El Gran Clásico | Oct. 25th, 2026

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Up Next.. | Barcelona

The biggest match in club football. An occasion.. The dethroned Kings of Europe looking for a return at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid have found themselves reeling after a rather inspirational period of success. A squad great on paper yet so fragile on the pitch against the better teams on the continent.

From time to time El Clásico takes on a different meaning for Real Madrid. There are times when it’s just about the 3 points or an academic tie played for pride. This time the tie carries a lot of weight. Real Madrid are 6 points behind and risk falling off completely. There is also the small matter of performances and results in big games going on for two seasons. Winning El Clásico is more than just 3 points, it would signal a return to big game form for the Merengues and that would likely mean far more than a win against the eternal rivals.

The Blaugrana will be smarting from the beating they were dealt in Paris midweek. La Liga is their bread and butter and they will be eager to remind Los Blancos of the status quo. While Real Madrid have a tendency of being overconfident and rely too heavily on the spirit of the remontada, our opponents are quite the opposite. They arrive with a palpable desire to visit all manner of defeat and humiliation upon us.

The XI | Stick or Twist?

José will not be looking to make everyone happy. He will be looking to try and win the game but more importantly, he will be looking for big-match temperament. The XI is important but not nearly as important as the mentality.

The 4-2-3-1

The 4-2-3-1 is Mourinho’s preferred poison. This has been the way so far this season. It is what we’re likely to see at the Camp Nou and for the rest of the season under Mourinho.

The structure has it’s merits one could argue it has not been the major weakness of our performances this season. It allows Kylian to be free while balancing that out with Jude Bellingham being free to play closer to goal. It also makes it more convenient to have numbers in attack as Jude is essentially a 4th attacker.

The downside is that in a game against Barcelona, Arda or Bernardo would have to be the one helping to defend against Lamine Yamal and Tchouameni and the CBs can be stretched very quickly with overloads.

The 4-3-3

The 4-3-3 provides a different balance. In a match like the clásico where Barcelona will often try to stretch our left side with Yamal, the presence of Cucurella, Jude and Diomande could give us better control off the ball. This would make life easier for Tchouameni and the Centre Backs. Fede, Arda and Endrick would try to control the right side off the ball. It simply makes for a simpler, balanced structure and is also easier on the ball with ball progression options easily available on either side. Jude and Arda can take the pressure off Tchouaméni’s ball progression demands by showing for the ball when Huijsen has it which will likely open up space for the ball to Diomande, Kylian or Endrick rather frequently.

The Debutant | Yan Diomande

Real Madrid have a potential X-Factor in the form of one Yan Diomande. We’ve not seen a lot of him but boy have we seen a lot from him already. The young Ivorian is a mix of speed, skill, guile, power and goals. He confidently moves past opponents with the ball like it’s a training session. While he will make some poor decisions in the final 3rd and that’s normal even for more experienced forwards at Real Madrid (The Improv), you can bet your left hand he’s getting past that fullback. He appears so benign and then boom, he’s scored. A truly fantastic talent who has the potential to take games away from any opposition with a moment of Yan magic. His first clásico will test his nerves for sure but he has looked increasingly comfortable in the white shirt with every passing minute. Yan just might be the difference on his clásico debut.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT | The GAMEPLAN

Real Madrid are facing a difficult opponent, not an impossible one. The opponent is soft defensively but forces you to defend more so that you don’t get many opportunities to test those defensive vulnerabilities. This is where balance is key. We have to defend well but there is no point in going to the game if we’re not going to make Joan Garcia earn his money. But to do that we need players who can deliver the ball consistently. That’s where Arda Güler seems indispensable. He is our best passer and our most composed player when we need accuracy in our passing. He is young and far from perfect but his delivery and chance creation is off the charts. If we can exploit his talents, we automatically expose the opponent’s vulnerabilities.

He is built for it. Valverde will help him defensively and offensively as we have seen already in the past two matches. We have a really talented team with the likes of Jude Bellingham who can win a game on his own and has done against the very same rival. We can play in many different ways. It would be preposterous however, to ignore arguably the most dangerous man on the ball in the game right now.

There are very few scenarios if any where Barcelona do not score regardless of how we play. They simply do not do 0-0 scorelines and they do not lose at the Camp Nou. If we want to get anything out of this game, we’re going to have to take it. And we cannot take it by being passive and then blaming a defensive mistake as if that’s not what the point of pressure is. Teams put you under pressure to force mistakes. If you remain passive, they persist until something gives. I’d rather we lost because our shots hit the post as opposed to that one time a midfielder was late to his runner.

¡Así, así, así gana el Madrid!