El Clasico returns for the 2024/25 season on Saturday night as Real Madrid host bitter rivals Barcelona in La Liga.

Madrid may be the defending La Liga champions but it’s Barcelona that have made the more eye-catching start to the season. They have lost just two games under new boss Hansi Flick, with only one of those coming in the league. That leaves them three points ahead of their Clasico rivals after ten matches.

But recent history favours Los Blancos in this high-profile fixture with four competitive victories on the bounce, including two late Jude Bellingham-inspired wins in La Liga last season. Madrid know they can move level on points with Barcelona should they taste victory this weekend but there are also significant bragging rights up for grabs in the derby.

Both sides enjoyed handsome victories over German giants in the Champions League midweek to ready themselves for Saturday’s affair.

Madrid overcame a two-goal half-time deficit thanks to a Vinicius Junior hat-trick in a 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in a repeat of last season’s Champions League final. Barca were even more convincing in their 4-1 demolition of Bayern Munich and it was Vinicius’ Brazil team-mate Raphinha that finished the victory with a triple of his own.

Here is 90min’s guide to the first Clasico of the campaign.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

The victory over Dortmund midweek did take its toll on the Madrid squad. Both goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and winger Rodrygo suffered injuries in the clash and will be sidelined for the next few weeks.

As a result, Ancelotti may well resort to the 4-3-1-2 system that was so impactful last season, with Andriy Lunin replacing Courtois in goal and Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior leading the line.

David Alaba and Dani Carvajal remain long-term absentees in the backline but Brahim Diaz is edging closer to a return having missed over a month of action. The Morocco international could be on the bench at the weekend.

Real Madrid predicted lineup vs Barcelona (4-3-1-2): Lunin; Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Bellingham; Vinicius, Mbappe.

Flick still finds himself with an array of fitness concerns prior to the trip to Madrid, with Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen missing in the backline. Further forward, youngster Marc Bernal and the experienced Ferran Torres are also sidelined.

Barcelona have welcomed a few important midfielders back into the mix over the past few weeks with Dani Olmo returning to the fold from the bench against Bayern. Gavi has also received a handful of minutes in the last two games having been missing since November 2023 and Frenkie de Jong has featured from the bench in three of the last four matches.

Raphinha has been in magnificent form this season and scored a second hat-trick of the campaign midweek. He will line up alongside Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and potentially Fermin Lopez as part of a front four.

Barcelona predicted lineup vs Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski.

Expect fireworks at the Santiago Bernabeu in one of the most evenly-contested Clasicos of recent times. Both sides are blessed with immense firepower in the final third while looking susceptible at the back, which should result in a hatful of goals in the Spanish capital.

This one really could go either way and may well be decided by an individual moment of magic. The draw would be the safe prediction but the points haven’t been shared in a Clasico since December 2019 during a goalless draw at Camp Nou.

With Barca having been just that bit more convincing than Madrid this season, we fancy them to nick an important away victory in Flick’s first competitive taste of this fixture and bring Madrid’s recent Clasico dominance to an end.

Prediction: Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona

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