Madrid-Barça: The great duels of the Classic in defense

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will play this Saturday in a new Spanish football classic with much more than the leadership of LaLiga at stake. Both teams arrive separated by 3 points, with Barça leading and in impressive form after the wins against Sevilla (5-1) and Bayern Munich (4-1).

Despite the loss of Marc-André ter Stegen, the culés have won 5 in the last 6 games, with the defeat in Pamplona (4-2) being the only serious setback so far. The team has conceded 10 goals in 10 games, 4 of them in El Sadar and with 3 clean sheets so far in LaLiga.

For its part, Real Madrid has conceded fewer goals (7), with 4 days without conceding a goal, but many more doubts in the formation of the defense. Carlo Ancelotti will also not be without his starting goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, or Dani Carvajal, the latter absent for the rest of the season. At FCBN we review the individual duels at the back of both teams for Saturday's duel.

The Iñigo-Cubarsí duo, much more reliable than Militao and Rüdiger

In the center of the defense, the Iñigo Martínez-Pau Cubarsí duo, against all odds, has been the most solid of the season. The Basque has completely overcome the physical problems that plagued him in the last 2 years, being the ideal squire for a Cubarsí who, at 17 years old, is a true guarantee both in scoring and in getting out with the ball. At the moment, the '2' is, along with Koundé, the one who recovers the most balls in defense, although he must be careful with the cards (he has 2).

In the 'White House', both Antonio Rüdiger and Éder Militao are still far from their best level. The German, unlike in 2023/24, has been very imprecise in covering spaces, while the Brazilian has clearly lost speed after the serious injury suffered last year. Even so, both have played practically everything so far, with Aurélien Tchouaméni as an alternative, since Ancelotti does not have Vallejo.

Barça also has more solidity on the wings with Koundé and Balde

On the sides, Barça clearly has an advantage over Chamartín. Both Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde have been immense at the beginning of the season, especially the Frenchman. The '23' has 1 goal and 1 assist in the tournament, with nine starts, while Álex, although he has not yet contributed to the offensive statistics, has also been in the XI in eight games.

On the other hand, Madrid arrives with many more problems on the sides. Lucas Vázquez will once again cover Carvajal's position, after suffering a lot on Tuesday against Dortmund. Although, in the end, he scored the goal for the 3-2 partial, the '17' had a really bad time in the one-on-one against Gittens and, on Saturday, he will have to deal with Raphinha and/or Dani Olmo or Ansu Fati, a mission nothing simple. On the left, Ferland Mendy remains the first option, since 'Carletto' does not trust Fran García.