First salvo
The first El Clasico of the season was an edge-of-the-seat thriller with Real firing the first salvo, 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, was the fourth El Clasico win in a row for Real Madrid, the first time this has happened since 1965.
Improving Barca
It will be the first time that El Clasico is being held at Santiago Bernabeu since March 2020, just before the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, when Los Blancos won 2-0. That kick-started their current run of five consecutive El Clasico wins across all competitions, the most recent coming in the Spanish Super Cup semifinal in January.
Barcelona are improving, though, and Xavi's side are in great goalscoring form with 14 goals scored across their past four La Liga matches. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has netted five of those goals, so the January signing is a man Real Madrid's defence will have to be wary of.
Winning streak
Meanwhile, Ancelotti's men are on a five-match win streak across all competitions, with Karim Benzema having netted eight goals across those five games.
With Benzema ruled out due to injury, his striking partner in crime Vinicius Jr, who has not been as prolific, will hold the key to Madrsitas' fortunes on the night.
Kick-off time, TV info
The match kicks off at 8pm local time on Sunday (March 20) at Real Madrid's home ground of Santiago Bernabeu. Due to the five-and-a-half hour time difference, for the Indian audience, the match kicks off at 1.30 am on Monday (March 21).
In India, Viacom18 Media have the rights to broadcast La Liga. MTV, the flagship channel of Viacom18, will air the El Clasico. The match will also be available for streaming through Voot Select and JioTV.