Barca, Real Madrid Under Pressure Ahead Of El-Classico

By Ekene Dike

Saturday’s El Clasico will be played behind closed doors for the first time in a decade. Noise from supporters of both sides which usually sparks up the stadiums when these Spanish heavyweights battle on the field will be missing as Barcelona host Real Madrid at Camp Nou.

This season has been filled with highs and lows for Ronald Koeman and Zinedine Zidane. Koeman led Barcelona to two wins and a draw in his first three games in charge this season. A stunning defeat to Getafe in their last La Liga outing exposed the weaknesses of the team.

More worrisome for Barcelona is that their talisman, Lionel Messi has dwindled in form and is far from his best.

The Argentine, has scored two goals in five games. Disappointingly, they both came from the penalty spot. This shows that Messi’s days as the Messiah of the team are now gone. Barcelona can only be thankful that Ansu Fati who has scored four goals in five games could be relied on against their biggest rivals.

Be that as it may, a convincing 5-1 victory over Ferencvaros in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday gave the team a relief after the defeat to Getafe.

Likewise, Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid outfit have not had it rosy so far. Two recent ignominious defeats to newly promoted Cadiz in La Liga and Shakhthar Donetsk in the Champions League on their home ground have been followed by criticism. The defending Spanish champions have to bounce back from defeat and silence their critics. Zidane has got a lot of work to do while coordinating his squad on Saturday.

However, Brazilian superstar Vinicius Jr has been working wonders from the flanks this season. He is one to watch out for.

What makes this particular sub-plot of El Clasico more riveting is that new heroes like Ansu Fati and Vinicius Jr could save the day, the teams aren’t in great form and the pressure is mounting on both managers to win the first El Clasico of the season.

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