The classic that will end or resurrect the League | The truth

“We are very close to the League if we are capable of winning,” acknowledged Carlo Ancelotti in the preview of a match that could help Real Madrid to close the title and concentrate all its bullets on the Champions League, after the agonizing victory. achieved against Manchester City in the penalty shootout that has reinforced the morale of a team that is ten games away from securing the most desired double. “The cake is ready and we just have to add the icing,” Carletto added on the eve of a date that couldn't have caught his team at a better time.

Despite the wear and tear accumulated in the exhausting match held on Wednesday at the Etihad, the Italian believes that his players “have recovered well” and hopes to take advantage of the momentum of the Champions League to deal the final blow to a League that Real Madrid has led in 22 of the 31 days completed so far and in which they have not fallen from first place since the eighteenth round, when they knocked down Alavés in Mendizorroza before the Christmas break while Girona, their fiercest rival at the time, punctured that same day at home against Betis.

The key, in Ancelotti's opinion, is the work of a group that puts the success of the team before the personal brilliance of its members. Much of the credit for such a healthy environment can be attributed to the Reggiolo coach, who used the Spanish proverb this Saturday to reply to those who try to distort Real Madrid's passage to the Champions League semi-finals by relying on the 'catenaccio' displayed at the Etihad. and he would have no qualms about planting the bus again if it could definitively suffocate Barça in a dispute in which the main local doubt involves the left back. Mendy did not train on Friday due to a slight overload, but he made the list. If he recovers in time, Ancelotti will have an eleven very similar to the one he started at the Etihad, with the exception of Tchouaméni's return to a midfield from which Camavinga would come.

Shock therapy

As for the visiting side, the classic will serve to test whether the shock therapy carried out by Xavi after the painful elimination in the Champions League at the hands of PSG has had an effect. Gündogan's crack against Araujo came to pour more salt on the wound, evidencing friction within a locker room that could explode in the event that Barça is not able to win at the Bernabéu. Anything other than a victory would definitively take the Blaugranas out of the equation and signify a blank year at Can Barça. Hence, Xavi, in what will likely be his last classic, stressed that it is the “most important game of the season.”

“We have the opportunity to join the League,” said the Catalan, who defended that his pupils face it “with all the enthusiasm in the world.” «You have to put pressure on the leader. If you win, you get within five points and that is the scenario we would like,” added a coach who will need to balance his particular balance against Ancelotti (five wins for the Italian to four for the Egarense in the nine previous matches they have fought from the wing). and assault a stadium that has not seen its team fall since April 2023 to continue clinging to its last hope of saying goodbye, bringing joy to the culé parish. With no more casualties than the injured Gavi and Balde, the question to be resolved is whether Pedri will start from the start or, on the contrary, Xavi saves the canary card for later and turns to Christensen from the start.

-Probable alignments:

Real Madrid: Lunin, Carvajal, Rüdiger, Nacho, Mendy, Valverde, Tchouaméni, Kroos, Bellingham, Rodrygo and Vinicius.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Koundé, Araujo, Cubarsí, Cancelo, De Jong, Gündogan, Pedri, Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski and Raphinha.

Referee: Soto Grado (Riojano Committee).

Time: 9:00 p.m.

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

TV: Movistar LaLiga.