Barcelona have a last chance to rescue their season as they travel to meet rivals Real Madrid in the "Clasico" derby at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. The reverse fixture in December ended 1-1 at Camp Nou, with Sergio Ramos scoring a late equalizer after Luis Suarez had opened the scoring. Last season Barcelona won 4-0 at Santiago Bernabeu but Real Madrid got revenge with a 2-1 victory in Catalonia. The last five direct meetings show a balanced record, with two wins apiece along with this season's draw.
Real Madrid are in pole position to win the title in LaLiga, they are three points ahead of Barcelona and also have a game in hand on their rivals. A draw in the derby would preserve that advantage and put Real Madrid in a strong position, but a win will all but secure the title. Real Madrid went through a tense Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich this week, they only managed to prevail after extra time and also after some controversial decisions from the referee. Pepe and Raphael Varane remain injured but Gareth Bale should be ready to play. Dani Carvajal will also make his return after a league ban.
Everything seems to go wrong for Barcelona lately, their LaLiga title hopes are hanging by a thread while their Champions League campaign ended after a 3-0 aggregate loss to Juventus. They have failed to win in three of their last four matches in all competitions, probably their weakest streak of the season ahead of probably the most important match of the season. Neymar is suspended for this match, while Aleix Vidal and Rafinha remain sidelined by injuries. Arda Turan also has fitness problems and will probably miss out as well.
Probable line-ups:
Real Madrid: Navas - Carvajal, Ramos, Nacho, Marcelo - Modric, Casemiro, Kroos - Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo
Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Pique, Mascherano, Umtiti - Roberto, Rakitic, Buquets, Iniesta, Alba - Messi, Suarez
My prediction: Real Madrid to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Real Madrid win - 2.10
Draw - 4.00
Barcelona win - 3.10
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