The eyes of the football world are 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 sport and all the ingredients are there to make this edition a fantastic football match.

Barcelona arrive in Madrid on a high. Hansi Flick’s men have produced one of Barcelona’s best performances in years in the UEFA Champions League after beating Bayern Munich 4-1. The team looked dominant during the season and is now getting healthier.

Frenkie De Jong, Dani Olmo, Fermin López and Gavi all returned to action for the Blaugranas in the past month. With his midfield players all ready for selection, Flick must decide who will make it an already stacked XI.

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

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GK: Iñaki Peña—Although Wojciech Szczésny was signed in the wake of Marc-André ter Stegen’s injury, Peña has remained Barça’s starting goalkeeper and does not appear likely to give up the starting role anytime soon.

LB: Alejandro Baldé—It will be interesting to see who uses Carlo Ancelotti in place of the injured Rodrygo. Either way, Baldé will look to progress and test the resolve of Lucas Vázquez, who was shaky defensively against Borussia Dortmund.

CB: Pau Cubarsí—The teenager continues the great start to his career and anchors Barcelona’s defense.

CB: Iñigo Martínez—Both Martinez and Cubarsí will have to be well organized to handle Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham.

RB: Jules Koundé—Koundé will be tasked with defending perhaps the most dangerous area of ​​Real Madrid’s attack. Vinícius Junior scores a hat-trick in the UCL and Mbappé is also known to prefer to start his runs from the left wing.

CM: Marc Casadó—One of Europe’s biggest breakout players of the season. With all the injuries in Barcelona’s midfield to start the Flick era, Casadó has stepped in and done brilliantly.

CM: Pedri—Pedri was brilliant against Bayern Munich and dictated the pace of the match. Barcelona’s play runs through the 21-year-old, who is playing a deeper role this season given the injuries in midfield.

LW: Raphinha—The man of the match against Bayern Munich after scoring 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 after a month off he was able to return to the Catalans’ starting line-up. He scored in all three games for Barcelona in La Liga.

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

ST: Robert Lewandowski—Under Flick, Lewandowski seems to have found the fountain of youth. His twelve goals in La Liga already ensure that he is six clear 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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