Barcelona travel to Real Madrid for Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash knowing that they are in need of a performance and, preferably, a positive result. Swiftly on the back of Wednesday evening’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Inter Milan, which sees la Blaugrana edge closer to two successive failures to get out of the Champions League group phase, manager Xavi Hernandez could do with a mood-changing afternoon.
The last time Barcelona visited the Santiago Bernabeu, Xavi’s young team triumphed 4-0 and a similar result would be just the tonic now, moving them ahead of Real in this season’s two-horse title race.
The current tumult and need for a reaction has come as a surprise. Barcelona’s squad is far stronger, at least on paper, from a few months ago. Spending has topped €200 million with Robert Lewandowski already proving good value having scored 14 goals since arriving in the summer; Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Jules Kounde were also brought in.
High salaries were offered to players with champion calibre, such as European Cup-winners Marcos Alonso and Andrea Christensen and to Franck Kessie, fresh from AC Milan’s Serie A success. The ‘financial levers’ that club president Joan Laporta says Barcelona have pulled to negotiate such an outlay despite the club’s substantial debts have, and continue to be, discussed.
But the long and short of it is that failing to qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds is a serious problem, and one that also places greater significance on maintaining a La Liga title charge. Xavi is fully aware of the situation in which he finds himself and the need to maintain the tussle with Madrid.
After Sunday’s encounter, Barcelona face Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao and Valencia in consecutive match-days before the World Cup break. However, minds in Catalonia are solely focused on this weekend for now.
The Barcelona side that will line up against Carlo Ancelotti’s team are in many respects a flashback to the Real Madrid of the Galactico years. Throughout the 2000s, Real prided themselves on signing the big names while Barcelona set to work on crafting a team of academy graduates. The tables haven’t completely turned now, but there is an element of truth to this currently being a fixture between Barcelona’s individual stars and Real Madrid’s calibrated outfit.
Vini Jr is carrying Real's title charge
If there is one player Barcelona will fear encountering at the Bernabeu, it’s Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian winger has developed into one of his team’s most valuable players. As Ancelotti’s men surged to only their second La Liga and Champions League double in 64 years, the 22-year-old scored or created a further 11 goals after that Clasico debacle last March — including the winner in the Champions League final.
Vinicius’s responsibility — like his stock — has grown sharply in recent months. With Casemiro gone, striker Karim Benzema only being able to feature twice in the past five weeks, the team unable to stop conceding in the league and Thibaut Courtois sidelined because of back trouble, Vinicius has been the man to maintain Madrid’s title credentials.
Real, like Barcelona, have not yet lost a domestic game this term and Vinicius has scored or assisted in all but two of Madrid’s 12 games. The talented Brazilian also symbolises Madrid’s current state; despite issues or injuries, they keep on scoring, winning and living up to expectations. The contrast to Barcelona and their own winger, the out-of-form Ousmane Dembele, is stark.
The Catalan team, right now, are playing football which looks devoid of a system. It’s a collection of good players, some of them excellent, where the ball is shuttled forward in the hope that one of the special players will do something special. Dembele, being one of them, can only wish for the consistency with which Vinicius performs.
Although their current league records are the same, the mood music surrounding Barcelona and Madrid differs. In the long run it is difficult to see Xavi’s team keeping up with Ancelotti’s tuned-in group.
Despite the lavish outlay on players in the transfer window, it is Barcelona who find themselves laden with pressure so early in the season. A win in Madrid would go some way to calming nerves.