El Clasico: FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid – Top 3 key battles to watch out for

messi ronaldo
Internet Desk: Barcelona will face arch rival Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Saturday in a high voltage El-Clasico. Gareth bale and Toni Kroos won’t play for the visitors, as they are sidelined due to their injuries. But some other world’s best players will line up on either side and these individual could play a vital role in this important contest in La Liga title race:

1) Lionel Messi v Marcelo
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Barcelona will field their fearsome MSN front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, and the Argentine forward continued brilliant form this season means his performance is the No 1 factor in this clash of the titans.

Two goals in the Champions League against Celtic took Messi’s goals tally to 18 and as he is likely to be playing on the right of the MSN forward line, Brazilian left-back Marcelo is set to be tasked with keeping him as quiet as possible.

2) Cristiano Ronaldo v Sergi Roberto
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With Bale’s injury, all eyes will be on Ronaldo to inspire Real to what could be a pivotal victory over their arch-rivals in their way to claim the Spanish crown once again.

The fashion for ‘inverted wingers’, i.e. right-footers playing on the left and vice versa, means the Portuguese superstar should be up against Roberto, a converted midfielder playing at right-back this term after Dani Alves’ departure, and Ronaldo will fancy his chances of doing some damage.

3) Luis Suarez v Sergio Ramos
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Two big names will lock horns in the central area of the pitch as Ramos will try to stop Suarez from repeating last year’s incident where he scored twice in last season’s first El Clasico, when Barcelona won 4-0 at the Bernabeu Stadium.

A duo who have spent more than their share of time on the sidelines due to suspensions during their careers for various misdemeanours, you can expect the sparks to fly and plenty of winding up to occur between them in this win-at-all-costs encounter.