Real Madrid: Crucial Barcelona midfielder set to miss El Clasico

Real Madrid have quite a few injury problems to look at for the game against FC Barcelona this weekend, with Eden Hazard, Dani Carvajal and a couple of others still major doubts for the biggest club game on the planet. However, Real Madrid are not the only one with injury issues, which is something that could benefit Real Madrid in the upcoming game, or at least keep it equal for both teams.

It was reported earlier that Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo is injured and will definitely miss the games against Dynamo Kyiv and Real Madrid. This came as a blow to the Catalan club considering how weak Barcelona have been on the defensive side in recent games. Araujo has been their best centre-back and has really been trying to keep it all together for the club. They will sorely miss him but it gives Real Madrid much more of an advantage with Karim Benzema being in the form of his life.

But, he’s not the only Barcelona player that’s injured. According to MARCA, winger Ousmane Dembele and midfielder Pedri also join the Uruguayan centre-back on the sidelines for the next two games.

Pedri’s absence should allow Real Madrid to be more controlling in midfield

Pedri has had a great time since joining Barcelona. He has started the majority of games for both club and country, and has been one of the best players in the Barcelona squad since his signing. It got him into the Ballon d’Or top 30 shortlist as well. However, whether he actually deserves to be on the list with the likes of Toni Kroos and Joshua Kimmich not being included, is another topic.

Anyway, his absence is surely a blow for Barcelona because they won’t be able to start their usual midfield three of Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong and Pedri. They might have to go with either a double pivot of De Jong and Busquets, or get someone like Sergi Roberto to play there.

Either way, this gives Real Madrid a bit of an advantage since the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, with Casemiro sitting behind them, shouldn’t have that much of a problem in getting the ball for longer stretches. Pedri’s creativity in the final third and the energy that he brings in would be missing, which would allow Real’s midfielders to do what they do best.

Keep in mind, it still won’t be an easy task; Frenkie De Jong is still one of the best midfielders in the world and Busquets can still run things from the back, but there’s no doubt that the injury would worsen Barcelona’s midfield.

As for Dembele, he hasn’t featured for Barcelona this season and they’ve had to manage without him, so even though he brings a lot to the table when he’s on the pitch, it seems like Barcelona won’t be missing it as much because of the fact that Dembele isn’t around much. The return of Ansu Fati also makes things better for the Catalans.

This game should be very entertaining, and I really hope that Real Madrid come off victorious after putting Shakhtar aside 5-0 in a very one-sided affair on Tuesday.