It's been over seven months since the last time Real Madrid and Barcelona met on the field. Considering the rather frequent nature of El Clásico matches over the past few seasons, that's a really long time. While many love these games and eagerly await each edition, scores more have probably suffered some level of "Clásico fatigue" and needed the break. Hopefully seven months is enough.
Whenever these two Spanish rivals meet, it's always important and it's always interesting. But thanks to recent results and some changes over the offseason, this latest edition of the Clásico gives us some fresh storylines. And even more importantly than that, for the first time since 2000-04, we've also got a genuine title race that doesn't just involve the two participants in this match.
Entering Saturday's match at the Camp Nou, Barcelona sit at the top of the Primera Division table with a one point lead over Atlético Madrid and three point advantage over Real Madrid. Thanks to Barca's scoreless draw at Osasuna last Saturday, the Blaugrana's somewhat comfortable lead over Los Blancos has shrunk, giving Carlo Ancelotti's side an opportunity to pull even with their rivals if they can take all three points this weekend.
For Barcelona to come out on top they need to take back home field advantage and make the Camp Nou a more difficult place for Real Madrid to play. Barca have only defeated Madrid once at home in league play since 2010 -- that was Jose Mourinho's first Clásico that saw his Madrid side get embarrassed 5-0 -- which is a bit surprising. They've won twice in cup matches over Madrid at home since that match, but success, at least in terms of wins in league matches, has been elusive.
More importantly, the Blaugrana need to play better. Head coach Gerardo Martino will be entering the Clásico frying pan for the first time since taking over Barcelona this summer. His version of Barcelona has shown many of the same troubling similarities that plagued Jordi Roura's version last season. The Blaugrana remain vulnerable defensively, a fact that was exposed by AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday. Perhaps that was down to some rust -- Gerard Piqué wasted rested against Osasuna and Javier Maschrano is just returning from injury -- but there's been plenty of moments this season where the defense has bordered on cringeworthy.
Up until now, there's not been a team with the necessary firepower to really test that defense. Real Madrid have more than enough firepower to act as an accurate measuring stick.
Who do you think will be key players from both teams?
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