EL CLASICO
AFP|Published
For weeks La Liga leaders Barcelona have been eagerly awaiting Sunday's El Clasico as a chance to stretch the gap between themselves and rivals Real Madrid to a massive nine points.
Some turbulence in the final approach to the clash at Camp Nou has complicated the picture for Hansi Flick's Spanish champions, who suffered their first defeat of the season at Paris Saint-Germain in the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday.
By contrast Real Madrid have won four consecutive matches, thrashing RB Leipzig on Wednesday, and starting to look, for the first time since Jose Mourinho's arrival this summer, like a team.
Despite that, the equation remains favourable for Flick. With Raphinha fit again and teenage winger Lamine Yamal enjoying a state of grace, Barcelona will be confident of building on their six-point lead over third-placed Madrid.
El Clasico often proves a fork in the road. Last season Madrid won the first meeting against Barcelona, but Vinicius Junior's outraged reaction at being substituted pulled apart the fragile seams of Xabi Alonso's new era.
The Basque coach was ousted little over two months later, and his replacement Alvaro Arbeloa was unable to stop Madrid finishing a second straight season without winning a major trophy, while Barca retained the Spanish title at a canter.
On Sunday, Brazil international Vinicius is suspended. Even aside from his underwhelming performances, his absence may help Madrid in terms of providing a clearer path for Mourinho.
"Vinicius's four-match suspension was seen within Real Madrid more as a solution than a problem," wrote Spanish daily AS.
Mourinho has largely deployed all of his team's stars when available, despite the difficulty it poses in terms of a cohesive game plan and finding balance between attack and defence.
Record £140 million (about R2.59 billion) signing Yan Diomande offers more defensively and he is starting to hit his stride going forward, meaning the teenager may be Mourinho's choice against Barca.
An alternative would be to add an extra midfielder to try and disrupt Flick's free-flowing Barcelona, a strategy firmly within Mourinho's wheelhouse, although PSG showed Barca are easier to beat by attacking.
Despite Madrid's improving recent form, Mourinho insisted "confidence doesn't exist" for Clasicos.
"It's not a game like the others ... we're losing 24 hours of rest (compared to Barcelona)," Mourinho complained on Wednesday.
Barcelona have their own problems regardless, including several injury concerns in defence. Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen are sidelined, while Jules Kounde is a doubt. Midfielder Dani Olmo is also out injured.
Furthermore, the Catalan giants shipped four goals against PSG and showed they are no closer to solving their vulnerability at the back, something which has persisted in the Flick era, partially caused by their high defensive line.
"We made too many mistakes, especially in ball possession, easy ball losses," admitted Flick.
"This is what we have to analyse. We have to understand the mistakes happen because (players) are not fresh. What they had to do the last couple of weeks is unbelievable."
The good news for Barcelona is that they still have the Midas touch — everything turns to goals. They have scored at least twice in every match this season.
"Our unbeaten run (domestically) is still intact, and we'll do everything we can to keep it that way," Raphinha told TNT Sports.
Barcelona have averaged over four goals a game this season and Raphinha is the league's top scorer, with 12 goals, three more than Kylian Mbappe has scored for Real Madrid, with Yamal third on eight.
Mbappe and Yamal are both hoping they will be crowned the planet's best player on Monday at the Ballon d'Or ceremony, but the bigger prize for their teams would be an El Clasico victory. | AFP