Hello everybody and welcome along to this live blog for El Clasico. It’s Real Madrid vs Barcelona at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, with Los Blancos looking for what would be a sixth consecutive victory over their rivals. But, Barcelona are improving under Xavi and will hope to take the three LaLiga Santander points back from the capital. Here on this live blog, we’ll have all the pre-match build-up and then minute-by-minute Clasico updates too.
El Clasico: Real Madrid vs Barcelona LIVE – Latest updates
This is the very beginning of our Clasico live blog, as we bring you all the updates from this Sunday night’s meeting between Real Madrid and Barcelona. All the updates follow on from here, with the most recent at the top.
18:40 GMT: Barcelona’s XI
Despite rumours that Dani Alves would be included in the XI, Xavi Hernandez has opted to leave him on the bench and has instead gone for Ronald Araujo at right-back.
Barcelona’s starting line-up (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba; Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Pedri; Ousmane Dembele, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ferran Torres.
18:30 GMT: Will Hazard play in his first Clasico?
Astonishingly, Eden Hazard has not yet played in a Clasico for Real Madrid, having either missed the match due to injury or just been left on the bench. Will he make his way off the bench tonight?
18:20 GMT: Dembele to be in Barcelona XI
According to AS, Xavi Hernandez has included Dani Alves, Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele in Barcelona’s starting line-up.
18:10 GMT: Real Madrid’s XI
Carlo Ancelotti has changed up his system for tonight’s game, as he is going for a four-man midfield with two false nines up top.
Real Madrid’s starting line-up (4-4-2): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Nacho Fernandez; Fede Valverde, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric; Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior.
18:00 GMT: When two artists meet
Tonight will see a meeting of two different composers at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, as Carlo Ancelotti (Beethoven) comes up against Xavi Hernandez (Mozart). They faced off for the first time as head coaches during the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals, when Real Madrid won 3-2 in extra time.
17:40 GMT: Directors’ meal before El Clasico
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and Barcelona counterpart Joan Laporta have both arrived at a Madrid restaurant for the pre-Clasico meal amongst the directors of both clubs.
17:20 GMT: Haaland in the next Clasico?
The focus today is obviously on tonight’s Clasico, but looking ahead to next season and the seasons to come, Real Madrid are hoping to have a star-studded attack that could include Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to pair with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.
17:00 GMT: Barcelona’s predicted Clasico line-up
Xavi doesn’t have so many question marks in his line-up, so Barcelona are expected to start with a strong side.
Barcelona’s predicted starting line-up (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba; Pedri, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong; Ousmane Dembele, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ferran Torres.
16:40 GMT: Real Madrid’s predicted Clasico line-up
Real Madrid are missing Karim Benzema, so that is a big question mark. Marco Asensio is one of the options to lead the line:
Real Madrid’s predicted starting line-up (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Nacho Fernandez; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Rodrygo, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior.
16:20 GMT: What time does El Clasico start? Where can you watch it?
This Sunday’s match between Real Madrid and Barcelona kicks off at 21:00 CET, the local time in Spain. For those living in the UK, you can tune in at 20:00 GMT and watch it on LaLigaTV. For USA-based viewers, the match will begin at 16:00 ET / 13:00 PT and be shown on ESPN+.
Marca
