Recent meetings
Real Madrid have had an edge over Barcelona in the El Clasico duels. However, in the most recent clash in March 2022, it was the Catalans who had the last laugh as they thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doing the star turn by scoring a brace at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The first El Clasico of the 2021-22 season saw Real prevailing over Barca 2-1 at Camp Nou. David Alaba's first goal for Los Blancos was timely and brilliant, before Lucas Vazquez and Sergio Aguero traded stoppage time goals for the 2-1 final score. That win in October, 2021, was the fourth El Clasico win in a row for Real Madrid, the first time it had happened since 1965.
Xavi the key
Barcelona, who are coached by the legendary Xavi Hernandez, come into Sunday's El Clasico with their UEFA Champions League knockout qualification on the brink after a 3-3 draw with Inter Milan at home.
"We think of Real Madrid in Sunday's El Clasico. It'll not be easy to win, but we must think of the championship where we want to continue to be first in the standings," said Xavi.
Ancelotti tight-lipped
With both Real and Barca locked at 22 points on the top of the La Liga 2022-23 standings, much is at stake for both teams.
Keeping El Clasico in mind, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is a hard taskmaster, had rested many players including Vinicius Jr for Champions League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw. However, Madrid talisman Benzema had started the game which ended in a 1-1 draw and ensured the Los Blancos' passage to the round-of-16.
Kick-off time/TV info
The first El Clasico of the 2022-23 La Liga season has an Asia-focused kick-off, with the match starting at 4.15 pm local time. Due to the three-and-a-half hours time difference between Spain and India, the match will kick off at 7.45PM IST.
In India, the El Clasico will be aired on Viacom18 network's free-to-air Sports18 1 MTV (English) and Sports18 Khel (Hindi) channels. Jio Cinema will live-stream the match in multiple language feeds including English, Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali and it will also be available in English on Voot.