Barcelona, March 17 (BUS): The last time Real Madrid played for Barcelona, it ignored a team struggling to find its way after being orphaned by Lionel Messi.
Real Madrid’s 2-1 win in October sparked ugly scenes of angry Barcelona fans banging on Ronald Koeman’s car as the embattled coach drove away from the Camp Nou, according to the Associated Press.
Fast forward to Sunday when Xavi Hernandez’s Barcelona heads to the Santiago Bernabeu to test how close the gap can be with their arch-rival.
Most of the “El Clásico” matches have an impact on the race for the Spanish League title. This time is not much. Real Madrid are enjoying a comfortable lead at the top of the standings, and only a major collapse will prevent them from adding 34 league titles.
With 10 games remaining, Real Madrid leads Seville by 10 points, and Barcelona and Atlético Madrid each lead by 15 points.
The main question for coach Carlo Ancelotti is whether Karim Benzema will be ready to play.
The France striker is doubtful after injuring his left leg in the final minutes of the 3-0 win over Mallorca on Monday. He had to leave the match after scoring two goals to raise his league tally to 22 goals.
The 34-year-old Benzema is playing the best football of his long career this season. He scored eight goals in his last five matches, including a second-half stunt that knocked Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League last week.
If he is not fit to play, Real Madrid will turn to winger Vinicius Junior to lead their attack. His 14 goals in the league are second only to Benzema in the entire competition.
Ancelotti could also play Marco Asensio as the “false nine” and possibly give Federico Valverde a second start in a row as a midfielder.
Barcelona, which Real Madrid faced at the Camp Nou on October 24, has undergone a profound overhaul. In that loss, Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay and Sergiño Dest started as third in front of Barcelona and Philippe Coutinho and Sergio Aguero came off the bench as substitutes.
Now, thanks to the club’s impressive effort to bring in new players into the January transfer window, Barcelona’s attack includes newcomers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ferran Torres and Adama Traore.
And while Coutinho and Aguero are no longer in the squad, 38-year-old Dani Alves is back to play at right-back. Ousmane Dembele, who was injured when playing in October, also sparked Barcelona’s attack.
Aubameyang and Torres have had an immediate impact since joining from Arsenal and Manchester City respectively.
Aubameyang scored six goals in just nine matches, and Torres added five more. Depay also scored twice recently, having missed two months with a hamstring injury, giving him his top 10 goals of the season.
Aubameyang was particularly impressive given that he was on the bench at Arsenal before the English club left him.
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