Real, Barca face heat before Clasico

Madrid, October 19 

Real Madrid and Barcelona cannot avoid heading into next week’s Clasico under pressure but each have two games to lift the mood at least, ahead of the pivotal clash at Camp Nou.

Eight games into La Liga and both Julen Lopetegui and Ernesto Valverde are feeling the heat, forced to defend poor runs that have seen their teams manage a combined total of two wins from their last 10 games. 

Madrid’s slump feels more entrenched, given they are without a goal in 360 minutes, discounting injury time, and three of their last four matches have ended in defeat.

While Barca can point to their riveting win at Wembley over Tottenham, and then a point gained in Valencia, Madrid have endured successive setbacks away to CSKA Moscow and Alaves. They have two home games to clear the fog, and winnable ones too, against Levante before Viktoria Plzen visit on Tuesday in the Champions League.

A pair of victories, and just as importantly, some goals, would earn Lopetegui much-needed breathing space. Lopetegui can draw comfort from the points table as Barcelona’s stumbles mean his team are only two points off the top, where Sevilla are the surprise front-runners.

Barca face Sevilla

Barca face Sevilla on Saturday night in an unexpected duel of first and second, where the onus will be on Valverde’s men to make a statement. Sevilla have won four league games on the bounce and, in one of those, thumped Real Madrid 3-0. They also continue a run of blockbuster ties for Barca, which has already included Spurs and Valencia, and will stretch deep into November.

After Sevilla, they play at home to Inter Milan on Wednesday and Real Madrid on Sunday. At the start of next month, they face Inter again in Italy, Atletico Madrid and Real Betis. A win this weekend and Barcelona might feel a corner has been turned. — AFP

Juve host Genoa 

Milan: Cristiano Ronaldo (in pic) will look to pick up where he left off the pitch as Juventus host Genoa in Serie A on Saturday before next week’s trip to his former club Manchester United in the Champions League. Ronaldo shrugged off explosive rape allegations to score for the champions in their last Serie A game against Udinese before the international break on October 6 to keep Juventus’s 100 percent record after eight games.