It will be the 185th El Clasico in La Liga history this weekend, as Real Madrid and Barcelona renew their rivalry in the world’s biggest derby at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Barcelona and Real Madrid—two massive clubs—head into the first El Clasico of the 2022/23 season placed 1st and 2nd in the league table, respectively. With both Barcelona and Real locked at 22 points on the top of the table after eight games, much is at stake for both sides.
With the El Clasico scheduled for Sunday, let’s take a look at how the combined team comprising of Real Madrid and Barcelona stars would look like, depending on the form and availability of the players currently.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona combined XI (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
Both Thibaut Courtois and Marc Andre ter-Stegen are top goalkeepers and have done very well for their clubs over the years.
The two shot-stoppers have started the new campaign very well, but having conceded just one goal and kept seven clean sheets in eight games, Ter-Stegen gets the nod ahead of Courtois in the combined XI. Plus, Courtois is a big doubt for the El Clasico having not trained on Thursday.
Defence
Barcelona may have conceded just one goal so far but Xavi Hernandez has been forced to chop and change personnel at the back due to an injury crisis. Real Madrid, on the other hand, have conceded six more goals than their arch-rivals but they have a settled backline that consists of Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba and Ferland Mendy.
Dani Carvajal will start at right-back, while Ferland Mendy gets the nod ahead of young Alejandro Balde at left-back. The centre-back pairing of Eder Militao and David Alaba is preferred ahead of Barcelona’s defenders. Thus, it is an easy pick as far as the back four of the combined XI is concerned.
Midfield
This is where selections are going to be very tricky as both teams have incredible talent at the centre of the pitch. If Barcelona boasts of players like Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Franck Kessie, Real Madrid’s bedrock of their success over the past decade is majorly down to Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and the now-departed Casemiro.
In the No.6 role, there is no looking past Busquets. Summer signing Aurelien Tchouameni has seamlessly replaced Casemiro in Real’s side, but is yet to be tested in a game of such high stakes. That is why Busquets gets into this side.
At the ripe age of 37, Luka Modric does things with the ball that stretches one’s imagination and still remains hugely influential for Real. Surely, he takes up one of the midfield slots. There are several talents from both sides contending for the final spot in midfield, which makes it even more difficult to pick.
Both Pedri and Gavi have established themselves as regulars for Barcelona at just 19 and 18, respectively, showing great quality, energy, tenacity, maturity and tactical awareness at such a tender age. That said, however, we are going with Pedri.
Attack
Robert Lewandowski is the top scorer in La Liga with nine goals in eight games, making an instant impact at Barcelona following his summer move from Bayern Munich. The Polish striker is still at the peak of his powers and has been the driving force for Xavi’s side this term.
Going by the impact he has had in La Liga, his goals and the lack of action Karim Benzema has enjoyed with Real due to injury problems this season, Lewandowski will spearhead the attack.
The manner in which Ousmane Dembele and Federico Valverde have started their respective seasons with Barcelona and Real makes them nearly undroppable. They also have similar goal contributions in the league (4), but if we go by their flair, unpredictability and composure to carve open defences, then Dembele makes the cut.
In Benzema’s injury absence, Vinicius Jr. has handled the majority of the mantle of scoring goals for Real. With five strikes and an assist in eight games, plus the speed, dribbling, flair and movement with which he has terrified defences so far, one cannot look past Vinicius Jr. on the left flank.
