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Another big derby earlier tonight, with Manchester United grabbing a late leveller against City.
Half time: Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid
Is this … is this a Mourinho masterclass? It’s been a while. So far, Real Madrid’s game plan is working perfectly against an out-of-sorts Barcelona. More soon …
47 mins: Double yikes! Diomande is onside and beats a nervous clutch of Barca defenders to the ball … then fires into the side netting. Barcelona are absolutely wide open, and Pedri keeps giving the ball away.
46 mins: Yikes! In the first of two added minutes, Mbappe gets in behind again and smashes a shot against the post … but now the flag goes up.
45 mins: Signs of Barcelona warming up, with Rodri hitting a low effort that Lunin gets down to gather.
43 mins: Huge chance for Lamine Yamal! Fermin’s pass pings through a crowd and finds the No 10 on his own, but he miskicks it wide from a tight angle. We all expected better.
GOAL! Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid (Mbappé 41′)
Another Real Madrid break causes panic in the home defence, Cucurella sweeping it forward to Diomande whose cross is cleared by Gerard Martin but ricochets in off Kylian Mbappé! Fortunate, but deserved.
39 mins: Another frustrating attack fizzles out for Hansi Flick’s side, who are having a hard time breaking down the banks of white shirts in front of them.
37 mins: Barcelona win a free kick as Cucurella grabs at Lamine Yamal’s sleeve. There are protests from Barça players, but that was never worth a booking.
36 mins: Real Madrid have a rare spell of possession in the Barcelona half, but Bernardo Silva sees Pedri nick the ball away from him.
34 mins: Gordon motors into space down the left and forces a near-post save from Lunin … but Lamine Yamal isn’t happy that the ball wasn’t squared in his direction.
33 mins: A chance for Mbappé! Straight away, Madrid charge downfield and he connects acrobatically with Guler’s cross – but the ball flies high over the bar.
32 mins: Real Madrid almost pay for switching off in defence, with Raphinha galloping forward from a quick free-kick and drilling it wide of the near post.
31 mins: It breaks down as Pedri misjudges another pass, allowing Guler to deflect it away. It’s been a nervy first half-hour for the hosts.
30 mins: Balde will slot in at left-back, with Joao Cancelo switching to right-back. Barcelona are now trying to keep the ball better …
28 mins: We pause for a breather after Xavi Espart goes down; the right-back hasn’t looked 100% for the last 10 minutes or so. He’s replaced by Alejandro Balde, while Mourinho offers some hurried advice to Bernardo Silva.
27 mins: Garcia hares off his line to clear away with Mbappe lurking; he’ll need to do more of that with Barcelona’s high line almost in the other half.
26 mins: While I try and work out why Barcelona’s shirt just says ‘GOLF’ on it, Bellingham almost finds the on-rushing Huijsen with a pitch wedge of a pass.
25 mins: At the other end, Guler has Espart isolated but opts for an ambitious shot, which is deflected behind. Barcelona clear the corner away.
24 mins: … Fermin backheels into the path of Raphinha, who fires low and just wide of the far post! End-to-end stuff, this.
23 mins: Mbappe whirs beyond Cubarsi down the right but messes up the cut-back, admittedly without many options. Barcelona sweep downfield …
21 mins: Raphinha gets his first glimpse of goal when Pedri’s deflected pass bobbles into his path. The Barça captain fires just over from the edge of the box.
20 mins: Fermin tries to dribble through traffic but loses the ball. Real Madrid are pressing from the front and causing Barcelona real problems in the buildup.
18 mins: Real Madrid’s counterattacking setup is working well so far, and this time Mbappe bursts away down the left. Cubarsi does really well to stand him up, but the ball is worked to Arda Guler. His snap-shot is pushed out into danger by Joan Garcia. Thankfully for the hosts, nobody in white is there to meet it.
17 mins: Some man-marking tactics from Mourinho: Marc Cucurella is sticking very closely to Lamine Yamal, while Bellingham is tracking Rodri in midfield.
16 mins: Seven fouls already, with Barça committing four of them. It’s warming up nicely.
14 mins: Gordon! Gordon! The England winger has another go from distance, but Lunin is able to pluck it out of the air.
13 mins: Oof! Fermin toe-pokes the ball beyond Cucurella, who brings him down. It’s a textbook yellow card, but Juan Martinez gives a free kick only; safe to say the referee is letting this game flow.
11 mins: Diomande is tackled by Espart in the area, and gets neither a penalty nor a corner, despite his protestations.
9 mins: Grab your bingo cards, because Mourinho is wagging a finger at the referee. Not sure why, as he had just declined to show Tchouameni a yellow card for a mistimed challenge on Xavi Espart.
8 mins: Another lightning passing move has Real Madrid looking stretched, before Bellingham carries it clear and is brought down.
