Less than a week after their elimination from Champions League, Barcelona faces a bid to save their season. The Blaugrana sit three points behind Real Madrid in the La Liga title race, and will need to avoid defeat in El Clásico on Sunday to feel like they have any chance of winning the league this season.
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid 2017: Start time, TV schedule for El Clásico
Los Merengues have an advantage in the La Liga title fight, but the Blaugrana can even it up on Sunday.
Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
Barca’s big problem that they’ll need to rectify from midweek is their shooting. The Blaugrana only put one shot on target as Juventus recorded a very comfortable shutout. Lionel Messi, in particular, had one of his weakest big games in recent memory.
Things went a lot better for Madrid in European competition. They were pushed to extra time by Bayern Munich, but eventually pulled away thanks to the Bavarians going down to 10 men. There were some questionable offside decisions in the match, but Cristiano Ronaldo will still enter El Clásico with the confidence that comes with scoring a Champions League hat trick.
Los Merengues came away from the first Clásico of the season as the slightly happier of the two teams. Luis Suárez scored the opening goal at Camp Nou back in December, but Sergio Ramos came up clutch with a stoppage time equalizer to steal a road point for Real Madrid.
After filing an eleventh hour appeal, Barcelona has accepted that Neymar will be suspended for El Clásico. The Blaugrana will also be without Rafinha and Aleix Vidal, while Jeremy Mathieu is a slight doubt with a knock. The only certain absence for Real Madrid is Pepe, with Raphäel Varane having recently returned to training. However, Varane is not expected to start.
Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream
Date/time: Sunday, 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. and Canada — English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. and Canada — Spanish), Sky Sports 1 (U.K.), Movistar (Spain).
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. and Canada), Fubo, Sling, go90 (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.)
Make friends: Hit up Real Madrid community Managing Madrid and Barcelona community Barca Blaugranes.
Check Live Soccer TV for listings from more countries.
See More:
