Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Europe's most well-known rivalry enters a new chapter as Real Madrid travel to the Camp Nou to meet bitter enemies Barcelona in a potential La Liga decider.

Courtois (GK) — 2. ter Stegen (GK) — 23. Real Madrid have gone out of their way to implicate Barcelona in the situation, which has sullied relations between the two clubs. Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez will not travel to the match at Camp Nou, the first Clasico that he has not attended in over 20 years. Kroos — 15. Nacho — 10. Gavi — 22. Balde — 21. – Barcelona (4-4-2, right to left): 1. Barcelona took a slim 1-0 lead in the first leg. The two frontrunners for the Spanish top flight meet for the second and final time in league action, with Barcelona holding a nine-point lead atop the table.

Barca are on a three-game winning streak while Real have won their last two outings and reached the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals at Liverpool's expense ...

They should be able to take a point here which would please Barca as it would keep their lead intact. Barca: Ousmane Dembele will remain out for the hosts with a hamstring problem while Pedri is expected to return from the same issue after six games out. Although Real have not been at their best lately, they are mostly doing enough to avoid defeat in big games. Toni Kroos could be replaced by Aurelien Tchouameni while Nacho should keep hold his starting role and Federico Valverde should join Benzema and Vinicius Junior in attack. The latest instalment of Spanish soccer's fiercest rivalry, El Clasico, will play out on Sunday at Camp Nou as Barcelona host Real Madrid with nine points separating the pair at La Liga's summit. Barca are on a three-game winning streak while Real have won their last two outings and reached the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals at Liverpool's expense in midweek.

Instead, as Madrid surged forward in search of a winning goal they surely needed to maintain realistic hopes of overhauling their opponents' LaLiga lead, Kessie ...

But, with the help of VAR, Barcelona survived before Kessie stuck a late dagger into Madrid's hopes of retaining their title. [Rodrygo](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/267804/Rodrygo) and [Ferland Mendy](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/217475/Ferland-Mendy) for [Toni Kroos](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/103173/Toni-Kroos) and [Nacho](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/157710/Nacho). However, after a long VAR review, it was ruled that Asensio had initially been in an offside position. [Thibaut Courtois](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/134283/Thibaut-Courtois) had to be at this best to keep out efforts from [Robert Lewandowski](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/125824/Robert-Lewandowski) and [Raphinha](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/231050/Raphinha) while [Sergi Roberto](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/150225/Sergi-Roberto) shot just over the bar. [Sergio Busquets](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/121893/Sergio-Busquets) gave the ball away to allow a clear shot at goal from the edge of the box, the young Brazilian lashed his effort high over the crossbar. [Vinicius Junior](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/252107/Vinícius-Júnior) chipped a cross back from near the byline down the left, and Araujo found his head in the wrong place at the wrong time to divert the ball past [Marc-Andre ter Stegen](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/140740/Marc-André-ter-Stegen) at his near post. [Federico Valverde](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/235818/Federico-Valverde) slashed an effort wide for Madrid and Lewandowski had a shot deflected just wide. [Marco Asensio](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/195821/Marco-Asensio) turned in [Dani Carvajal](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/168531/Dani-Carvajal)'s cross. [Ronald Araujo](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/270821/Ronald-Araújo) put Real Madrid ahead in just the ninth minute, but Barcelona responded to claim a deserved equalizer through [Sergi Roberto](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/150225/Sergi-Roberto)'s composed finish right on the stroke of half-time. [Franck Kessie](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/194711/Franck-Kessié) scored a stoppage-time winner to give [Barcelona](/football/team?id=83) a 2-1 victory over [Real Madrid](/football/team?id=86) in Sunday's Clasico at Camp Nou and a massive 12-point lead over second-place Real Madrid with 12 games of the [LaLiga](/football/league/_/name/ESP.1) season remaining. [LaLiga](/football/league/_/name/ESP.1) lead, Kessie turned in a cut-back from Alex Balde in the second minute of stoppage time to send the Camp Nou crowd wild with delight. The goal was the first Barcelona had conceded from open play at home in LaLiga this season and dented their early momentum as Madrid gained confidence and composure.

Barcelona have taken a gigantic step towards their first La Liga title since 2019 thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win in El Clásico against Real Madrid ...

La Liga isn’t over yet, but it damn sure feels like it and Barça earned this victory by being the better team and wanting it more than Madrid on the night. But after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was ruled out for a very tight offside on Asensio and Barça dodged a massive bullet ahead of the dying seconds. Barça were the better team on the night but went down early and had to show massive fighting spirit to come from behind and deliver what feels like a knockout blow to their biggest rivals in the title race.