Saturday's 189th La Liga Clasico comes with both Real Madrid and Barcelona way off their best form and, for the time being, papering over the cracks as they prepare for the first of this season's tussles for Spanish football's bragging rights.
แทงบอลออนไลน์ Historically, victory in El Clasico frequently rubber-stamped one club or another's supremacy as they strolled to a title triumph.
These days, Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid would beg to differ although it is still beyond doubt one of the most-watched games in the world.
Real may top the table, with Barca just one point behind, but all is not well at either club and here is why.
Rodrygo's goal against Braga in the Champions League on Tuesday was the Brazilian's first since he scored in the season opener. He has the dubious distinction of being the player with the poorest return for shots on goal in any of the five major European leagues.
Astonishingly, the problems have been masked by the stellar start that Jude Bellingham is enjoying to his career at Real - with another goal on Tuesday in Portugal his 11th in 12 games.
Real Madrid is the sort of place where reputations count for nothing and you have to prove yourself from the get-go.
Just four months since putting pen to paper, he is already being touted as the leader of the side with comparisons being made between him and Zinedine Zidane.
There is total admiration for his ability, personality and application and the way he has settled seamlessly into the Spanish way of life.
That is the good news for Real. The not so good is that he picked up a knock in the win in Braga and has been a doubt for the game on Saturday, although he did return to training on Friday and is expected to feature.
Brazil forward Vinicius Jr is slowly going back to his best form and still produces moments of quality, but without the goals from Bellingham, this Real Madrid would be in a very different place.
