REAL MADRID v BARCELONA
Sunday 23rd April 2017 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Football – Spain – La Liga Betting Tips
The Spanish ‘El Classico’ returns on Sunday evening with Real Madrid taking on Barcelona at their Estadio Santiago Bernabéu with the hosts holding a three point lead over this evening’s opponents ahead of this crucial and highly anticipated clash.
Real Madrid just need to avoid defeat to their rivals Barcelona in order to take a big step towards clinching the Spanish top flight title, and having put together a useful nine game unbeaten run heading into this clash, confidence is high among the Real Madrid camp. The home side are also in the Champions League semi-final having seen off Bayern Munich 6-3 on aggregate.
Real Madrid’s La Liga home record stands at an impressive 12-4-0 40/15 as they remain the only side in the division yet to taste defeat on home turf, and along with talismanic forward Ronaldo (19 goals), Real Madrid also possess Benzema (9 goals) as well as the expected return of Bale (7 goals) from injury here.
Visitors Barcelona have had a tough time of things in recent weeks as they’ve crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 aggregate loss to Italian giants Juventus (losing 3-0 in Torino, and a frustrating 0-0 stalemate at the Nou Camp), along with a shock 2-0 defeat at Malaga in La Liga prior to their Champions League exit.
Barca did manage a 3-2 home win over Real Sociedad in between which has kept their La Liga title dreams alive, but are the cracks starting to appear for Luis Enrique’s side as he prepares for his last El Classico before he leaves his post at the end of this season?
Barcelona possess a strong away record which stands at 10-3-3 42/17, but they’ll have to do without the services of Neymar (9 goals) who is serving the second of his two-match ban. Enrique will need to juggle his attacking resources, but more importantly, there’s the question marks over his side’s defensive abilities.
Real Madrid would be extremely happy to avoid defeat here, while an out of sorts Barcelona outfit cannot afford to lose this one – this may well end up a draw.
Pick: Draw @ 4.10 Bet Victor