6 mins: Anthony Gordon tests right-back Valverde, cutting inside and sending a shot wide of the far post. Usually in the midfield engine room, Valverde is preferred to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries at right-back tonight.
4 mins: Real Madrid show their threat on the break here, Arda Guler pouncing on Pedri’s poor pass, racing upfield and sending his effort over the bar from a tight angle.
3 mins: Lamine Yamal gets the first shot on target from Huijsen’s error, but it rolls through to Lunin.
2 mins: Barcelona enjoy an early spell of possession, but Yan Diomande does well to nick the ball back under pressure.
1 min: Lamine Yamal sends a quick through ball forward to Raphinha, but Lunin races out of his area to hoof it downfield.
First half
We’re off!
Here we go, then. José Mourinho’s first clásico since 2013 is about to kick off. It could be a busy night for the referee, Juan Martínez.
“In preparation for today’s clásico, I watched the Liverpool-Brighton match,” writes Chris Amirault. “Happy to see Ronald Araújo storming around Anfield and getting some of the biggest cheers of the game. He’s a special player who struggled mentally last year (and bravely went public about it). One can’t help but smile seeing his loan away from Barça play out so successfully.”
Richard Hirst asks: “Can we add this to Peter’s bingo card? … Points out he’s only been the manager for 35 seconds.” A fair shout.
Peter Oh has prepared a José Mourinho bingo card for tonight’s game …
– Berates fourth official
– Kicks water bottle
– Pinches someone’s cheeks
– Pokes someone in a sneaky manner
– Applauds sarcastically
– Winks knowingly
– Runs down the touchline
– Claims to not want to talk about the referee
– Talks about the referee
This is the 265th clásico, and the all-time lead is up for grabs: Barcelona and Real Madrid have both won this fixture 106 times. There have also been 52 draws, but none since March 2020 – a record run of 21 games.
Form guide: Barcelona are seeking their 10th straight win to start the league season, which would eclipse Real Madrid’s record from 1968. Hansi Flick’s side are on a 23-game home winning run in La Liga, but did suffer defeat to PSG in the Champions League in midweek.
As for Real Madrid, they thumped Leipzig 4-1 at the Bernabéu but their problems in La Liga have come on the road, with defeats to Atlético and Betis. The clubs’ recent head-to-head record is very much in favour of Barça: they’ve won six of the last seven meetings.
Just over 30 minutes to go – here’s how the La Liga title race stands before kick-off.
Some essential pre-match reading, from Sid Lowe.
Team news
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García; João Cancelo, Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Xavi Espart; Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Fermín López, Gordon; Raphinha (c).
Subs: Szczesny, Livakovic, Balde, Fariñas, Gavi, De Jong, Bernal, Adeyemi, Abdelkarim, Campos, Goren.
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Lunin; Valverde (c), Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella; Tchouameni, Bernardo Silva; Diomande, Bellingham, Arda Güler; Mbappé.
Subs: Mestre, Illia, Militão, Camavinga, Endrick, Alexander-Arnold, Carreras, Espí, Brahim Díaz, Rüdiger, Dumfries, Thiago.
Tonight’s game also takes place against a weekend of unrest in Barcelona. There were 128 arrests overnight for acts of “vandalism, damage to public property and looting” in the city centre, according to the regional Catalan police.
The match is still going ahead, with an increased security presence already in place after the game was deemed “high-risk” by police last week. Back in 2019, this fixture was postponed due to protests in Barcelona.
We’ll have full team news shortly, but Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois has already been ruled out of tonight’s game due to illness. “Courtois is a last-minute withdrawal (from the squad) due to a bout of the flu,” Madrid said in a statement. The Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin is set to step in for Mourinho’s side.
Preamble
Is the clásico making a comeback? A bitter rivalry that has raged for more than a century, Barcelona v Real Madrid may have been the world’s biggest sporting fixture during the era of Ronaldo and Messi, Mourinho and Guardiola. Incredibly skilful players dragged into extraordinarily spiteful on-pitch battles, each game felt like a heavyweight title fight.
These two teams remain the dominant forces in Spain, and their mutual hatred of one another is still very much intact. Still, the clásico has lost some of its intensity in recent years – but there are signs it may be coming back. Chief among those signs is Mourinho’s dramatic return to Real Madrid, where he is rebuilding the media war that wore both coaches out at the end of the rivalry’s unmissable age.
There is also, crucially, a touch of jeopardy about tonight’s game, particularly for the visitors. Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have started the league season with nine straight wins and are six points ahead of Madrid; that gap could be nine points, or three points, after tonight’s events at Camp Nou. The outcome may depend on Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé, two exceptional players poised to dominate this derby for the next decade.
In short, the biggest game in world football is back. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT, 9pm local time, so get comfortable.
#Barcelona #Real #Madrid #Clásico #live #Barcelona
