Barcelona Looks to Widen Gap Against Real Madrid in Clasico

For weeks, Barcelona, the leaders of La Liga, have been looking forward to Sunday’s Clasico. They see it as an opportunity to increase their lead over Real Madrid to nine points.

But there have been some issues leading up to the match at Camp Nou. Hansi Flick’s team suffered their first loss of the season against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Real Madrid is on a roll, winning four matches in a row. They beat RB Leipzig on Wednesday and are starting to play like a solid team for the first time since Jose Mourinho took over this summer.

Despite this, the situation still favors Flick. Raphinha is fit again and Lamine Yamal, the young winger, is in great form. Barcelona is confident they can build on their six-point lead over third-placed Madrid.

Clasicos often change a team's fortunes. Last season, Madrid won their first match against Barcelona. However, Vinicius Junior’s angry reaction when he was substituted caused problems for Xabi Alonso’s new coaching era.

Alonso was let go just over two months later, and Alvaro Arbeloa, his replacement, couldn’t stop Madrid from finishing another season without a major trophy. Meanwhile, Barcelona easily kept hold of the Spanish title.

On Sunday, Brazil's Vinicius will not play due to suspension. Even with his recent poor form, his absence might actually help Madrid find a better strategy under Mourinho.

“Vinicius’s four-match suspension was seen within Real Madrid more as a solution than a problem,” reported Spanish daily AS.

Mourinho has typically used all his star players when they are available. This creates challenges in balancing the team's attacking and defensive strategies.

Yan Diomande, who was a record signing at 140 million euros ($157 million), adds more defensive strength. He is beginning to find his form in attack, so Mourinho might pick him against Barcelona.

Another option for Mourinho could be to add an extra midfielder to disrupt Flick’s attacking style. This tactic is something Mourinho knows well. However, PSG showed that Barcelona can be beaten when attacked.

Despite Madrid’s recent wins, Mourinho stated that “confidence doesn’t exist” in Clasicos.

“It’s not a game like the others. We’re losing 24 hours of rest compared to Barcelona,” Mourinho complained on Wednesday.

Barcelona also has its own issues. They have several injury worries in defense. Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen are out, and Jules Kounde is uncertain to play. Midfielder Dani Olmo is also injured.

Additionally, Barcelona conceded four goals against PSG, showing they have not fixed their defensive problems. This has been a concern during the Flick era, partly due to their high defensive line.

“We made too many mistakes, especially in ball possession, easy ball losses,” Flick admitted. “This is what we have to analyze.

“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 they still have a great scoring touch. They have scored at least two goals in every game 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 is averaging over four goals a game this season. Raphinha is the top scorer in the league with 12 goals, which is three more than Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid. Yamal is third with eight goals.

Mbappe and Yamal are both hoping to be named the best player in the world at the Ballon d'Or ceremony on Monday. But the bigger prize for their teams would be a win in the Clasico.