SETTABLOID

Following the defeat against PSG in the Champions League, Barcelona’s problems were far from over as they took on Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu for the second El Clasico of the season.

They did get off to a flying start, with Andreas Christensen scoring the first goal before Vinicius Jr converted from the spot to equalise after a controversial penalty call.

The drama did not end there, either, as a goal was chalked off due to insufficient goal-line angles, as Lamine Yamal scored from a corner.

The second half brought more drama as Fermin Lopez helped Barça take the lead before Vinicius Jr and Lucas Vazquez combined for the equaliser.

And as the game headed into injury time, it was time for Jude Bellingham to step up again, with his third goal in two league Clasicos this season.

This pretty much brings one of Barcelona’s most difficult seasons to a close as Madrid go 11 points clear on top of La Liga.

There was incredible controversy in Sunday night’s El Clasico fixtures between Real Madrid and Barcelona after the latter were denied a goal when the ball looked over the line.

Barcelona went 1-0 up at the Santiago Bernabeu through Andreas Christensen before Vinicius Jr equalised with a penalty.

But the Blaugrana thought they had regained the lead in the 27th minute.

Lamine Yamal produced a clever flick from a corner that caught out goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.

He reacted late and parried the ball away before Federico Valverde but it looked like it had crossed the line from multiple angles.

However, despite the protests from the visiting players, a lengthy VAR review ruled that the ball had not crossed the line. Incredibly, unlike all leading leagues around the world, La Liga does not have goal-line technology and so there was no definitive way of knowing.

In the Premier League, the technology sees the referee receive a signal to their watch telling them whether it is a goal or not.

et there is no such technology in the Spanish top flight, with El Larguero reporting that La Liga president Javier Tebas does not want to pay the ‘£2.6 million’ it costs.

It’s not the first time Barca have felt aggrieved by a lack of goal-line technology as a clear goal from Luis Suarez was not awarded against Real Betis in 2017.

Barcelona lost midfielder Frenkie de Jong to another injury in El Clasico on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Dutch midfielder is only just back from a spell out with an ankle problem and was hurt in a really strong challenge from Fede Valverde that left the Barca star in some serious pain.

De Jong was on the ground for some time before eventually being taken off on a stretcher with his hands over his face just before half-time.

It looked like another ankle problem for De Jong and his emotional reaction suggested that it’s potentially a serious injury that will keep him out for another lengthy spell.

Pedri came on to replace De Jong after being left out of the starting XI for the game, with Xavi opting for a midfield of De Jong, Ilkay Gundogan and Andreas Christensen instead.

We’ll have to wait for an update on De Jong but let’s hope it’s not a serious injury.

With Barcelona set to face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu later tonight, the squad, led by manager Xavi Hernandez, landed in the Spanish capital a little while ago.

Upon landing in Spain, the Barcelona manager received a wave of support from the Cules that were gathered to welcome the team in Madrid.

Loud chants of ‘Xavi, stay!’ broke out when the club legend was spotted near the club’s hotel in the Spanish capital, reports SPORT.

Around 200 Barcelona fans were gathered at the gates of the Intercontinental Hotel on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid where the Catalan giants will be setting up base.

And as soon as the manager stepped out of the team bus, the Culers shouted and cheered for him, showing their support to the head coach and even imploring him to stay.

Xavi announced his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of the season back in January itself. Since his announcement, though, the team has turned things around spectacularly on the field, prompting a change of sentiment around his future.

Barcelona need a victory in Sunday’s El Clasico to keep in the La Liga title fight. They currently sit eight points behind Real Madrid with seven matches to go, but a win at the Santiago Bernabeu would see that deficit reduced to five.

The Blaugrana go into the match unbeaten in their last 10 games in La Liga, although spirits will be low after their Champions League exit on Tuesday at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. Still, they can be buoyed by their recent record at the Bernabeu, where they have won seven of the last 10 Clasicos.

s per MD, a win for Barcelona on Sunday would also be a significant one in the history books. They currently sit on 99 Clasico victories, meaning that the century can be brought up with three points this weekend.

However, Barcelona have been stuck on that number since last March, when they won 2-1 at the Spotify Camp Nou. Real Madrid have won the last three competitive meetings, two of which have come this season.

FC Barcelona take on Real Madrid tonight in a season-defining encounter against at the Santiago Bernabeu.

A win tonight against Carlo Ancelotti’s men would see Barça reduce the gap to the top to just five points heading into the final six matches of the season.

With Real Madrid still having some tough fixtures coming up against Real Sociedad, Villarreal, and Real Betis, Barcelona would have an excellent chance to have a late go at the title and end the season with silverware.

For that to happen, though, there is simply no margin for error as far as the Blaugrana are concerned, starting from tonight’s match at the Bernabeu.

Three players risk suspension

With another challenging match against Valencia coming up next weekend, three Barcelona stars must proceed with caution tonight against Real Madrid to avoid getting suspended.

Indeed, Andreas Christensen, Oriol Romeu, and Ilkay Gundogan are all on four yellow cards in La Liga at this moment.

Another booking tonight against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu would see the count rise to five, which would then earn them a one-match automatic suspension for accumulation of cards.

