Barcelona: The woes of Lionel Messi’s exit would continue to haunt Barcelona even more as they take on arch-rivals Real Madrid at Camp Nou on October 24.
Barcelona has had quite a struggling season so far, with the absence of Lionel Messi thoroughly felt as the team sits at the 7th position currently. Manager Ronald Koeman has been holding onto quite thin strings for quite some time however with two consecutive wins against Valencia CF and Ukrainian Dynamo Kyiv, Koeman managed to hold a little longer. However, his future at the club will vehemently depend on the El Clasico result.
On the other hand, Real Madrid started the season on a very high note but faltered with losses against FC Sheriff, Espanyol and an underwhelming stalemate against Villarreal. But, the Blancos gained their momentum as they routed Shakhtar Donetsk with a 5-0 scoreline.
Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembelé and Martin Braithwaite will be sidelined, but the biggest blow would be the absence of Spanish wonder kid Pedro Gonzalez along with Ronal Araujo.
18-year-old La Masia star Alex Balde might take the place of Jordi Alba who will be missing out following an injury. Sergi Roberto is set to replace Oscar Mingueza while a very disappointing Lukk De Jong will be replaced by the new No. 10 Ansu Fati.
Else, Real Madrid will miss on the services of Gareth Bale and Dani Ceballos, while a fired-up Benzema will be leading upfront with Vinicius Junior who is soaring high with his power-packed performance in Real Madrid’s Champions League win.
While this will be the first time, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo is with Barcelona and Real Madrid during a Clasico, it will be quite interesting to watch the youngsters take the field in the most vital clash of the game.
