What to look out for in El Clasico

Barcelona and Real Madrid go head-to-head on Sunday in a late-season El Clasico with huge ramifications for the title race.

Madrid need a win to strengthen hope of giving Carlo Ancelotti a farewell trophy.

Barca will hope this is the final Clasico at their temporary Olympic Stadium home – with the Nou Camp set to reopen next season.

Barcelona lead Real Madrid by four points at the top of the La Liga table with four games left.

A Barca win would take them to the brink of the title… but a Madrid win would really open the door again.

Two of Barcelona’s final three games are against teams in the Champions League places – Villarreal at home and Athletic Bilbao away.

Tenth-placed Mallorca are the highest team in the table who Madrid have left to play.

This is likely to be the final Clasico for legendary Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti.

The 65-year-old Italian was in charge of Real from 2013 to 2015 before taking over for a second time in 2021.

Ancelotti is the first person to lead Madrid to 15 trophies as a manager – including three Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles.

This is his final chance to make it 16.

Nothing official has been announced but it is widely expected he will step down at the end of the season – probably before June’s Fifa Club World Cup.

Hansi Flick has had an impressive first season in charge at Barcelona – including two trophies coming in Clasicos.

The German could make it four wins from four Clasicos on Sunday.

Barcelona won 4-0 at the Bernabeu in their first league meeting of the season in October.

They met again in January in the Spanish Super Cup final in January – with Barca winning 5-2, despite having goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny sent off in the 56th minute.

Plenty has been said about Lamine Yamal’s impact this season – especially in their Champions League run to the semi-finals where they lost a thriller to Inter Milan.

The Spain right winger, aged just 17, has set up 21 goals in all competitions for Barca this season – and scored 14 himself.

In his three Clasicos this season, he has two goals and two assists.

Mbappe, who was once the 17-year-old the world was talking about, has had a similarly prolific campaign in his first season at Real Madrid.

Last season, his first at Real Madrid, England’s Jude Bellingham was the king of El Clasico.

Madrid won three out of three, including the Spanish Super Cup final, and Bellingham was the hero in both La Liga wins.

In October, Bellingham scored a 30-yard equaliser and then an injury-time volley in a 2-1 win.

And in April he netted a last-minute winner in a 3-2 Clasico thriller at the Bernabeu.