This weekend’s La Liga action finishes with the biggest game of them all as Real Madrid and Barcelona go head to head on Sunday in the 249th official El Clasico.
Getting the opening goal will be hugely important and bookmaker 10bet has the odds at 1.68 for Real to open the scoring and at 2.15 for Barcelona to score first.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 17th, 6:00 P.M. (EST)
It’s the third El Clasico this season and Barca will be looking for their first win. They took a 2-1 loss at the Camp Nou in the league on Oct. 24 and were taken down 3-2 in extra time on Jan. 12 in the Spanish Super Cup. The results mean that Real have now gone six games unbeaten in the matchup.
Los Blancos are heavily favored to avoid defeat again. They have built themselves a nice five-game winning streak across all competitions and have lost at home just once all season.
Real boast a comfortable 10-point lead at the top of the La Liga table and showed last week in the Champions League against PSG that they might be on their way to doing something special in Europe as well this season.
Carlo Ancelotti has plenty of critics because Real can look quite pragmatic with their play, but it’s a results business and the Italian has done superbly during his comeback campaign delivering 30 wins from 41 matches and losing just five times.
Under Ancelotti, Real have become a defensive juggernaut and the duo of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior has transformed into one of the best attacking units in Europe. The two have directly combined for eight La Liga goals this season, which is more than any other duo in the top five European leagues.
Barca might be outsiders for the game, but they also head into the match-up in top form. The Blaugrana haven’t dropped a game in 90 minutes since Dec. 12 and will look to extend their unbeaten streak in all competitions to 20 games.
Xavi’s men have been firing on all cylinders lately notching a number of big wins, which no doubt has lifted the team’s confidence through the roof. The winter signings have worked out well and it looks like by acquiring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Barca have gotten themselves a new goal machine.
Aubameyang has scored five La Liga goals in just six outings and boasts seven goals in 10 appearances across all competitions. His reputation took a nosedive during his final couple of seasons in the Premier League, but Xavi has praised his work rate a lot and even called him a “gift fallen from heaven” after last weekend’s 4-0 win over Osasuna. Barca fans might feel the same on Sunday if Aubameyang can end the team’s win-less run in the El Clasico.
