Real Madrid and FC Barcelona meet in the first official ‘Clasico’ of the 2022-2023 season on matchday nine of La Liga Santander.
The two sides come in first and second in the table and, level on points, are chasing a win to start the season as sole leaders. There is a lot to play for in one of the most evenly matched games between these two teams in recent years.
For the ‘Merengues’, who start at home, they have the main absentee of their first choice goalkeeper Courtois, who is not in the squad. Rodrygo, who started for the Madrid side in the match against Shakhtar, will not start. Meanwhile, Benzema is recovered from his muscle strain and looks set to start against Barça.
On Xavi’s side, everything seems to point to the return of Kounde and Kessie to the pitch. Finally, it seems that the trident will be made up of Lewandoski, Dembele and Raphinha, who return to play together after a series of rotations for European matches.
Possible line-ups for Real Madrid v Barcelona
Real Madrid: Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Tchouameni, Modric, Kroos; Benzema, Vinicius y Valverde.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Kounde, Eric Garcia, Marcos Alonso; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski y Raphinha.
