Barcelona play host to Real Madrid in the first El Clasico fixture of the season on Saturday afternoon looking to close the gap to their arch rivals in the La Liga table to just three points.
Real Madrid make the trip to Camp Nou having not lost in 13 league fixtures this season and victory for Zinedine Zidane's side would leave Barcelona requiring a stellar second half to the campaign in order to defend their crown.
Barcelona
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Barcelona have finished seven of the last eight seasons ahead of Real Madrid which has meant that at the very worst, the Catalan giants have only ever trailed Los Blancos by the smallest of margins.
However, Luis Enrique heads into this weekend's El Clasico facing a six-point deficit after just 13 games and while two thirds of the season still remain, the Barca head coach is aware that his team cannot afford to give up any more ground on their in-form rivals.
The league table will not be Enrique's sole concern. Barcelona have only recorded draws in their last two La Liga encounters and have not won by more than one goal in Spain's top flight since October 15.
At this stage, any win will do for Barcelona but that mentality is not what their supporters have come to expect, and Enrique and the club's star players are under pressure to make a statement when they take to the field on Saturday afternoon.
Lionel Messi is still scoring at a phenomenal rate, with the Argentine having netted 16 goals in his last 11 games and finding the back of the net in seven of the last eight fixtures, but Neymar is without a goal in seven outings and Luis Suarez has not done much better with two goals over the same number of games.
More often than not, Barcelona are unstoppable when each of the MSN trio are firing on all cylinders but when they are not, it opens up opportunities for Real Madrid to capitalise and that is exactly what they have done over recent weeks.
Real are the form side heading into the weekend but sooner rather than later, Neymar and Suarez are going to get back on the goal trail and if that occurs on Saturday, Barca will be back in business in the race for the title.
Recent form: WWWWDD
Recent form (all competitions): LWDWDD
Real Madrid
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Real Madrid have played 21 fixtures this season without suffering defeat but they will be the slight underdogs when they come up against Barca this weekend.
However, while their bid to open up clear daylight between themselves and their rivals has not been helped by the long-term injury to Gareth Bale, they can go into their biggest game of the season knowing that their campaign does not depend on the result of this particular game.
In previous years, poor performances elsewhere have led to Real knowing that their only hope of catching Barca is beating them in El Clascio, but the tables have been turned this time around and they can play without the pressure that has largely hampered them over the past eight seasons.
Zidane's side have only edged through recent clashes with both Sporting Lisbon and Sporting Gijon, but the French coach will look to his side's dismantling of Atletico Madrid at Vicente Calderon as reason to believe that his team can run away with La Liga this season.
The chances of that occurring ultimately come down to the result of Saturday's game but with Cristiano Ronaldo now in full flow, it is difficult to discount Real from surging nine points clear after just 14 matches.
The Portuguese superstar has five goals from his last two La Liga appearances and while the absence of Bale is a significant blow to Real, it gives Ronaldo the opportunity to take centre stage for much of the remainder of the season and he could flourish with the likes of Karim Benzema and Alvaro Morata left to play supporting roles.
Recent form: WWWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): DWWWWW
Team News
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Barcelona have received a huge boost ahead of this fixture with Andres Iniesta having returned to training after a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury.
The midfielder is an unlikely starter but he could be considered fit enough to play the remaining 30 minutes should he be required.
However, defender Jordi Alba is almost certainly an absentee for Enrique after knee and ankle injuries sustained in last week's game with Real Sociedad.
As for Real, Bale has been ruled out until April after ankle surgery while Toni Kroos and Morata have also been left out of the squad because of injury.
However, Raphael Varane is available after recovering from a knock and Zidane must choose whether to select the French international or Pepe in defence.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen, Pique, Mascherano, Digne, Roberto, Rakitic, Busquets, Gomes, Luis Suarez, Messi, Neymar
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Kovacic, Modric, Casemiro; Ronaldo, Benzema, Isco
Head To Head
This weekend's fixture will represent the 232nd time in which these clubs have met in a competitive contest and from a historical perspective, there is barely anything between them with Real winning 93 times in comparison to 90 victories for Barca. The most recent fixture came in April when Real ran out 2-1 winners on opposition territory and it continued a trend of the away team having the most joy over the last five matches with visiting clubs winning on three occasions.
We say: Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid
Games between these two great footballing sides are rarely dull and we expect goals galore at Camp Nou. We are only in the first week of December but Barcelona will be treating this match as a must-win and we are backing their attacking trio to deliver the goods on Saturday afternoon. Real are full of confidence right now but it may not be enough to prevent a motivated Barcelona side edging a thriller.
Darren Plant
