Clasico like a final for Barcelona
LA LIGA Manager Enrique says only win will do against league leaders Real Madrid if Catalan club hope to stay in title race
Enrique says his last Clasico in charge of Barcelona at Real Madrid on Sunday is a mustwin for the reigning La Liga champions.
Anything other than a Barca victory at the Santiago Bernabeu would more or less hand Madrid their first Spanish league title in five years.
Zinedine Zidane’s men hold a three-point lead at the top with a game in hand on their rivals.
“Given how close it is to the end of the season it is a decisive weekend,” said Enrique.
“This time a Clasico can decide or almost decide the league or leave it very open. For us it is like a final, only a win will do.”
Madrid could be boosted by the return of Gareth Bale from injury, but the fact the Welshman may not be risked is a further sign that Real have far more room for error.
“He will be with us tomorrow,” said Zidane.
“You will see tomorrow what team we are going to start with.”
Should Bale not start, Isco is favourite to take his place, as he did for Madrid’s thrilling 4-2 win over Bayern Munich in midweek.
Raphael Varane and Pepe are Madrid’s only injury absentees meaning Zidane is expected to name the same starting XI as against Bayern.
“It is another important game. There is a lot of tiredness, but also a lot of excitement and desire to keep doing what we are doing,” Zidane added.
Barcelona are expected to be without one of their key men despite the club going to extraordinary lengths to try and have Neymar’s ban suspended.
Neymar is in the midst of a three-game suspension for his red card and subsequent sarcastic applause of the officials in Barca’s 2-0 defeat to Malaga two weeks ago.
In an unprecedented move Barca deliberately delayed their final route of appeal to Spain’s Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD) until after the court’s normal meeting time on Friday in the hope that would automatically see the ban suspended.
However, even if no ruling is forthcoming before Sunday, Barca face a legal quagmire as they could be sanctioned with defeat for fielding an ineligible player should Neymar feature. be as much a contest between teams as it will be about two great footballers — Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. hampering the early part of Ronaldo’s season, Real manager Zinedine Zidane has used the Portuguese forward sparingly, allowing him to stay fresh for the big games. Ronaldo scored five goals over the two-leg Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich proving he is still every bit a big game player. Messi is in fantastic form overall. He is the top-scorer in both La Liga and the Champions League this season. interesting stat shows that he hasn’t been performing at par in El Clasico fixtures. Messi has failed to score in his last six matches against Real Madrid in all competitions.
placed three points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid. A defeat for them on Sunday would put them six points behind the Madrid side, with five games to play while Real would have six games left.
out of the Champions League, the La Liga title is the best silverware of repute the Catalan club can hope for. They are set to play the Copa del Rey final against Alaves on May 27 but will want to clinch the La Liga title before.
Sunday will keep alive Barca’s chances of claiming the title and salvaging a floundering campaign for manager Luis Enrique who is leaving at the end of the season. will be Barcelona’s biggest miss. However, the Catalans can depend on Luis Suarez who is La Liga’s second highest goal-scorer with 23 goals.
combinations are at their strongest but a lack of pace among Barcelona‘s trio might swing the battle Real’s way. conceded the least La Liga goals after Atletico Madrid. Real captain Sergio Ramos tends to pop up at both ends of the pitch, having scored a stoppage time equaliser when the sides met earlier this season (1-1 on December 3, 2016). Real Madrid Played
Barcelo won