Barca’s winless streak in El Clasico
As the calendar confirms it, Saturday will mark 429 days since the Blaugrana last defeated their eternal rivals, Los Blancos. One must roll back the time to August 23 last year to re-live Barca’s latest victory. It occurred in the first leg of the 2012 Supercopa de Espana at the Camp Nou with the hosts winning 3-2.
The game was marked with a terrible blunder by goalkeeper Victor Valdes which allowed Argentine winger Angel Di Maria to reduce Real Madrid’s deficit. That goal proved vital as the Spanish giants, then managed by Jose Mourinho, beat the Catalans 4-4 on aggregate thanks to the away goals rule to lift the Spanish Super Cup.
Will 26 October 2013 mark the end of Barcelona’s five-match winless streak against Real Madrid?
El Clasico debuts for some
El Clasico will be different this Saturday with coaches Gerardo Martino and Carlo Ancelotti and summer transfer signings Neymar Junior and Gareth Bale making their debut in Spain’s greatest rivalry match. Players like Isco and Illarramendi will also be keen to play an important role in the 90-minute scenario but Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are of course the two superstars that light up El Clasico’s hype.
Messi and Ronaldo marking the hype as always
La Pulga made his return from injury last weekend in a 0-0 draw away to Osasuna. He followed up on that with an appearance at the San Siro in the UEFA Champions League. His equalizer offered his side’s a valuable point against Milan. Messi now looks to be in top shape and the pressure will be on the visiting team’s defence to perform as the following fact tells it:
No player has scored more goals (18) or delivered more assists (11) in El Clasico history than Lionel Messi
— CastrolEDGEfootball (@castrolfootball) October 25, 2013
CR7, meanwhile, has been in devastating form. He netted a brace in midweek against Juventus and will be eager to add more to his tally against Barcelona. The Catalans are one of Ronaldo’s favourite opponents in Spain. Since his arrival at Real Madrid, the Portuguese winger has scored 12 goals against Barca, just like against Sevilla and Malaga. Only his record against Getafe (13 goals) tops this achievement.
In fact, both Messi and Ronaldo have imposed themselves as El Clasico kings:
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV schedules, live scores
Watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid live on Saturday, October 26, 2013:
In Australia at 3:00 AET on: Fox Sports 2 Australia, Fox Sports Play,
In Canada at 12:00 ET on: beIN Sport Play Canada (FREE LIVE STREAMING)
In UK at 17:00 BST on: Sky Sports 2/HD, Sky Go, NOW TV, (Note: the first 15 minutes of the match will not be telecast due to broadcasting regulations)
In USA at 12:00 ET on: beIN Sport USA, beIN Sport en Español, beIN Sport Play, XFINITY Latino Entertainment Channel, SiriusXM FC
Stay tuned to LiveSoccerTV for live scores during El Clasico.Visit the Barcelona-Real Madrid match page for full live streaming and TV schedule information.
beIN Sport viewers will see Real Madrid and Mexico legend Hugo Sanchez make his debut as a pundit. Commenting on the American sports network’s latest capture, beIN Sport managing director Yousef Al-Obaidly declared:
“Sanchez was just named as La Liga’s ambassador to the Americas, and we are excited to build off this momentum to have him on our network, especially for a worldwide event such as El Clásico.”
For pre-match coverage of the game, tune into beIN Sport at 1 hour before kick-off, at 11:00 ET to be precise.
