Barcelona vs Real Madrid live score, updates, highlights from El Clasico in La Liga

Europe’s most well-known rivalry enters a new chapter as Real Madrid travel to the Camp Nou to meet bitter enemies Barcelona in La Liga action.

The two frontrunners for the Spanish top flight meet for the second and final time in league action, with Barcelona holding a nine-point lead atop the table. Victory for the hosts would effectively see the title race all but over, while a win for the visitors would renew their challenge and set up a race to the finish line.

The meeting is their fourth of the season already, with one more game still to come as they get set for the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal in under three weeks. Barcelona took a slim 1-0 lead in the first leg.

The two sides also met in the final of the Supercopa de Espana, with Barcelona winning that match, while Real Madrid won the first league meeting between these two clubs this season back in October.

MORE: Full preview, predictions, and picks for El Clasico at the Camp Nou on Sunday 

The Sporting News will be following the match live and providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid live score

Goals:
None

Predicted lineups:

Barcelona (4-4-2, right to left): 1. ter Stegen (GK) — 23. Kounde, 4. Araujo, 15. Christensen, 28. Balde — 21. de Jong, 5. Busquets, 19. Kessie, 6. Gavi — 22. Raphinha, 9. Lewandowski.

Real Madrid (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Courtois (GK) — 2. Carvajal, 3. Militao, 22. Rudiger, 6. Nacho — 10. Modric, 12. Camavinga, 8. Kroos — 15. F. Valverde, 9. Benzema, 20. Vinicius.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid live updates, highlights, commentary

120 mins to kick: There is some extra needle to this game, more than the usual between two bitter enemies. Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez will not travel to the match at Camp Nou, the first Clasico that he has not attended in over 20 years. In addition, Barcelona will reportedly not hold their traditional pre-match lunch between the directors of both clubs.

The additional hostility is due to the recent rise in tensions between the clubs over the corruption charge directed at Barcelona by Spanish prosecutors regarding alleged payments made to referee executives. Real Madrid have gone out of their way to implicate Barcelona in the situation, which has sullied relations between the two clubs.

Florentino Pérez confirma que no asistirá al palco del Camp Nou. Creo que nadie le echará de menos #clásico

— Carme Barceló (@CarmeBarcelo) March 19, 2023

¡Van sin el ‘Presi’! ❌

Según medios españoles, Florentino Pérez no viajó a Barcelona y se ausentará de #ElClásico. 😮

La tensión entre directivas por la reciente postura del @realmadrid sobre el ‘Caso Negreira’ sería la razón de su decisión. 👀 pic.twitter.com/25lcbUcbOs

— TNT Sports México (@tntsportsmex) March 19, 2023

Barcelona vs Real Madrid lineups & team news

The status of young midfielder Pedri, who has been missing since mid-February with a thigh injury, was the biggest question for Barcelona in this match. He returned to training this week and was reportedly in contention to start against Real Madrid, but has failed to recover in time and was left off the Barcelona squad for this match.

Ronald Araujo will return from injury to take part in this match. Ousmane Dembele, who is nursing a long-term hamstring injury, was oddly pictured attending a Sunderland match midweek but remains sidelined.

Barcelona projected starting lineup (4-4-2): Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GK) — Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Alex Balde — Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Franck Kessie, Gavi — Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski.

Barcelona subs (11): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)

Karim Benzema was withdrawn from Real Madrid’s midweek Champions League win over Liverpool but is reportedly ready to go for El Clasico. The only concerns for Los Blancos are David Alaba, whose hamstring injury will leave him sidelined, and Ferland Mendy, who has been missing since late January.

Real Madrid projected starting lineup (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois (GK) — Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho Fernandez — Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos — Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr.

Real Madrid subs (11): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)

How to watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Barcelona vs Real Madrid betting odds & lines

Barcelona, as league leaders and hosts for this match, are understandable favourites, at nearly even-money on the three-way line, but the oddsmakers are well aware that this fixture can produce some unpredictable results.

As a perfect encapsulation of that sentiment, Real Madrid have won two in a row in the league at Camp Nou, and they haven’t lost at Barcelona’s hallowed ground since 2018.