La Liga: Early El Clasico Might Set the Tone in the Title Race

Barcelona vs Real Madrid

After the first 10 matchdays of the 2023-24 campaign, El Clasico is finally here as two age-old rivals, Barcelona and Real Madrid, convene at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday night.

The La Liga duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid still exists today because they remain title contenders, with the latter at the top of the standings with 25 points while the former is in third place, trailing only by one point.

Defending champions Barcelona slightly have better recent form because they’re the only undefeated team left in the competition, whereas Real Madrid were recently held to a 1-1 draw by Sevilla.

But in rivalries like these, those don’t matter much because, more than anything, pride is on the line. So, whoever wins here would not only get the top spot but also the bragging rights.

Talking Points

Barcelona can do Felix a huge favour

While many Barca players have experience beating Real Madrid before, the same can’t be said for Joao Felix, who is searching for that satisfying feeling for so long.

Prior to Saturday, the Portuguese centre-forward had faced Real Madrid eight times, and he’s never tasted victory (D2, L6). And the worst part is that he never made a considerable impact in those losses because he never recorded a goal or an assist.

To be fair, those results came during his time at Atletico Madrid. But now that he’s in a better squad at Barcelona, this may finally be the time for him to end his drought.

It’s safe to say that Felix is adjusting well to his new squad, as he is their third-leading scorer with three goals and has three assists. He didn’t finish their Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk yesterday, so he should have fresh legs against Los Blancos.

With Robert Lewandowski still injured, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal will accompany Felix up front, while Fermin Lopez, Gavi, and Marc Guiu, who scored his first senior goal against Athletic Bilbao, will get their chances as well.

Will Rodrygo finally turn it around for Real Madrid?

Rodrygo finally returned to the scoresheet for Los Blancos, as he fired the first goal in their 2-1 victory against Braga in their latest Champions League group stage match.

Prior to last night, Rodrygo failed to find the back of the net on 11 straight occasions, which was difficult for his confidence. At times, his place in Carlo Ancelotti’s starting XI was questioned, but kudos to the whole team for not giving up on him.

So he comes into El Clasico with better morale, and he can certainly give Barcelona’s backline problems with his speed and energy.

While Jude Bellingham gets all the attention for his exploits, Rodrygo should not be ignored alongside his wing partner, Vinicius Jr.

History

El Clasico is arguably the most storied rivalry in football. Their first-ever meeting dates back to May 1902, when Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-1 in the Copa de la Coronación.

In the 296 matches played prior to this weekend, which included friendlies, Barcelona had the edge with 124 wins, while Real Madrid had 108 wins and 64 draws.

Barcelona and Real Madrid split their league meetings last season, with the former winning 2-1 in March 2023 and the latter winning 3-1 in October 2022.

In the Spanish Super Cup final in January this year, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-1, which was Xavi’s first trophy as the Blaugrana’s head coach.

Los Blancos got their revenge in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, eliminating the Catalans with an aggregate tally of 4-1 after two legs. Carlo Ancelotti’s men went on to win the trophy after downing Osasuna in the final.

These two clubs met most recently in a friendly held in Texas last July, where Barcelona won 3-0 against Real Madrid.

Betting Tip 

The SBOTOP La Liga 2023 odds predict a close fight between these two El Clasico rivals, which is expected since they’re evenly matched.

Because they’re at home, Barcelona were given the slight edge at 2.43, whereas Real Madrid are 2.61 odds to win, and a draw is at 3.25 in the 1X2 market.

El Clasico is one of the most unpredictable fixtures in football because it’s hard to guess the outcome whenever they meet up, and it can be either high or low-scoring.

But given how they’ve played lately, we believe that we will see enough La Liga 2023 highlights from this contest, making Over 3.00 at 2.00 one of the surefire bets out there.

 

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