Barcelona need a point against Real Madrid to win La Liga / Photo: Lluis GENE - AFP
Barcelona need a point against Real Madrid to win La Liga
Barcelona only need a draw against Real Madrid in a high-stakes Clasico to clinch back-to-back La Liga titles later Sunday, with Madrid in disarray after a dressing-room bust-up between two of their leading players.
Hansi Flick's side have an 11-point lead over their age-old rivals and while one point would be enough, a victory would keep them on course to make history -- and celebrate in style.
If Barcelona win their last four league games this season, starting with the battle against Alvaro Arbeloa's fracturing Madrid in Catalonia, they will match the all-time league record of 100 points.
Should Barca beat Madrid and then Real Betis the following weekend, they will become the first team to win all their home matches in a 38-game La Liga season.
The tension around Madrid after a season in which they will finish without a trophy for just the fifth time this century burst to the surface in extraordinary fashion this week.
A post-training clash between French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni and teammate Federico Valverde left the Uruguayan requiring hospital treatment for a head injury, and out for a fortnight.
Valverde's explanation that he "accidentally" collided with a table during the argument "causing a small cut on my forehead" failed to smooth over the situation.
The club imposed a 500,000-euro ($590,000) fine on each player and says they have apologised to each other and to their teammates, the club's staff and to Madrid supporters.
Arbeloa said he was happy that the club had acted swiftly and that the players had "acknowledged their mistake, expressed their regret, accepted the consequences of what they have done, and asked for forgiveness."
"For me, that's enough. What I'm not going to do is burn them at the stake in public, because they don't deserve that... because of what they've shown me over these four months and over these years," the Madrid coach added.
He said despite the confrontation, Tchouameni would be in the squad for the Clasico.
- Barcelona cohesion -
Barcelona coach Flick said the incident at Madrid was something you see in other clubs, but it was not "normal".
"It happens around the world, so it's not only a thing at Real... was I surprised? Maybe a little bit," Flick told reporters.
"But in the end, I don't care about that, because it's not my club, it's not my team. So I don't have to think about that."
Flick was at pains though to stress that in contrast to Madrid, everybody at Barcelona was on the same page.
"The most important thing, and what I really appreciate a lot in this club, is that we are all going the same way," the German explained.
"When something happens, we are talking in the same way."
Adding to the raft of statistics, Barca could become the first team to clinch La Liga in a Clasico since 1932, when Madrid won their first Spanish league.
"We want to win the title, the second in a row," Flick said.
"It's amazing, not normal, here in Spain. So this is what we want to do, nothing else, nothing more."
Madrid will not be able to count on Kylian Mbappe. The French forward has been recovering from a hamstring injury and trained with his teammates on Friday, but he was not on the squad list issued by the club on social media on Sunday.
Barcelona's young star Lamine Yamal will also watch from the stands -- the 18-year-old's own hamstring injury is expected to sideline him until the World Cup.
W.Weber--JdCdC
