Can Barcelona take advantage of Real Madrid’s poor form and continue winning ways in El Clasico

Barcelona head into El Clasico leading La Liga by two points, having regained confidence following a favorable run of results and form. Can they continue their La Liga dominance over Real Madrid?

In the month leading up to Sunday’s second El Clasico of the season, Barcelona has featured quite a bit in the headlines of late and seldom for the right reasons. Over the last month you were more likely to hear about the palace intrigue surrounding the storied Catalan club rather than their tiki taka.

To quickly recap, Barcelona bungled the decision to part ways with their former coach in mid-season (a first in 17 seasons), fired their coach but did not bring in club legend Xavi, who was widely expected to take over and very publicly approached. In the turmoil that followed, current member of the board Eric Abidal got into a public spat with Messi, a squabble which can only have one winner. That marked the first time ever that Lionel Messi showed any ill-will towards the club, a fairly significant development for a man not known to tip his cards on an emotional level. To add injury to the insult, Barcelona also lost their main scorer (at the time) Luis Suarez for the season due to a lingering knee injury.

To say that that all this did not make for an auspicious start to the meatier part of the Champions League and La Liga campaigns would be a huge understatement. But yet again Florence and the Machine have the right idea – It’s always darkest before the dawn. The Blaugrana‘s fortunes started to change just as it seemed the season was doomed. One might say they…shook it out.

First it was a marginal, yet noticeable improvement in their run of play. Less meaningless horizontal passing typical of the latter part of the Ernesto Valverde era, more purpose in possession with an emphasis on vertical passing to break through the lines.

Strangely enough, not having a proper number 9 in the lineup allowed new manager Quique Setien the license to become more creative with his best XI. Antoine Griezmann and especially Lionel Messi were allowed more freedom to roam and drift inside taking up the space traditionally occupied by Luis Suarez. Messi has flourished in the new system, scoring six goals in the last four La Liga matches and producing some vintage Messi moments in the process.

Through an obscure La Liga provision, Barcelona were allowed to sign a replacement player for Ousmane Dembele who will be out for the season. Swiftly, the Blaugrana raided lowly Leganes for Danish striker Martin Braithwaite who gives them a makeshift dynamic forward in the more classical mold. The rich continue to get richer to the detriment of the rest of the clubs.

To signal yet another shift in narrative ahead of El Clasico, the last matchday saw former La Liga leaders Real Madrid go down 1-0 at Levante. It was their first loss in four months, which saw them drop to second place, two points back of Barcelona. Real’s fortunes took another turn for the worse after losing 2-1 at the Bernabeu to Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16 midweek.

By contrast, Barcelona came away with a 1-1 draw away at Napoli and are in pole position to progress in the Champions League.

The narrative is quite clear heading into El Clasico; this is a tale of two teams whose respective fortunes have reversed and who seemed headed in opposite directions. Arguably, Real Madrid have it all to play for in this one, with La Liga being their main focus since their Champions League campaign looks doomed.

To continue their relative dominance over Madrid at the Bernabeu (Barca has won 8 of the last 11 in Madrid) Setien and Co. will have to overcome some serious injury setbacks, especially on the defensive side. Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto are out and Gerard Pique is listed as questionable.  Pique’s presence will be key, as a backline who has already shown weakness, devoid of two main stalwarts may be the kiss of death against Real Madrid’s firepower upfront.

Hard to believe but it has been 11 years since that 6-2 drubbing administered by Barcelona at the Bernabeu, which marked the beginning of Catalan domination in La Liga. Although it is starting to feel that this era is nearing its end, given the current respective forms of the two clubs, and Messi’s continued ability to decide a game on his own, this El Clasico does not project to be the bookend that marks the closing stage of this era.