Real Madrid vs Barcelona, La Liga: Team News, El Clásico Preview ...

Competition/Round: 2023-24 La Liga, Matchday 32

Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Gavi, Alejandro Balde (out)

Real Madrid Outs & Doubts: Thibaut Courtois, David Alaba (out)

Date/Time: Sunday, April 21, 2024, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona), 8pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 12.30am IST (India, Monday)

Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain

Referee: César Soto Grado

VAR: José María Sánchez Martínez

On TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), Premier Sports 1 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Sports18 (India), Movistar (Spain), others

Online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), Movistar+ (Spain), others

Following a heartbreaking defeat to Paris Saint-Germain to end their Champions League journey in midweek, Barcelona return to action for their last chance to save their season when they travel to Spanish capital for the final El Clásico of the campaign against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday night.

Barça come into this one on the back of yet another humiliation in Europe, letting their best chance of reaching the Final in years slip away in extraordinary fashion as the Catalans took the lead, went down to 10 men, collapsed in the second half and lost by a big margin once again in what at this point has become an annual tradition of continental disasters.

They have no choice but to pick up the pieces and go again, and hope that 2024-25 will finally bring a successful journey in Europe a full decade after winning their last Champions League crown. It seems like the trophy with big ears is nothing more than a distant dream at this point, and Wednesday was a painful reminder that Barça are very much still a club in financial hell in the middle of a long rebuild and things might still be tough for a little while longer.

All they can do now is try to win the next match, and the next match brings a massive but wonderful challenge: Barça can reignite the title race and cut Real Madrid’s lead at the top of the table to five points with six games to go, putting pressure on Los Blancos to not slip up in the remaining month of league action. Barça’s title hopes will remain thin even with a victory, but at least the final six games will mean something for Xavi Hernández and his troops.

Anything other than a Barça win pretty much ends the title race, and a Madrid victory will essentially start the party for the leaders on Sunday. They will no doubt be hungry to bring further embarrassment to what already has been a horrible week for Barça, and their confidence is sky high after upsetting Manchester City and advancing to the Champions League semi-finals.

Barça are huge underdogs in this one, and a win at the Bernabéu would absolutely be an upset. But you never know in football, and Barça owe a strong performance to themselves and more importantly to the fans. It’s been a very tough week for anyone who bleeds Blaugrana, and a win in El Clásico, even if it means nothing in the end of the title race, would at least give us a much-needed reason to smile.

Forget dancing. Just win, please.

Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsí, Cancelo; Christensen, De Jong; Yamal, Gündogan, Raphinha; Lewandowski

Real Madrid (4-4-2): Lunin; Carvajal, Rüdiger, Nacho, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouaméni, Kroos, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinícius

I really want to force myself to believe Barça have a miracle run in them that will start with an unlikely win in this one, but I just can’t see it: 3-1 Madrid, and La Liga over.