Associated Press
MADRID (AP) — The first clasico of the season takes place with Real Madrid hosting Barcelona in the Spanish league looking to stop a four-game losing steak against the Catalan rival.
Madrid is also defending the league lead as it enters Sunday’s match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with a two-point advantage over Barcelona.
Madrid lost all clasicos last season across all competitions, being outscored 16-7. It was the first time Barcelona won every clasico in a season that had at least three matches between the rivals.
Barcelona arrives with injury woes in attack and coach Hansi Flick will have to watch the game from a stadium box after he was shown a red card for protesting in the previous round.
Lamine Yamal is set to start for the visitors after having played two games since returning from a nagging groin injury. But striker Robert Lewandowski is ruled out for Barcelona with a hamstring injury and forward Raphinha is staying on the injury list because of a right leg ailment sustained in late September.
Raphinha netted five of the 16 goals that Barcelona scored in the four matches against Madrid last season. Playmaker Dani Olmo and first-choice goalkeeper Joan Garcia had already been ruled out due to injuries.
Madrid will be led by a red-hot Kylian Mbappe, who has scored a La Liga-leading 10 goals in nine rounds – four more than his nearest challenger – and another five goals in the Champions League over the first two months of the season.
Madrid beat Juventus 1-0 in the Champions League with a goal by Jude Bellingham on Wednesday, while Barcelona arrives following a 6-1 win against Olympiakos. Midfielder Fermin Lopez scored a hat trick and Marcus Rashford added two more goals.
The clasico comes with La Liga lamenting the collapse of plans to hold a regular-season game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami next month.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
What did you think of this story?
