Real Madrid vs Barcelona live updates: El Clasico La Liga clash ...

Where Lewandowski has struggled to score goals, he has been very proficient at putting them on for his team-mates.

Only Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena has more assists in La Liga this season.

Perhaps the best indicator of Bellingham's influence at Real Madrid this season is the fact he is a genuine contender for the Pichichi trophy, the award given to the top goalscorer in La Liga.

Although, he now has two goals to make up as Artem Dovbyk scored in Girona's 4-1 win yesterday.

Robert Lewandowski won the award last season, but has struggled to recreate that form this term and is five goals off the pace of the leader.

The most recent Clasico in La Liga, when Jude Bellingham's goal gave Real Madrid a 2-1 win back in October, was full of drama and decided late. That was decidedly not the case when these two sides met again in the Spanish Super Cup in January.

Vinicius Junior scored twice in the opening 10 minutes and completed a hat-trick by the 39th minute as Madrid led 3-1 at half-time. Rodrygo added Madrid's fourth goal before Barcelona were reduced to 10 men after Ronald Araujo picked up a second booking.

If anything, the 4-1 scoreline flattered Barcelona, such was the ease with which Madrid cut them open in the first 10 minutes.

As the dust settles on another round of European ties, the Premier League’s status as the best league in the world has taken a bit of a punch to the ribs.

Manchester City and Arsenal’s exits from the Champions League on Wednesday were followed up by Liverpool and West Ham United waving goodbye to the Europa League the following evening. Aston Villa’s penalty shootout victory over Lille in the Europa Conference League leaves Unai Emery’s side as the only English team flying the flag in Europe.

Those results mean the Premier League is almost certain to miss out on an extra spot in next season’s expanded Champions League, falling behind Germany and Italy in UEFA’s coefficient rankings.

The mockery of England’s eliminated clubs might linger in the short-term, but is the Premier League actually getting weaker?

Read more of Mark Carey's excellent piece below.

GO FURTHER

Which of Europe’s top leagues are the most competitive? We had a go at measuring it…

Girona's win yesterday strengthened their hopes of a Champions League finish, but their aspirations of challenging for the title have fallen away significantly in recent weeks.

If the table tells us anything, it is that Barcelona (realistically) have to win today to have a chance of retaining their title.

The game between Almeria and Villarreal kicked off around a quarter of an hour ago and that is goalless.

After that, there is still plenty of La Liga action to enjoy in what is left of today and then tomorrow evening.

The first six games of the weekend in La Liga have provided the usual excitement, drama and... goals!

Real Betis boosted their chances of a European finish in a real six-pointer against Valencia while Athletic Club stuttered in their battle to break into the top four.

Here are the scores on the doors so far.

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Barcelona's La Masia academy was considered by many as the driving force behind the all-conquering team of the late noughties and early 2010s.

Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi were all graduates of that academy and all went on to the become the best players in the world in their respective positions.

It is now looking like having a similar effect on the newest iteration of Barcelona with Yamal and Cubarsi among those still a part of the famous set up in Catalonia.

The Athletic's Pol Ballus did a deep dive into Barcelona's treasure trove of talent — which you can read by clicking below.

GO FURTHER

The power of Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy – and why for years it was ignored

Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid had to watch on as Barcelona lifted the La Liga trophy last season, but they are within touching distance of wrestling back the crown.

"We're very close," Ancelotti said of his side's title chances.

"But Barcelona are a very competitive opponent. It's going to be the same old Clasico."

A disappointing Champions League exit in midweek leaves Barcelona facing a rare season without a trophy.

They will need to win today if they want any chance of lifting silverware at the end of the campaign.

"For us it's the most important game of the season," said Xavi. "We have to win to put pressure on the leaders. If we win, we move within five points (of Real Madrid) and that's the scenario we'd like.

"We have extraordinary respect for Real Madrid. We have four points less than last season when we were leaders.

"We're going to give everything to try and compete against a great team."

On a night when Real Madrid gave absolutely everything on the pitch, exhausted bodies were suddenly transformed at the sight of Antonio Rudiger’s penalty sealing their place in the Champions League semi-finals.

