Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are gearing up for a Clasico for the ages on Wednesday night at Camp Nou, and Ernesto Valverde made a last-minute lineup change in response to Zinedine Zidane’s official Starting XI.
Los Blancos will be starting a 4-4-2 with a diamond, as Zinedine Zidane has selected Gareth Bale and Isco as starters for Wednesday night’s match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Since Zidane has never lost a Clasico at Camp Nou, it’s safe to say the French manager knows exactly what he’s doing.
Ernesto Valverde saw Real’s midfield of Isco, Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde, and Casemiro, and he decided to make a last-minute change of his own to the Barcelona midfield trio.
Sergio Busquets was scheduled to start as the main anchor in midfield, but the veteran of El Clasico was benched likely after Valverde saw Zidane’s tactics.
Instead, Croatia international Ivan Rakitic will start in midfield alongside Sergi Roberto and rising star Frenkie de Jong.
You can view the official Barcelona Starting XI for El Clasico below.
⚠️ There has been a change to the starting 11 for #ElClásico. pic.twitter.com/AdpM0aKTtx
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 18, 2019
Rakitic isn’t much faster than Busquets, so it’s an interesting change for Barca. They will have to rely on de Jong to carry the day in midfield, because Barca will run into issues against Real’s midfield, which is arguably the world’s best.
Casemiro and Valverde are exceptional box-to-box players who defend at a high level. Valverde has scored a couple of goals outside the box and has some delightful touches, so he brings technical ability with his tireless running as a game-changing breakout star in Zidane’s midfield.
Meanwhile, the attacking midfield will also cause problems, as Isco and Kroos are creative wizards. Kroos has been one of the best attacking midfielders in world football in 2019-2020 under Zidane.
It will be interesting to see how the change works out for Barcelona with Rakitic in over Busquets. Valverde also opted to bench Arturo Vidal, which the Chile international reportedly didn’t take well.
All told, this should be a thrilling Clasico, and it says a lot that Barcelona felt compelled to make a last-second change in response to Zidane’s diamond formation. The tactical battle will be one to watch, especially since it seems to favor three-time Champions League winning manager Zidane.