Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2013 El Clasico: Lineups
Can Real Madrid stay alive and head to the second leg of their Copa del Rey tie against Barcelona with a chance to advance to the final?
Real Madrid are going to hard pressed to get a result against Barcelona in the first edition of El Clasico in 2013, given their absences in defense and goal. Iker Casillas, Pepe and Sergio Ramos are all unavailable. New signing Diego Lopez is between the sticks, while Raphael Varane and Ricardo Carvalho anchor the center of Madrid's defense. They've opted for their normal 4-2-3-1 formation, with Jose Maria Callejon starting in the absence of Angel Di Maria. Barcelona's lineup features no surprises.
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Diego Lopez; Alvaro Arbeloa, Raphael Varane, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien; Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso; Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Özil, Jose Maria Callejon; Karim Benzema
Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3): Jose Manuel Pinto; Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Dani Alves; Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas; Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Pedro Rodriguez
Kickoff is at 9 p.m. local time, 3 p.m. ET from the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain. You can catch the game on Sky Sports 2 in the U.K., beIN Sport in the U.S. and on Canal+ 1 in Spain.
For more on El Clasico, head over to Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.