While Romeu is not a starter, both Christensen and Gundogan are expected to feature from kickoff tonight and are crucial to Xavi’s plans for the coming weeks.

As such, losing them to an unnecessary suspension at this juncture of the season, especially if the title is still in play, would be a major blow for the current champions.

Therefore, both Christensen and Gundogan must stay disciplined and not risk getting suspended when they face Real Madrid

t’s been a few days since Paris Saint-Germain eliminated FC Barcelona from the UEFA Champions League. As a result, various opinions and analyses are coming through, with one focusing on manager Xavi Hernandez‘s handling of playing with ten men.

Despite initially trailing 1-0, PSG received a boost when Ronald Araújo was sent off with a red card after a foul on Bradley Barcola. As a result, Xavi needed to modify his squad and adapt to the situation. 

The move that Xavi decided to make was to take off Lamine Yamal, who had a hand in orchestrating the first goal of the match. Nonetheless, CBS Sports‘ Jonathan Johnson believes that removing the player who was giving PSG headaches wasn’t the right call.

“When they went down to ten men, it’s really easy to look back on a decision like this and say it wasn’t the right decision,” Johnson told PSG Talk. “Obviously, Lamine Yamal had given PSG many, many problems in the time that he was on the pitch over the two legs, and it made Nuno Mendes’ life a bit easier. Obviously, he was caught out a little bit with the opening goal. 

“So, for him to see his nemesis taken out of the game was obviously a big help. And you could maybe make a case for Xavi not making the right call at the right time in terms of taking him out. But, at the same time, in those situations, you’ve got to sacrifice somebody, especially when you lose a defender. It’s unfortunate. Sometimes, when you lose a midfielder, you might be able to rejig the team without making an immediate substitution. 

“But unfortunately, when it’s in as critical a position as the defense and you’ve got a two-goal lead that you need to take, I can see the logic in taking out an attacking player. Just in Xavi’s shoes, maybe I wouldn’t have taken off Yamal. Maybe I would have taken off somebody else.”

Hindsight is always 20/20, and it was a major decision that Xavi needed to make to compensate for losing a defender. Perhaps the Spanish tactician felt he needed the experience of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in this situation. Still, the decision didn’t work out, and it’s left to be a what-if in the minds of Barcelona supporters. 

For the past few years, Ronald Araujo has cemented his status as a permanent fixture and the defensive leader of this FC Barcelona outfit.

The Uruguayan international has grown leaps and bounds and established himself as one of the most reliable defenders going around in Europe.

However, a mistake against PSG, that ended up playing a huge role in Barcelona’s elimination from the UEFA Champions League, may well lead to his departure from the club.

Araujo no longer untouchable

Indeed, as per SPORT, Barcelona no longer regard Ronald Araujo as an ‘untouchable’ heading into the summer transfer window and are not averse to the idea of his departure.

By now, it is well-established that Barça need to make at least one major sale in the summer in order to achieve stable financial ground that would allow them to make their moves in the market.

A number of names have been considered as possible departees, but now Araujo is seen as the strongest candidate to leave in the summer.

On Tuesday, some Barcelona fans mistakenly threw stones and bottles at their own bus as it made its way into Montjuïc. The huge club badge and massive “Barça” written on the side were not enough of a clue. In fairness, they might not have seen that through the crowd and all the smoke. As for the metaphor, the self-inflicted damage, that was harder to miss

By the end of the night, Barcelona were out of the Champions League, failing to reach the semi-final for a sixth successive season. Against Paris Saint-Germain they had competed, which genuinely was something, and Xavi Hernández was busy telling the referee, Istvan Kovacs, he had been a “disaster”.

Related: Santi Cazorla: ‘I would play for free but you’re not allowed’

Xavi was sent off and so was the centre-back Ronald Araújo after only half an hour. PSG’s third goal came from the penalty spot after a challenge that João Cancelo, who committed the foul, admitted was “infantile”.

Xavi was furious about Araújo’s red, but the goalkeeper Marc André ter Stegen watched it during the post-game interview and had to admit that, yes, it was a sending off. Ilkay Gündogan went further, questioning the wisdom of making the challenge in the first place. Going a man down that early killed them, he said.

Defeated 4-1 by Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final and 4-2 by Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey quarter-final and now out of Europe having conceded four more at home to PSG, Barcelona were left with only the league. And that too is on edge: on Sunday they travel to the Santiago Bernabéu, eight points behind their great rivals with seven games left. Lose and it is done, draw and it is done. Win and it is probably done too.

It’s a contest that has captivated audiences worldwide for generations and 21st century meetings between the sides have been particualrly feisty – and often crucial as hell.

Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have enjoyed some priceless moments in this rivalry and Spanish football would not be the same without this frequent duel. Recent Clasicos tend to favour Carlo Ancelotti’s side but Barcelona have had their fair share of scalps, with both teams having boasted some hugely significant victories over the past few seasons.

The Supercopa de Espana final has been contested between these two foes for the previous two seasons, with Barcelona triumphing in 2022/23. However, Real Madrid got their sweet revenge earlier in the 2023/24 campaign, hammering the Catalan club during the showpiece event in Saudi Arabia.