best chance of preventing that by stealing three points tomorrow night.
Real Madrid’s La Liga journey continues on Saturday night as they play host to Rayo Vallecano on Matchday 5 of the competition.
Coming off a win over Inter Milan at the same venue, Real Madrid have bounced back strongly from their defeat against Real Betis last weekend.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the team looked unconvincing against the Serie A champions despite winning and were lucky to be gifted both their goals on the night.
There is a lot to improve on from a Real Madrid perspective, and while it will indeed take time to adapt to a new manager’s ideologies, they simply cannot afford to lose any more points.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano.
Pressure on Vinicius
An unsaid reality of the situation at Real Madrid is that the pressure on Vinicius Jr. is growing exponentially, and the winger will not have it easy with any more poor performances.
The Brazilian star has been far from his best for a long time now, but he has failed to step up convincingly in any of the team’s five games so far.
At a time when Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe are performing week in and week out, Vinicius has failed to deliver at the level expected.
Over the past year, relations between the winger and the Real Madrid fanbase have turned sour and the strain appears to be at an all-time high as matters currently stand.
Such is the condition of the Real Madrid winger that virtually every press conference Jose Mourinho steps into revolves around him. Further, Vinicius is now being openly booed by a section of the fans even in his own stadium
It is high time Vinicius came good for Real Madrid, not only for the club’s betterment but also for his personal confidence.
If the situation persists any longer, the superstar could well collapse for good under the pressure, especially given that he has always been a deeply emotional player who reads a lot into public opinion.
The big game double-pivot
Aurelien Tchouameni’s fitness prevented him from featuring Real Madrid in the early parts of the season, and he had his first minutes in the win over Inter Milan coming off the bench in the latter stages.
In the meantime, Jose Mourinho has tried multiple double-pivot pairings including Federico Valverde-Bernardo Silva, Valverde-Eduardo Camavinga and others.
However, the manager heavily trusts in Tchouameni and the player’s return will have a massive impact on the coach’s lineups. In fact, the Tchouameni-Valverde pairing is said to be Mourinho’s preferred pivot for big games.
Both players have not started a game together yet this season, and the clash against Rayo Vallecano tomorrow could hand the manager the best chance to see the duo in action together on the field.
In theory, the Valverde-Tchouameni pairing is defensively very solid, but the coach will hope to get a clearer picture of how the team’s buildup, progression, and creativity are affected with two defensively-oriented players.
After all, any experimentation must be completed in the early stages of the season as the scope to make errors dramatically decreases with every passing game.
Moreover, the duo were involved in a dressing room scuffle last season, and it remains to be seen if that plays a role in their pairing.
Chasing a deficit
Just four games into La Liga, Real Madrid are already behind in the title race. While these are indeed just early days, falling behind can never be good.
Los Blancos dropped points in their last game against Real Betis and currently sit on nine points after four games in the competition.
Two teams sit ahead of them in the standings – Deportivo Alaves on ten points and Barcelona on twelve. Just a month into the new campaign, that is a significant difference.
Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have been flying so far in the competition and do not even appear close to dropping points or being challenged anytime soon.
In that sense, Real Madrid simply have no room for error for they are fighting against a near-perfect rival. Any more slip-ups may take their deficit beyond reach and hand Barcelona a comfortable cushion at the club.
Winning against Rayo Vallecano, and virtually every league game that comes their way, is thus simply vital for the hosts. The margin for error has never been thinner.
