Real Madrid travel to Camp Nou as its time for El Clasico on Sunday desperate to claim the League title as this match can be Cup defining match.
The two clubs have enjoyed a fierce rivalry throughout their illustrious histories and every year this fixture demands even greater global attention
With 11 matches remaining, Barca lead Real by one point at the top of the hill in Spain, while defending champ's Atletico Madrid have dropped off the point pace in recent weeks.
Real tasted victory in the reverse fixture of El Clasico as goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Karim Benzema helped them to a 3-1 success after Neymar's early opener was being denied.
As ever, much of the focus will be on each side's respective talisman, as the performances of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo continue to provoke debate over which one deserves to be considered the greatest player on the planet.
In 2014-15, Messi leads the way in the goalscoring charts - with 32 in the league and 43 in all competitions, while Ronaldo has 41 goals all told, 30 of which have come in La Liga.
Carlo Ancelotti's Real side have dropped points against both Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao in recent weeks, which allowed Barca to overtake them at the top with a run of nine wins from 10 matches.
Real's only fitness concern surrounds James Rodriguez, who has not featured since fracturing a metatarsal against Sevilla in early February, while Barca expect to have Sergio Busquets back after missing the last three games with an ankle injury.
The last four years have seen Barcelona and Real Madrid meet 17 times and in each of those meetings both teams have managed to find the back of the net meaning that the goalscorer market is perhaps the most fruitful for potential punters in the world's biggest game.
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| BETTING ODDS ON LEO MESSI TO SCORE FIRST |
Leading the betting is Lionel Messi, whose performance in midweek against Manchester City left no doubt that the Argentine is returning to his best after a drop in his admitedly stratospheric standards over the last year.
Barcelona's number 10 is offered at 4/6 (1.66) with bet365 to score at anytime, and at 10/3 (4.33) to open the scoring and naturally it would be a brave man who would back against him doing either.
He has been superb since the turn of the year and will relish the chance to help his side open up a four point gap over Madrid, yet the odds are perhaps too small for the average punter.
For those wanting to get involved in the market predicting who will break the deadlock, bet365's unlimited each-way terms mean that no matter when your player scores, if you've backed him each-way, you'll get a return.
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| BETTING ODDS ON BALE TO SCORE FIRST |
The other members of Barca's attacking trident, Neymar and Luis Suarez are both offered at 11/10 (2.10) to find the back of the net, which may be of more appeal, particularly in the case of the Brazilian who scored in the last Clasico back in October as well as in the corresponding fixture at the Camp Nou last season.
In terms of Madrid, there has to be a strong case made for backing Cristiano Ronaldo to find the back of the net despite the Ballon d'Or holder not being quite at his best. He does boast a terrific Clasico scoring record, though, and something about the hostile nature of the Camp Nou seems to bring out the best in him.
The price of 7/5 (2.40) for him to score will surely be taken by plenty of punters, yet there could be more value in backing a defender to net for Los Blancos.
In recent meetings, Madrid's centre backs back have shown themselves to be decisive, with Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Raphael Varane all scoring in the last seven Clasicos.
Of those three it is Ramos who has the best scoring record and the price of 15/2 (8.50) for him to find the back of the net once more looks tempting for a small value bet. He is a man who has scored some big goals in his time and another on Sunday would be very timely for his side and potentially extremely profitable for punters.
Sergio Ramos to score at anytime at 15/2 (8.50) for a 0.5pt stake with bet365
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