Some embraced the scorer, others went for the man who stopped two of Manchester City’s spot kicks, but everyone ran — except, that is, for their hero goalkeeper. Far from celebrating effusively, Andriy Lunin simply walked calmly back to the centre of the pitch, apparently unfazed.

Jude Bellingham was heading in the opposite direction, towards where the 3,000-plus Madrid fans were gathered. On reaching the away section, the England midfielder leapt into the seats to embrace and sing with them — and he wasn’t alone.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side had fought hard and they would celebrate hard. Once again, the Madridistas had made it to a semi-final — their 12th in 14 years. In total, they have done it 33 times. The most successful club in the history of the European Cup/Champions League, with 14 trophies to date, and City — who beat them so soundly last season — were their latest victim.

How did they do it? For manager Ancelotti, it was all about "survival".

GO FURTHER

Real Madrid’s Champions League win at Man City – a study of survival and celebration

Big games for both Barcelona men's and women's teams this weekend.

Hopefully Xavi's side can fare better than Jonatan Giráldez's side.

Barcelona Femeni were handed a rare home defeat — their first in five years — by Emma Hayes' Chelsea in the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Erin Cuthbert's goal was the difference between the teams which, is good news for Barca, as they have next weekend's second leg to turn the tie around.

It was touch and go as to whether Ferland Mendy would be fit to be part of the the Real Madrid squad for today's game, but he has been cleared for inclusion.

The full squad reads like this:

Goalkeepers: Lunin, Kepa, Mario de Luis.

Defenders: Carvajal, Militao, Nacho, Vazquez, Fran Garcia, Rudiger, Mendy.

Midfielders: Bellingham, Kroos, Modric, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Guler.

Forwards: Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Joselu, Brahim.

The Bernabeu looks vey different now to how it looked a few years ago.

In recent years, Barcelona have not fared too badly on their visits there.

The 4-0 win just over two years ago will stand out while they will remember winning the last time they visited.

In this episode, The Athletic’s Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme join Ali Maxwell to reflect on the Champions League quarter finals; which concluded this week.

First up, Bayern Munich let their experience show by knocking out Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate at the Allianz Arena.

We then head to Manchester as reigning European champions Manchester City failed to retain their crown as they were knocked out on penalties by the perennial Kings of Europe Real Madrid.

We also assess Paris St Germain progressing against a poorly disciplined Barcelona as well as discussing Borussia Dortmund doubling the German contingent in the semi-finals with their win over Atletico Madrid.

And it’s in Germany we remain for the rest of the episode to reflect on the incredible achievement of the Bundesliga’s new champions, Bayer Leverkusen.

Barcelona cannot play at the under-renovation Camp Nou, Xavi is leaving at the end of the season and who knows what is going on financially?

Barca fans would be forgiven for worrying what the future holds for them. But a core of brilliant young talent is helping them through a bleak period.

If they can keep it together, without having to sell to satisfy financial shortcomings, glory will never be far away.

Despite ending in disappointment, Barcelona's quarter-final exit from the Champions League provided another glowing endorsements of Pau Cubarsi's talents.

In the first leg, in particular, the 17-year-old hardly put a foot wrong and proved that the future can be bright in Catalonia despite ongoing uncertainty off the pitch.

Stuart James wrote about the latest in a long list of Barcelona's sensations after the first leg in Paris — check it out below.

GO FURTHER

Pau Cubarsi, a 17-year-old showing on the big stage why he is an exceptional talent

Ahead of such a big game, we want to know what you — The Athletic subscribers — think.

Will Barcelona narrow the gap to Real Madrid? Will Ancelotti's side put one hand on the La Liga trophy?

Discuss things like that and more with fellow fans and subscribers in our matchday discussion which you can find by clicking on 'Discuss' at the top of this page.

We will be featuring some of your messages before, during and after the match so what are you waiting for?

The reason the gap to Real Madrid has stayed at just eight points is because Barcelona have put together a strong run of domestic form themselves.

They have won each of their last four La Liga games, extending their unbeaten run to 10 matches.

And in their last six games in the league, they have not conceded a single goal.