Last year FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman first met El Clasico from the sidelines. His baptism of fire in the Spanish classic as head coach did not go exactly smoothly. Real Madrid was victorious on October 24, met 1-3 at the Nou Camp. With La Liga slowly but surely coming to an end, this season’s second Clasico will follow. This time in Madrid. Will Real Madrid – FC Barcelona be decisive for the league title?
History Real Madrid – FC Barcelona
It will be the 245th El Clasico in the history of Spanish football. The very first time was played in Barcelona. The home team won 3-1 on May 13, 1902.
More than a hundred years later, it is already the 245th time that both Spanish football superpowers face each other. And also in a phase that the decisions will fall this season. After the clash, there are still eight rounds to go in La Liga Santander. Koeman will hope that El Clasico’s result in October 2020 will be on the scoreboard again this time but in favour of his team.
On the other side of the field is Zinedine Zidane. As a professional football player in the service of Real, the French coach also played many duels against Barcelona. Koeman did that a few years earlier, in the Barcelona shirt. Now they face each other as trainers.
Lionel Messi against Sergio Ramos
The upcoming El Clasico could well be all about saying goodbye. Not from Koeman, but perhaps from Zidane. In the run-up to the clash, he indicates in the Spanish media that he is exhausted and that he is considering abandoning it. That farewell could parallel the farewell of two icons who have given El Clasico a face in recent years: Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).
Both Koeman and Zidane indicate that they hope that this will not be the last time that both stars are in the top of the top game together. But is the real football fan still waiting for that? Real Madrid – FC Barcelona may well be the first meeting of the new stars and not the goodbye to the old ones. The era of both greats seems to have passed its day. A clash between Vinicius and Ansu Fati is much more interesting, isn’t it? Fati, who already scored in an earlier edition at the Clasico in Barcelona in October, is called the new child prodigy of Barcelona. There is so much that has been written about the Brazilian Vinicius junior. You can almost say that every football fan can even dream of his full name: Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior. Although the latter may be a bit exaggerated.
Statistics
FC Barcelona is in second place with 65 points. That is only one point less than leader Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid follows in third place with 63 points from 29 rounds. In fourth place is Sevilla, which has 58 points.
Head 2 Head
The last time the classic was played in Madrid was on March 1, 2020. Real Madrid then won 2-0 against FC Barcelona. Exactly a year earlier, Barça still won in Stadium Santiago Bernabéu. As coach of FC Barcelona, Koeman has been allowed to lead one el Clásico on October 24 last year. In Camp Nou, it then became 1-3 for the Madrid loans.
Prognosis for El Clasico
With el Clásico it can go in any direction, but we stick to a draw in Madrid. Do you predict that, or are you curious about the other odds? In the odds overview of the bookmakers below, you will find the average odds of the bookmakers.
Odds Real Madrid – FC Barcelona
The pre-odds in the 1X2 game system for the Spanish el Clásico are classified as follows. The highest odd will be paid if it becomes a draw in Madrid. On average, 3.65 times the stake will be paid out if Real and Barcelona share the points.
Will FC Barcelona deal with Real Madrid, and will coach Koeman take three points to Barcelona? If we are looking at the online bookmakers and want to place a bet on Barcelona, your profit will be worth 2.90. A victory of Real Madrid over the Catalan team is divided at x 2.17 times your playing amount.
