Expectations for El Clasico 🍿 Can Real Madrid compete with Barcelona? | ESPN FC

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El Clasico preview: Would a Real Madrid loss effectively end the La Liga title race?

The show previews Barcelona vs Real Madrid in El Clasico, focusing on the table gap, possible internal crisis and Real's unsettled lineup if they lose. The guest argues Real cannot simply sit back and foul to contain Barcelona and must play forward; Barcelona's midweek PSG game should not be overread because Flick rotated with the Clasico in mind.

Shaka Hislop, Ale Moreno, Don Hutchison, Craig Burley and Dan Thomas join Kay Murray on ESPN FC to preview Sunday’s LALIGA match between Barcelona and Real Madrid and how this El Clasico will impact the rest of the season. ✔️ Subscribe to ESPN Unlimited: https://plus.espn.com/ ESPN ESPNFC

Transcript

The big one hits the calendar this weekend. It's Barcelona against Real Madrid. Barcelona in first after nine games. They are perfect so far this season and they are yet to lose a league game. Real Madrid for their part have already lost two. What's going on out there, Dan? There seems to be a bit of a clatter. >> The the television was just blown over by the wind. >> Oh no. >> And now it's being fixed. It's very exciting. Can you tell us then, Dan? Seeing as though you're there. Listen, if if if Freddy, our producer, who who is fixing it, if if he if he just steps up, you'll see a rather large bald head on your camera. You think it's Robo, right? Anyway, >> it's a younger version of Robo with a smile on his face. >> Yeah, less bitter, right? Uh Real Madrid against Barcelona. This is all about Real Madrid, isn't it, Craig? In a sense that if they lose this, then they've pretty much lost the title. >> Yeah. the nine points, you know, picking them the infighting that would particularly, you know, we talked about this a little earlier, particularly if if Barcelona wiped the floor with them on Sunday, which is possible the way they're playing. You just never know. I don't think that will happen. I think it may be a bit tighter than that, but the goals have been pretty easy for them to come. Uh if that was the case and nine points, you'd find it very, very difficult for them to come back. So, it's huge. You know, if Real Madrid lose, there's going to be, we talked about Man United squabbling and infighting. It's going to be the same at Real Madrid. There'll be an inquest. There'll be a debrief. There'll be a blame game. Uh so it is massive for them. I suppose the Leipig result was a was a was a bonus for them although they have been shipping goals for fun uh in the Bundesliga got hammered by Bayern Munich. So it's really really intriguing. And also we have no idea what Mourinho's team is going to be. You know we know Mbappy will play. We know Bellingham will play. Uh we know probably Chime and people like that. But where's Gul going to play? Where's Vverde going to play? Uh who's going to be the wide player on the other side from from Diamandi? You know, what's the the center back pairing going to be? Uh you know, Denzel Dfree and Trent Alexander Arnold. Well, we know Alexander Arnold won't play, but is Ve going to go back in and Dfreeze comes in. You know, you didn't want I don't think Hendrick will play. I know he played last week, but uh it's a that there lies the problem, one of the problems for for Jos Mourinho that that uh you know, we're so many games into this La Liga season and I think going into the biggest game of the season, he's probably had four or five different teams down in paper and I'm not sure I make a change there. Whereas Hansy Flick uh is pretty much putting his best 11 out. Rafin is back. Uh we know pretty much what their team's going to be. So that's a much slicker outfit. Are we going to see a scrappy Real Madrid side like we did against Atletico in a sense where they're going to want to frustrate Barcelona? They're not want to give them any chances on the ball. There's going to be those niggly fouls. There's going to be time wasting. It's going to be complaining to the referee. Is that the way in which they're going to set out this stall to try and stutter this Barcelona attack? >> I think they may try, but I don't think they they'll succeed doing I think if they're going to win it, they're going to have to play some football. Uh, and they can do that. We just haven't seen it with the regularity we've seen at Barcelona. I don't think just sitting in defensively trying to stifle almost Argentinaesque from the World Cup, not quite as horrible as that obviously, and let's hope not. I don't think that's going to work for them. I think Barcelona, if that's the case, will cut them apart. So, I think they're going to have to come out at some point and and utilize their strong points. Get Guler on the ball, get Bellingham forward, make sure Mbapp is making these runs. Diamandi is a much more confident young man now. He's got he's got a couple of goals. So, I think they're going to have to get on the front foot. I don't think they'll out possess uh Barcelona. I don't even think that's up for debate. Uh but it's how they can match Rodri and Pedri and Fermine Lopez and and stop all that good stuff that that that Bayern do that Basa do. And also, somebody's going to have to get out there and if it's Cookerella and help uh stop Lamin, he didn't he wasn't great. We've touched on it. He wasn't great in PSG and Paris in midweek. Uh, so he'll be looking for a big He scored a great goal. He'll be looking for a big turnaround in performance. It's a really I mean it's a big huge game anyway, but it's really intriguing for so many reasons and all the ones that we've mentioned plus the fact that Barcelona could not quite but almost nail down the title in October. Yeah. >> Which is very early. >> Does what happened midweek against PSG have any relevance to this game? Well, well, it's always nice to go out and batter teams by five goals every week, which they've pretty much been doing, >> but PSG are the best team in Europe at the moment. I I don't think there's much debate about that, and everyone else has to to raise their game. Hansy Flick has said he made changes for that game. Obviously, Rodri didn't play. Rafinia got some game time after injuries or some sharpness. He came off he made changes in substitutions as we've discussed with this game in mind. So, you know, it's a bit of a hammer blow in the in the locker room, but I think that's right. And Jurgen Klinsman, our colleagues, talked about it with Hansy Fleck. One of the one of the many things he's good at is the management side of it, and I'm sure he's managed that particular match in midweek uh the right way. >> Okay, we'll head back to you in the studio. Should I tell you story? Because I was told that he's been getting some shade, Craig has, from the Spanish waiters. Well, as you know, the the waiters over here um are older than those, for example, in the States. This is quite an elderly man, so maybe he watched Craig play when he was growing up. And he asked me if Craig used to be a footballer. And and I said, "Yeah, yeah, he played for Scotland." He goes, "No, what about clubs?" And I went, "Oh, Celtic and Chelsea." And then he writes 15 down on the table and goes, "He can talk to me when he's won 15 Champions Leagues." That was that. Well, >> I didn't know I didn't know I didn't know a waiter in Barcelona had won 15 champion weights. >> I need by the way I need teeth missing as well. So, >> it was like his kindred spirit. He was grumpy and he was bald. >> A lovely >> It's been a lovely time so far. K. >> I can't wait. I can't wait for more dinner stories. Keep them coming. >> Great stuff. We're going to let you go and rest, guys. >> Oh, thank you so much. >> Extra time. >> No extra time. No extra time sadly tonight. >> But the big one coming up for the fog on Sunday, Barcelona against Real Madrid. Our coverage will begin at 3 p.m. Eastern. Kickoff is at 4. It's available on ABC on the app and on ESPN Deportes. This