3 key battles that could decide El Clasico

Real Madrid and Barcelona go head-to-head at the Bernabeu in La Liga on Saturday night in the first Clasico of the 2024/25 season.

Three points separate the pair of fierce rivals at the top of the Spanish standings, with Barcelona holding a slight advantage of Madrid going into this encounter.

A Catalan win would be a significant statement as Hansi Flick aims to deliver only the club's second La Liga title since 2019, with the opportunity to open up a six-point lead over Los Blancos.

However, should Madrid claim maximum points, they would move into first place, level on points with Barca but ahead on head-to-head tiebreaker criteria.

This is arguably the biggest single game in world football and sets of eyes from all over the planet will be glued to screens come kick-off in the Spanish capital.

Vinicius Junior vs Jules Kounde

While it was a role he shared last season with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior is absolutely Madrid's main man. The Brazilian has scored or assisted in nine of the club's ten La Liga games so far and got off the mark in the Champions League on Tuesday when his hat-trick destroyed Borussia Dortmund.

Vinicius returned to his more usual left wing role against Dortmund, having been utilised alongside Kylian Mbappe in a front two for the four previous games at home and abroad. But it was Rodrygo's involvement that prompted the switch back to the left flank and he has been ruled out through injury, suggesting that it will be a central position for Vinicius once more.

He will have license to move wherever, but his heatmaps for recent games starting as a striker rather than a winger still show him favouring spaces on the left. That will make the Ballon d'Or hopeful Jules Kounde's problem on Saturday night.

The Barcelona right-back took up a very narrow position against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday in an attempt to limit space in the inside forward channels, where Vinicius is usually at his most dangerous.

Raphinha vs Lucas Vazquez

Another Brazilian winger scored a Champions League hat-trick in midweek…Raphinha.

The former Leeds United player is flying under Flick's management, having looked during the summer as though he would be sacrificed for Euro 2024 hero Nico Williams.

Raphinha has been captaining the side in the absence of the squad's three more senior leaders and has football's most dangerous weapon tucked firmly in his current arsenal: confidence.

Although a central position in his last two La Liga appearances have yielded four assists, it would make sense to see him in a left wing role at the Bernabeu similar to the one he filled against Bayern Munich. The reason being is Madrid right-back Lucas Vazquez.

The 33-year-old, who is also likely to be wearing Madrid's armband as the squad's most senior captain, has been repurposed as a full-back in recent seasons but is not a natural defender and could really struggle against someone in such good form as Raphinha.

Jude Bellingham vs Pedri & Marc Casado

It feels too much for Frenkie de Jong or Gavi to be thrown back into the starting lineup for this one after only a handful of substitute appearances between them following long-term injuries. De Jong learned that the hard way when 45 minutes in the previous Clasico in April set him back months.

That means Pedri and Marc Casado will likely most likely continue at the base of the Barca midfield. The pair, whose combined aged (42) is only just more than Luka Modric (39), did a lot of important dirty work against Bayern, ensuring the Bavarian giants couldn't play through the middle.

Although lauded for their technical ability, they will need to do it against to frustrate Jude Bellingham. He was Madrid's match winner in both of last season's Clasicos. And while it hasn't been a brilliant start to 2024/25 for him by those very lofty standards, the Englishman is still capable of changing a game in an instant.

Squeezing the space in the areas where Bellingham likes to operate could frustrate him.

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