On Sunday, Barcelona will host Real Madrid at the Spotify Camp Nou for what's expected to be one of the most exciting moments of the season. On top of that, Sunday's game will feature the return of Jose Mourinho to the stadium where he fought some of his incredible battles against Barcelona from 2010 to 2013, when he coached Real Madrid for the first time. The reception is expected to be heated, especially considering what happened in the recent weeks.
Real Madrid striker Vinicius Jr. will miss El Clasico against FC Barcelona after being suspended for four games for the red card he received in Real Madrid's home game against Villarreal at the Bernabeu last week. Despite the appeal, Vinicius Jr. won't be part of the game and will be back playing for the Blancos after the international break in the domestic league. Let's take a closer look at both squads and compare their strengths to determine which team has the edge: Let's start with the goalkeepers, and here Thibaut Courtois is probably still one of the best in his role and can directly make an impact on the result of a match.
Joan Garcia, on the other hand, still has some room for improvement, and he's at a different stage of his career, with plenty of potential to evolve more. Although Courtois is nine years older than Garcia, making a direct comparison is somewhat unfair given their different stages of development; the Real Madrid goalkeeper still has the edge right now in terms of experience, consistency, and overall quality. Barcelona: Joan Garcia, Wojciech Szczęsny, Dominik Livakovic.
Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin, Fran Gonzalez. Things get more complicated when it comes to the defensive lines. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have strong lineups in these roles, but they also concede a lot of goals.
The new Real Madrid signings such as Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella or Ibrahima Konate are yet to show their full potential, while the Barcelona young defenders like Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia or Xavi Espart are showing to be in a better form. Barcelona: Joao Cancelo, Alejandro Balde, Pau Cubarsi, Xavi Espart, Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martin, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia. Real Madrid: Raul Asencio, Eder Militao, Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Marc Cucurella, Alvaro Carreras, Antonio Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Denzel Dumfries.
Both sides have some incredibly talented players, as usual. Barcelona signed Rodri in the summer, after the Spanish captain refused to join Real Madrid before signing for the Blaugrana. Apart from that, the players in the roster led by Jose Mourinho are just as incredible: Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde, Arda Guler, Aurelien Tchouameni and Bernardo Silva, who signed as a free agent in the summer.
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