La Liga 2016/17: 5 reasons why Real Madrid will win the El Clasico
The El Clasico is one of the most fiercely contested and longest running rivalries on the planet; with the league title often decided in these titanic clashes between two of the world’s biggest clubs. This sense of rivalry is further deepened by the fact that they represent opposing political factions; Real representing Spanish nationalism and Barcelona viewed to be representing Catalan nationalism.
One of the biggest club games in the footballing world, it’s hard to remember a time when this affair hasn’t been a heated one, with fights and arguments all too commonplace during matches.
A conflict that has long surpassed the sporting dimensions, the storied history of the two clubs ensures that there is often a lot more at stake than mere bragging rights.
Real Madrid will be visiting the Camp Nou come December 3rd and will be fighting it out to ensure a win and to extend their lead on top of La Liga to 9 points, potentially dealing a hammer-blow to Barca’s title aspirations. Barcelona, on the other hand, will be hoping to take advantage of home soil to ensure that they come within one point of the Los Blancos with a victory.
With the match surely to be a hotly contested affair, we list 5 reasons why we think the Merengues will be leaving Catalonia with all 3 points.
#5 Barcelona are currently in a poor run of form
While the Blaugrana are currently 2nd in the La Liga standings, they already trail Real Madrid by 6 points with 1/3rd of the season already gone.
While they do boast a home advantage when the Los Blancos come to visit next weekend, they have been visibly labouring to get results in the past few weeks and a hungry Madrid side will punish the mistakes the so-called ‘lesser-sides’ have failed to capitalise on.
Barcelona failed to keep the pressure up on Madrid this weekend as they drew 1-1 to Real Sociedad at the Anoeta, with the Basque side comfortably outplaying their illustrious opponents. They also drew their last game at the Camp Nou 0-0 to Malaga, and arguably the visitors had more than their fair share of chances to win the game. That draw made it Barcelona’s worst start to a La Liga season since Messi’s debut 9 years ago.
Take the 3-1 loss to Manchester City in the Champions League into account and you get the feeling that the Catalans haven’t quite been themselves this past month.
And while all semblance of form is thrown out the window for these feisty affairs, Zidane will feel his side will go into this clash as favourites with their recent form having been pretty impeccable.