Every derby has two fierce rivals with a historic rivalry, but none go beyond this sport like El Clásico. This time, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will face each other on LaLiga's Matchday 10 at Spotify Camp Nou (9 p.m. CET), but what deserves our attention the most right now is how they arrive at this special match.
On the visiting side, the Merengues need to win in order to close the gap with the leaders of the championship. Despite the fact that it is too early to take anything for granted, the truth is that a 9-point difference after 10 games could leave José Mourinho's second Madridista project in a quite delicate position.
The Portuguese coach will not be able to count on Vinícius Jr., who is still sanctioned after being sent off against Villarreal. Nevertheless, one player who can play in a few hours is Arda Güler, in spite of the polemic hit with his elbow to a rival when facing Sevilla last Sunday, which may have left his team with a man down right before he opened the scoring, being this a key moment in the eventual big win of the Blancos by 4-1, which was the same result as the one they achieved three days after, also at home, on UEFA Champions League's League Phase Matchday 3 (vs. RB Leipzig).
As for the local team, their situation in the league could not be better: they have won all of their 9 matches so far and are 5 points away from their closest rival on the table, Atlético de Madrid. It is worth mentioning that they still have to quickly leave behind their first defeat of the season at Paris Saint-German (4-2) on Tuesday; however, their win at Real Betis (2-5) three days earlier might help them to put some pressure aside, since they know that, no matter the score, they will still remain solo learers.
Regarding the available players for this match, Dani Olmo will not be able to play for about a month after getting injured against PSG. Besides, Eric Garcia and Jules Koundé are also out of Hansi Flick's squad for the same reason. Looking at the attack, it is not clear yet whether Raphinha is ready to play the whole 90 minutes, but his progressive comeback gives Culers more hope after having played 60' as a starter in France.
All of this being said, it all comes down to this. This Clásico, even though we do not know what is to come until the kick-off, will draw the attention of millions of football fans across the world one more time. When the referee makes the opening whistle, all of our assumptions have to be put aside. The only thing we can do then is watch which team will be able to use its resources better to get the victory.