The trajectory of this season for Barcelona has been a fascinating one, there have really bad defeats along the line. Losing the SuperCopa final, getting knocked out of the UEFA Champions League and playing catch up to Atletico Madrid in the League. A revival that coincided with the start of the new year is what has salvaged the season for the Blaugrana.
Now Barcelona’s title hopes rest in their own hands, and nobody else’s. Win all of the remaining matches and they will be crowned Champions of Spain. And it has been quite a long season. Amongst Barcelona fans, pictures of the La Liga table in September when the club was in 14th place, are doing the rounds. Now we are 1 point away from the League leaders Atletico Madrid. It has been a torrid ride, prior to this rich vein of form since the turn of the year.
El Clàsico is upon us, for the second time this season. It is the biggest match in the World and both teams have worked their way up from underwhelming starts to the campaign and are looking like different squads than they did when the season began. They both have grown into the season. Both teams are in identical form at this crucial stage in the season, and this match is certainly a title decider. A win for Barcelona puts them 5 points ahead of Real Madrid, A win for Real Madrid takes them 1 point ahead of Barca. Tight, exceedingly tight.
This will be a tricky game; the team with the bigger mentality and fewer mistakes should win it. Barca wins if we keep our focus, and scoring first will also go a long way. We’ll be hoping to see Frenkie De Jong in midfield. And Ronald Aràujo in the center of defense with Oscar Mingueza and the revamped Clement Lenglet either side of him. That could mean Antoine Griezmann drops to the bench, so Leo Messi and Ousmane Dembélé start up top.
The team has been doing really well in recent weeks, and it is my belief that they will certainly want to maintain that vein of form. Especially the away wins streak, that would be a great thing to do. We’ll hope the Blaugrana come out on top.
