Clasico: Barca play for Cruyff, Madrid for revenge

MADRID — Barcelona looks to honour its idol. Real Madrid gets a shot at revenge.

The second “clasico” of the season arrives with the Spanish rivals in different states of mind.

Barcelona is focusing on paying tribute to the late Johan Cruyff, the former star who died last week after battling cancer.

Real Madrid is hoping to avenge the humiliating home loss to the rival earlier this season, a defeat that ignited the club’s latest crisis.

“The good thing about football is that it constantly gives you opportunities to get even,” Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said. “Now we have a chance to do well, away from home, against a great team such as Barcelona.”

Saturday’s game also gives Madrid its last real chance of rejoining the title race at the Spanish league. Anything but a victory will mean the end of the line for Zinedine Zidane’s team in the La Liga.

A win at the Camp Nou, in addi-

Good thing about football is that it constantly gives you chance to get even

Sergio Ramos

tion to denting Barcelona’s confidence entering a decisive stretch, would cut the rival’s lead to seven points. Atletico Madrid, which hosts Real Betis earlier Saturday, is nine points behind Barcelona.

“Anything is possible in football,” Madrid striker Gareth Bale said. “We’ll fight until the end. Winning La Liga is still possible and if we win on Saturday we’ll be seven points behind and you never know what might happen.”

A victory by Barcelona would leave the Catalan club significantly closer to its second consecutive league title, as Madrid is the last big challenge on its schedule. But many thoughts on Saturday will be on honoring Cruyff, the former Dutch great credited with steering the club on its path to glory.

The club is preparing a mosaic of 90,000 cards displaying the words “Thanks, Johan,” in Catalan. The words will also appear on Barcelona’s jerseys.

A minute of silence and a video tribute are also planned for Saturday. Here are other things to watch in the Spanish league this weekend: Barcelona has won four of the last five league games against Real Madrid, including the last two at the Camp Nou and this season’s 4-0 rout at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Madrid hasn’t won at the rival’s venue since a 3-1 result in the semifinals of the 2013 Copa del Rey, when Jose Mourinho was still in charge. The last time Madrid won at Barcelona in the Spanish league was in the 2011-12 season, when it won the La Liga for the last time.

Real Madrid is on a hot streak, having won five straight games, while Barcelona is coming off a 2-2 draw at Villarreal. —