Real Madrid will host La Liga leaders Barcelona on Thursday night seeking revenge in their Copa del Rey semi final first leg.
Barcelona beat Madrid 3-1 on January 15 to win the Spanish Super Cup courtesy of goals from Gavi, Robert Lewandowski and Pedri.
Barca remain at the top of the La Liga table with 59 points, seven more than Madrid who are in second place.
Barcelona’s shock defeat to Almeria over the weekend still means that there’s hope for Los Blancos to retain their La Liga title.
Real Madrid’s trophy cabinet is itching to welcome another Copa del Rey title, which has evaded them since 2014.
Thursday’s first leg will mark the 252nd competitive Clasico between the two teams and Madrid beat Barca at the Santiago Bernabeu in October.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side haven’t lost a single game at the Bernabeu since April 2022, when they fell to Chelsea in the Champions League.
Barca were on an 18-game unbeaten streak until they lost consecutive matches to Manchester United and Almeria in their last two outings.
The Catalans are competing in the semis of the Copa del Rey for the 11th time in 13 seasons and now face their toughest test in the El Clasico.
Will Madrid get their revenge on their rivals or can Barcelona bounce back and stun them at home to get a first leg win?
Click here to make your predictions for the highly anticipated encounter?
What time does Real Madrid vs Barcelona start?
The game kicks off at 11pm Kenyan time at the Santiago Bernabeau Stadium.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona team news
Rodrygo and David Alaba are the newest additions to the injury list and they join Ferland Mendy on the sidelines.
The experienced Luka Modric and Toni Kroos will line up in midfield and will be joined by the fit-again Aurelien Tchouameni.
The front three will remain unchanged as Karim Benzema leads the attacking line, flanked by Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde.
As for the visitors, Robert Lewandowski suffered a hamstring injury in the defeat to Almeria and will sit this one out.
Ferran Torres is likely to come into the side to complete the attacking trio of Raphinha and Gavi.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona head to head
From the last 68 games played between these two sides, Barca have the advantage after winning 26 times, while Madrid have won 24 games.
The remaining 18 have resulted in a draw.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona current form
The home team have won four games and drawn once in their last five games, while Barca have lost their last two games prior to this match – drawn once and won twice in that duration.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona prediction
This will be a very closely-contested affair and the last two games between these two sides have produced a total of 8 goals.
Over 2.5 goals is likely in this match.