The eyes of the football world will be on the Santiago Bernabéu for the first meeting of the season between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

El Clásico is one of the biggest rivalries in the sport and all the ingredients are there to make this edition a cracker of a football match.

Barcelona arrives in Madrid on a high. Hansi Flick’s men put in one of Barcelona’s best performances in years in the UEFA Champions League with a 4-1 win over Bayern Munich. The team looked dominant at the start of the season and is now getting healthier.

Frenkie De Jong, Dani Olmo, Fermin López and Gavi all returned for the Blaugranas last month. With his midfielders now all available to choose from, Flick has to decide who will make it into the already filled eleven.

Barcelona come to the home of their biggest rivals with one clear goal in mind: to end Los Blancos’ four-game winning streak in the El Clásico. Look for Flick to stick with a similar lineup to the one that dominated in the Champions League during midweek.

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TW: Iñaki Pena—Although Wojciech Szczésny was brought in following Marc-André ter Stegen’s injury, Peña remains Barça’s starting goalkeeper and is unlikely to give up his starting role any time soon.

LB: Alejandro Baldé—It will be interesting to see who Carlo Ancelotti uses in place of the injured Rodrygo. In any case, Baldé will try to push forward and test the resolve of Lucas Vázquez, who was weak defensively against Borussia Dortmund.

CB: Pau Cubarsí—The teenager continues the wonderful start to his career, anchoring Barcelona’s defense.

CB: Inigo Martinez—Both Martinez and Cubarsí will have to be well organized to deal with Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham.

RB: Jules Koundé—Koundé will be tasked with defending perhaps Real Madrid’s most dangerous attacking area. Vinícius Junior scored a hat-trick in the UCL, and Mbappé is also known for preferring to start his runs on the left.

CM: Marc Casadó—One of Europe’s biggest breakout players of the season. Despite all the injuries to Barcelona’s midfield at the start of the Flick era, Casadó has done an excellent job.

CM: Pedri—Pedri was great against Bayern Munich and dictated the pace of the game. Barcelona’s game is dominated by the 21-year-old, who is playing a more important role in midfield this season due to injuries.

LW: Raphinha—The man of the match against Bayern Munich after a hat trick. Raphinha is in the form of his life.

AM: Dani Olmo—The big summer signing returned to action against Bayern Munich and could see his return to the Catalans’ starting XI after a month’s break. He has scored in all three games started for Barcelona in La Liga.

RW: Lamine Yamal—La Liga’s September Player of the Month will be hoping to score for the first time in the third Clásico of his young career.

ST: Robert Lewandowski—Under Flick, Lewandowski seems to have found the fountain of youth. With his 12 goals in La Liga, he is already six times ahead in the race for the Golden Boot. He has scored eight goals in the team’s last four games in all competitions.

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