In-form Barça looking for El Clásico win to dent Madrid’s unbeaten run

Matchday three of the 2024-25 Champions League saw both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona deliver dazzling midweek performances against Bundesliga opposition as Los Blancos bagged five second half goals to beat Dortmund 5-2 with Barcelona, boosted by an in-form Raphinha bagging a triple as they beat Bayern Munich 4-1 at Montjuic.

Both emphatic wins and performances only serve to enhance the build-up ahead of Saturday’s first El Clásico clash of the season with the action taking place at the newly renovated Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

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There is more than just three points on the line come the weekend with Madrid looking to equal the longest-ever unbeaten run in La Liga this weekend when they take on the Catalan giants. At present Carlo Ancelotti’s side have put together a 42 match unbeaten run in the Spanish domestic league and a win/draw on Saturday would see them draw level with the run put together by Barça under Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde in 2017-18 when the ‘Blaugrana’ went 43 Games without defeat.

The run eventually came to an end in dramatic fashion as relegation threatened Levate beat Barça 5-4 in Valencia in May 2018 with Real Madrid’s last league loss coming at the hands of city rivals Atletico in September of 2023.

Madrid stronger in recent Clásicos

A late winner from Jude Bellingham saw Madrid win the corresponding fixture last season 3-2 and recent statistics also favour the side from the capital with Real Madrid also winning four of the last five league meetings against Barça at the Bernabeu.

However, this FC Barcelona side under Hansi Flick is a different proposition with the Catalan side just tasting defeat once this season in LaLiga having won their other nine games to top the table.

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The Blaugrana are also boosted by the return of three key players with Dani Olmo, Fermin Lopez back in the team and Gavi another welcome return after almost a year away from the game after an ACL injury.

Raphina is also something of a revelation this season with the Brazilian bagging three goals in the win over Bayern and after an indifferent season last year, Robert Lewandowski has been invigorated under the new German coach and is current top scorer in LaLiga.

No Courtois or Rodrygo

In addition to Dani Carvajal’s long term absence following surgery, the win over Dortmund on Tuesday came at a price with the news that both striker Rodrygo and keeper Courtois picked up knocks that will rule them out of Saturday’s game.

Despite being unbeaten in LaLiga this season, Madrid have failed to convince in many Games and are still looking to fill the massive central hole left by Toni Kroos’ retirement. The good news that after a period of adaptation, Kylian Mbappé is starting to look more comfortable and the French striker is now finding the net and Saturday’s match presents the perfect stage for Jude Bellingham to reignite the close relationship he has built-up with the Bernabeu faithful despite not having found the next at all this season.

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The Estadio Santiago Bernabeu has also proven to be a formidable fortress with Madrid yet to slip-up in any of their 34 comPetitive matches in front of their own fans since the start of last season. They have kept a clean sheet in 18 of those Games, and only three teams have managed to take points off them in La Liga.

All the ingredients are in place for a thriller on Saturday night.