Verdict: Home win
Best odds: 5/8
Bookmaker: Olympusbet
The La Liga title race may well end on Sunday, when Barcelona welcome arch-rivals Real Madrid to the Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday evening.
Hansi Flick’s side only need a point from this clash to retain their status as the Spanish champions, while things really don’t look too good for Los Blancos, mostly for off-the-pitch reasons at the moment.
Barcelona
Barcelona top the rankings ahead of Real in second place by 11 points, and with just three rounds left to play after this one, anything but a Real victory would mathematically destroy any chance of the gap being closed down.
A 2-1 victory away to Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their encounter in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last month was insufficient to see the Blaugrana through in UEFA’s elite club competition, after they lost the first leg at home by 0-2. Before that, the two sides played out an even more thrilling double-headed contest in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, where the Rojiblancos also emerged victorious by winning the first leg in Madrid 4-0 and making Barcelona’s 3-0 win at the Camp Nou worthless.
But it’s been business as usual for Flick and his men since, with triumphs at home against Celta Vigo, away to Getafe, and most recently away to Osasuna, providing them with a glorious opportunity to clinch the title against Real. That game saw three goals scored in the final 10 minutes, with Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres securing the points for Barcelona before Raul Garcia pulled one back for the hosts.
Barcelona will now look to take advantage of the woes troubling their fiercest rivals at the moment and clinch the league title in style.
Team News
The only absence troubling Flick is a big one – Lamine Yamal will not play again this season.
However, the rest of the squad is available, with long-term absentee Andreas Christensen now back in team training, and Flick will have a number of tough decisions to make when comes to selecting the starting XI.
Real Madrid
It has been a season to forget for the 15-time European champions, who are set to remain without a single trophy to show for their efforts once again. They replaced Carlo Ancelotti with Xabi Alonso at the start of the campaign, whose Bayer Leverkusen side won the Bundesliga title in 2023-24 without losing a single match.
However, the former midfielder didn’t last nearly as long as many expected – he lost his job in January, after losing the Supercopa final to none other than Barcelona. Alvaro Arbeloa stepped in as an interim solution for the remainder of the season, but he’s since overseen Real’s exit from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, as well as a gap growing between the two rivals at the top of the La Liga table.
To cap it all off, reports of dissent within the squad arose, culminating in severe disciplinary issues this week – a physical altercation involving midfielders Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, both of whom have been heavily fined by the club.
Since losing to Bayern in mid-April, Real have beaten Alaves at home, drew away to Real Betis, and won 2-0 away to Barcelona’s neighbours Espanyol, courtesy of a second-half double from Vinicius Junior. But the subdued atmosphere in the dressing room in the days leading up to the final El Clasico of the season is a very bad sign, and Arbeloa won’t have an easy task to organize his team for this huge clash.
Team News
Neither Valverde nor Tchouameni have been banned from the squad, but Valverde reportedly lost consciousness briefly during the incident and had to be taken to hospital and isn’t expected to be involved.
Rodrygo (knee), Arda Guler (hamstring), Eder Militao (hamstring), Dani Carvajal (foot) and Ferland Mendy (thigh) are all out of action, but Kylian Mbappe and Thibaut Courtois have both recovered from their respective issues.
Conclusion
There is, of course, the possibility of Real Madrid using their problems as added motivation to get a result here, but knowing that even that would only postpone the inevitable crowning of Barcelona as champions, it’s not very likely.
On the other hand, the Blaugrana can be ruthless when they should be, and this is surely such a moment.
Verdict: Home win
Best odds: 5/8
Bookmaker: Olympusbet