Barcelona will entertain Real Madrid at the Nou Camp on Saturday afternoon hoping to pick up all three points from El Clasico. The Catalans managed to earn a 5-1 win over Ferencvárosi TC in midweek which should keep them in high spirits ahead of this weekend’s clash versus Los Blancos.
Ronald Koeman is expected to stick with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation and might bring Antoine Griezmann back for this highly anticipated league encounter at Catalonia.
4-2-3-1 Barcelona Predicted Lineup To Face Real Madrid
Defence
Neto will once again play in goal for the Catalans in the injury absence of Marc-André ter Stegen who remains sidelined with a knee problem. Clement Lenglet will retain his spot alongside Gerard Pique at the centre of the Barca backline as they look to keep Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema quiet throughout the 90 minutes.
Sergi Roberto will be a guaranteed starter at right-back while Sergiño Dest focusses on producing an impressive performance on the other side as the left-back. Koeman will instruct both his full-backs to maintain a good defensive shape at the back as well as make some driving runs with the ball out on the flanks.
Ronald Araújo will make up the numbers on the bench as he provides some added cover for the defensive positions.
Midfield
Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets will resume their partnership at the centre of the park as they try to dominate the battle in midfield and engineer some decent chances to secure all three points from this contest. The accomplished trio of Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann will operate just ahead of them as part of Koeman’s attack. Griezmann could be instructed to swap places with Lionel Messi up top during the game so that the pair can cause all sorts of headaches for the Madrid defenders this weekend.
Pedri will be available for selection on the bench as he looks to catch the eye as a second-half substitute if Koeman decides to call upon his services.
Attack
Lionel Messi will once again spearhead the Barca attack up top. The Argentine maestro managed to get his name on the scoresheet versus Ferencvárosi TC in midweek which will give his confidence a boost ahead of this exciting El Clasico at the Nou Camp.
Martin Braithwaite will be a part of the Barcelona bench as he waits for his chance to make an impact in the latter stages of the game if needed.
