It’s been reported that Karim Benzema will be ready for this fixture after suffering a hamstring injury, with Gareth Bale starting.
Advertisement
Messi has not played since injuring his left knee in the win against Las Palmas in September.
But thanks to a strengthened partnership between Neymar and Luis Suarez on the attack, Barcelona has maintained a three point lead over Real and a few even say that if Barcelona wins, they will inevitably win the La Liga title.
That kind of off-field distraction is the last thing Real need and it remains to be seen whether Benzema will be physically – and mentally – fit to face Barca.
“He has been in Madrid for a lot of years and maybe he could find a new path. Players seek out the best contracts”.
“There is extra motivation this week so I am very optimistic going into this game”.
“Without the players behind us though we would be nothing and we wouldn’t achieve anything”. Although you’ve had success before, the challenge at Real Madrid is much bigger.
Madrid come into the game under pressure.
It may be hard to compare players of different eras, and only since the arrival of Johan Cruyff as coach in the late 1980s with his revolutionary style of play have Barca regularly fielded three forwards, but the present trio stand out. Both sides have enjoyed positive starts to the season, but Celta travel looking to recover from their surprise defeat at home to Valencia.
Bale’s just over two-year spell in Madrid has been a largely disappointing one given the reported world record fee Real paid Tottenham Hotspur for his services.
“Obviously, this week we have to take measures to give greater security to everyone, but there are measures which the police know how to handle”.
They also quote Neymar as saying: ‘I hope to play even better against Real Madrid tomorrow.
Speaking about his return to the side, Bale said: “I’ve been out with injury for six weeks so I haven’t had a chance to play much this season”.
By contrast, there is an impression that Real Madrid are in a bad way, not playing well and are too defensive (more on that later, as I think that is a harsh judgment of the reality of the team). The Crescent-Stars are unbeaten in their last 11 games and the 28-year-old has featured in 10 of them. Th ey have kept a clean sheet in their last four games in all competitions and scored eight goals in the process. So while Barcelona obviously dropped a bit in that specific position, the team gathered around to make up for that and the team keeps chugging along.
Advertisement
Ronaldo has 13 goals in 15 games for Madrid this season, but has not yet hit the heights of previous campaign, and failed to find the target in poor recent Blancos performances against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and Sevilla in La Liga. Messi, though, has appeared in all 24 El Clasicos since the Portuguese arrived in Spain.
