Barcelona and Real Madrid will resume their struggle at the top of the Spanish Football League, following the El Clásico confrontation, which ended with a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid, when the two teams enter the eleventh round of competitions. Barcelona seeks to maintain its lead and compensate for its loss, while Real Madrid looks to continue its victories and increase pressure on the leaders.
Real Madrid had won the Clásico match against its host Barcelona with a score of 2-1 at Camp Nou, thanks to a brace from Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, putting an end to the Catalan team’s consecutive victories in the league, and reducing the difference between the two teams at the top of the standings to 3 points, in a result that brought excitement back to the title race.
Barcelona is at the top of the table with 27 points, two points ahead of Atletico Madrid, which is in second place, while Real Madrid is in third place with 24 points.
Barcelona enters the new round looking for compensation, when it hosts Deportivo Alaves at the “Spotify Camp Nou” stadium, the day after tomorrow, Saturday, in a match during which German coach Hansi Flick’s team seeks to restore the tone of victories, and confirm its ability to overcome the effects of defeat against its traditional rival.
Barcelona had achieved 9 consecutive victories in the league before losing to Real Madrid, but it was also defeated by Paris Saint-Germain with a score of 4-2 in the Champions League, which puts the team before the challenge of regaining its balance, in light of the pressure of matches and the decline in the readiness of some of its players.
Flick's task becomes more difficult due to absences. Barcelona is missing the efforts of Ronnie Bardji, Jules Kounde, Dani Olmo and Xavi Espart due to injury, while the return of Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong to training represents an important boost for the team, at a time when Alejandro Balde may get a greater role to compensate for the shortage in the back line.
Despite these circumstances, Barcelona has a strong record at home, having scored 16 goals in the last 4 matches it played at home, an average of 4 goals per match, which enhances its hopes of overcoming the Alaves obstacle and maintaining its pressure on Real Madrid.
But Alaves will not enter the confrontation without ambition, despite the fluctuation of its results in the recent period. The team is ranked seventh, and has achieved only one win in the last 5 league matches, while scoring two goals in the last 3 matches, which reflects the difficulties facing its attack before a difficult test against one of the most prominent candidates for the title.
Alaves also achieved a 1-0 victory over Barcelona in the confrontation that brought the two teams together last May, which gives the visiting team additional motivation to try to repeat its superiority, even though Barcelona has won 3 of the last 5 confrontations between the two teams.
On the other hand, Real Madrid will be a guest at Racing Santander, looking forward to building on its valuable victory in El Clásico and achieving its sixth consecutive victory in various competitions.
The royal team is going into the match in high spirits, having achieved 5 consecutive victories, the most notable of which was the victory over Barcelona, in a match during which Mbappé excelled by scoring two of his team's goals, once again confirming his importance in Real Madrid's offensive system.
The Madrid team is relying on its attacking power and ability to exploit spaces, facing a competitor occupying thirteenth place, but it enters the match after an exciting victory over Espanyol with a score of 2-1, after overturning its deficit into a victory in front of its fans.
Racing hopes to use this victory to provide strong resistance to the holder of ambitions to compete for the title, especially since it showed good attacking effectiveness at its home stadium, after scoring 11 goals in the last 5 home matches, at a rate of 2.2 goals per match, and did not suffer a loss during it.
But the home team suffered a clear decline in some of its recent matches. It lost to Celtaviego with a score of 0-5, and also suffered a heavy defeat against Barcelona with a score of 2-7, which forces it to be cautious in the face of Real Madrid's attack, which scored two goals on average during the last 5 matches outside its stadium.
Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho hopes that his players will maintain focus, away from the controversial atmosphere that has surrounded the club in recent days, following Mbappe’s statements about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, which sparked reactions in China, before the player and the club offered official apologies.
Despite these developments, all eyes seem to be on the playing field. Real Madrid seeks to continue its winning streak and not give up points, at a time when it realizes that any stumble may give Barcelona an opportunity to close the gap again.
The eleventh round carries additional importance for both teams, in light of the closeness in points between them. Barcelona seeks to move away from the lead, while Real Madrid aspires to seize the lead or get close to it and continue to put pressure on its competitor, so that the competition for the Spanish League title remains open to all possibilities.
This round's competitions open on Friday, when Villarreal meets Espanyol.
In Saturday's matches, Levante will meet Atletico Madrid, Rayo Vallecano will meet Celtaviego, Real Betis will meet Malaga, in addition to Barcelona and Alaves.
In Sunday's matches, Getafe will meet Sevilla, Elche will face Valencia, Athletic Bilbao will face Real Sociedad, and Racing Santander will face Real Madrid.
The competitions of this round conclude on Monday when Deportivo La Coruna meets Osasuna.
