Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Lineups
Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Özil and several other regular starters are out of the lineup today as Jose Mourinho is clearly focused ahead on the Champions League. Raphaël Varane gets a second straight start and why not, he was superb on Tuesday. José Callejón and Álvaro Morata will get a chance to shine along with Kaka who's been playing very well of late.
Lionel Messi starts for Barcelona despite running a fever after the game of Tuesday. He's joined by David Villa who finally gets a start as Andres Iniesta drops back into the midfield as Cesc Fàbregas's expense. Thiago Alcântara is also in the lineup in place of the injured Xavi.
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Diego Lopez; Sergio Ramos; Raphaël Varane, Pepe, Fábio Coentrão; Michael Essien, Luka Modric; Kaka; José Callejón, Álvaro Morata; Karim Benzema.
Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3): Victor Valdés; Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcântara, Andres Iniesta; David Villa, Lionel Messi, Pedro Rodriguez.
