Barcelona perfect, Madrid chasing: one week out from El Clásico
El Clásico is a week away, and Spain's two giants are living very different seasons.
FC Barcelona and Real Madrid meet next Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Spotify Camp Nou in the first Clásico of the La Liga season, and they arrive from opposite ends of the form table. Barcelona have been perfect. Madrid have been chasing.
Barcelona sit top of La Liga with eight wins from eight matches, 34 goals scored and only seven conceded. They hold the ball like few teams in Europe, averaging 70 percent possession, and they finish what they create, converting better than a quarter of their shots. The last five weeks tell the story on their own: a 5-0 win at Valencia, a 7-2 win over Racing, a 3-0 win over Getafe.
Raphinha has been the face of it. The Brazilian leads the league's scoring race with 12 goals in seven appearances, five clear of the field, while Lamine Yamal has added seven goals and five assists, tied for the league lead in assists. Between them, Barcelona's wide men have had a hand in 27 goals already.
Real Madrid, by contrast, sit fourth on 18 points, six back of Barcelona. Their record reads well enough at 6-0-2, but both defeats have come away from home, a 1-0 loss at Real Betis and a 2-1 loss at Atlético de Madrid, and the Clásico asks them to go and win in Barcelona. Kylian Mbappé leads the club with seven goals, and Madrid's underlying numbers are a step behind their rivals: 51.6 percent possession and a shot conversion rate under 18 percent.
Neither club gets a quiet weekend before it. Barcelona travel to third-place Real Betis on Saturday, the hardest test of their perfect start so far, while Madrid host Sevilla on Sunday. A Barcelona slip and a Madrid win would pull the gap to three points and change the temperature of next Sunday entirely.
The history says there is nothing between them. Across 264 meetings in all competitions, the league's own records have the balance dead level at 106 wins each. In La Liga play, Madrid hold a narrow edge, 80 wins to Barcelona's 77, and last season the clubs split the two league meetings, each winning at home.
Kickoff next Sunday is 9 p.m. in Barcelona, 2 p.m. Mountain Time. Provectus Media will have a full preview ahead of the match and coverage after it.
This preview is brought to you in part by Animas Painting — interior and exterior painting in Calgary. Reach Rafael at 403-604-5529.