Remember that triovt that Real Madrid was supposed to play against Barcelona in El Clasico? Jose Mourinho isn't going to be using it. Mesut Özil is in Mourinho's starting XI for the game and should play his normal position in front of a double pivot. Lassana Diarra has surprisingly been selected over Sami Khedira, while Fabio Coentrao will apparently play right back. Up top, Madrid have opted for Karim Benzema over Gonzalo Higuain. Here is the starting lineup.
Real Madrid Vs. Barcelona, 2011 El Clasico: Blaugranas Lineup
Real Madrid Lineup (4-2-3-1): Casillas; Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao; Diarra, Alonso; Ronaldo, Özil, Di Maria; Benzema
The selection of Lass is by far the biggest surprise. For some reason, it feels like this won’t exactly be the traditional 4-2-3-1 that Madrid normally play.
We’ll have live coverage of El Clasico from 4:00 p.m. ET. For more on the two teams, head over to Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. Check out SB Nation Soccer and our El Clasico StoryStream for more in the build-up to the game. For more from around the world of football, follow @SBNationSoccer on twitter.
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