Of all of the rivals all around the world in club soccer, there might not be more bitter rivals than Barcelona and Real Madrid.
This game is called El Clasico for a reason, and it should once again be a huge day in La Liga on Saturday when these two enormous teams go to battle.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Real Madrid +150
Barcelona +175
Draw +265
Over/Under 3 (over -130)
ODDS ANALYSIS
Not surprisingly, the total is about as high in this match as you'll ever see in club soccer at 3 trending towards 3.5. These two teams can score goals in bunches, and some of the best strikers in the world are on the pitch.
Real Madrid is never an underdog at home, and this isn't an exception, but it isn't by a grand amount. Cristiano Ronaldo and his men are set at +150 on the moneyline and are PK -124 on the Asian Handicap.
Barca is a dog in a match for the first time this year at +175 on the moneyline and PK +104 on the Asian Handicap.
KEY INJURIES
It's all about Lionel Messi. The Argentine has been out of the fold since September injured, and he was always hoping to be back in the fray for El Clasico.
As it is, some combination of Munir El Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez have taken up the spots in the lineup alongside Luis Suarez and Neymar, but when Messi is back for the Catalan side, it really is pure magic up front.
RECENT FORM
Barcelona has been mowing through teams of late, coming up with clean sheets four times in a row. Domestically, it has taken care of Villarreal at home and Getafe on the road by 3-0 and 2-0 margins respectively.
Real Madrid is sporting the best goal differential in Spain at +19, but a 3-2 loss on the road at Sevilla last weekend was shocking. This came on the heels of what was a dangerous 1-0 win over PSG here at the Bernabeu during the week. Real has allowed at least one goal in three straight La Liga matches, something that we'll discuss in just a moment.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Barcelona is sitting three points clear of Real Madrid right now, and it has done so with Messi missing a good chunk of the season. In our eyes, there's a clear divide between these clubs, and Real had better claim all three points in this edition of El Clasico if it wants any hope whatsoever of winning La Liga.
The real problem we see for Barca is going to come at Real's back. The back line for the Madrid side has been awesome this season in spite of its recent struggles, allowing just six goals in 11 matches and just one in six home games. We do think that Barcelona is going to get on the board in this one, but we think it's going to take more than one to push this game over the total.
Yes, the names like Messi, Neymar, Suarez and Ronaldo make it feel like this game should feature at least four or five goals, but we're going to be contrarians and back the under in what should be a tightly run affair from start to finish.
Real Madrid 1, Barcelona 1
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