Hansi-Dieter Flick: ‘Yamal is not the type to hit the ground from a light challenge’

 

Barcelona coach Hansi-Dieter Flick has praised winger Lamine Yamal’s all-around performance

 

“In the Atletico match, Yamal’s pressing made a big difference.

 

“He has improved defensively while still contributing in attack. His level of play is fantastic, and I enjoy watching him.

 

“He constantly strives to improve and beat each opponent, which isn’t always easy.

 

“Many players in La Liga like to dribble, but Yamal faces fouls in almost every attempt and still keeps going. He doesn’t fall from a light touch,” Flick commented.

 

El Classico is here again as we bring you all you need to know ahead of the Real Madrid vs Barcelona match slated for Sunday afternoon at Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid are set to welcome their long-time bitter rivals FC Barcelona in one of the most anticipated matches in football history, the El Classico.

Barcelona are currently sitting top of the La Liga table with 22 points and 19 goal difference. They are closely followed by rivals Liverpool with the same points. Both teams have won 7 and drew 1 of their 8 La Liga matches this season and will therefore lock horns in search of supremacy on Sunday.

Read also: Liverpool vs Man City: Team news, H2h, lineup and Prediction

---

Match preview

Real Madrid finished 13 points ahead of Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table last season, proving to be considerably powerful for the Catalan giants and the other teams in the Spanish La Liga. However, it appears like this season’s title challenge will be much tighter than usual.  

The fact that Carlo Ancelotti’s team has won 7 and drawn 1 of their 8 league games this season which was enough to fetch them 22 points is a sign of the quality that will be necessary to finish first in 2022–23. However, the point is not sufficient to overtake the Catalans who have maintained the same tally with more goal difference and currently occupy the first spot on the LaLiga table.

Real Madrid’s lone loss came against Osasuna at Madrid on October 2. They succeeded in returning to winning ways last week when they defeated Getafe 1-0 and then drew 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk in their Champions League encounter on Tuesday night.

However, despite picking a point against Shakhtar Donetsk, they succeeded to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions with two group-stage games left. Ancelotti admitted that he was displeased with his team’s performance in the European tournament after the stalemate on Tuesday.

Before the end of October, Real Madrid will play five matches which include matches against RB Leipzig in the Champions League and four other La Liga games against Barcelona, Sevilla, Elche, and Girona in the Spanish League.

Los Blancos have defeated Barcelona in four of their previous five league meetings, although they were defeated 4-0 by their fierce rivals in a comparable game at the Bernabeu last year.

Real Madrid have done well to easily advance to the Champions League knockout stage, but Barcelona will have to work hard to prevent missing the last 16 for the second successive season.

The Catalan team played a 3-3 draw with Italian giants Inter Milan which dropped them to the third position in Group C, as it stands, they are three points behind Inter who sit in the second spot, the chance of qualification for the Catalans is way to slim as Inter just need to defeat Viktoria Plzen at home the following week to guarantee their place in the knockout stage of the competition.

Barcelona have struggled so far in the European competition, but their league performance remains unblemished since their uninspiring goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano to start the 2022–23 season.

Despite starting the La Liga campaign with a draw against Rayo Vallecano, the Catalans went ahead to win the last seven matches scoring 20 goals and conceding just one. The record was good enough to place them on the top of the La Liga table. 

Barcelona have not won the La Liga title since the 2018–19 season. Peradventurely, if they failed to secure their place in the Champions League’s knockout rounds, they may decide to focus entirely on the Spanish league.

This weekend won’t determine who wins the league, but a win for either team would boost morale at a pretty early point in the season.

Real Madrid La Liga form:

• W
• W
• W
• W
• D
• W

Real Madrid form (all competitions):

• W
• W
• D
• W
• W
• D

Barcelona La Liga form:

• W
• W
• W
• W
• W
• W

Barcelona form (all competitions):

• L
• W
• W
• L
• W
• D

---

Team News

Owing to hamstring problems, Dani Ceballos will undoubtedly be absent from Real Madrid once more, while Thibaut Courtois may have been unable to recover from a back ailment and will also miss the El Clasico.

Andriy Lunin is therefore guaranteed to remain in goal, and Antonio Rudiger is also anticipated to remain healthy after sustaining a serious head injury while scoring his team’s equalizer against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.

Real Madrid won’t be at maximum capacity due to Courtois’ probable unavailability, but there shouldn’t be any shocks among the 10 players on the pitch, with Federico Valverde anticipated to start on the right wing of the top three attacking line.

The first-choice midfielder Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Toni Kroos are expected to start for Real Madrid, with Eder Militao replacing Rudiger in the defense.

Jules Kounde is anticipated to make a speedy recovery from his injury. will hold the central defense with Eric Garcia and take the place of Gerard Pique for the Catalan giants in the central defense.

There are still injuries keeping Memphis Depay, Hector Bellerin, Ronald Araujo, and Andreas Christensen from playing, but Xavi’s team has no new concerns over their readiness for the game.

Alejandro Balde may start at left-back, and Ansu Fati may start in place of Raphinha in the attacking line alongside Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski.

Although Frenkie de Jong could replace Sergio Busquets in the heart of the midfield, it appears more likely that the young players Gavi and Pedri will once again join Busquets in a midfield three.

Real Madrid Predicted Lineup:

• Lunin
• Carvajal
• Militao
• Alaba
• Mendy
• Modric
• Tchouameni
• Kroos
• Valverde
• Benzema
• Vinicius

Barcelona Predicted Lineup:

• Ter Stegen
• Roberto
• Kounde
• E Garcia
• Balde
• Gavi
• Busquets
• Pedri
• Dembele
• Lewandowski
• Fati

---

Real Madrid vs Barcelona Prediction

El Classico as it is formally known is one of the biggest fixtures in football history and can be very difficult to predict. However, we have quite a number of options to pick from when staking your money on a bet.

Though both teams have not lost any match this season, there is a possibility that the match will end in a stalemate. According to our expert punters, this is quite an easy game to predict.

GG is feasible as well as over 1.5, risk takers can bet on over 2.5 or Real Madrid to win but in the end, it is going to be a cracker to watch.

FT: Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona

Before the closure of the summer transfer window, Sevilla had declared their interest in Seko Fofana of Lens in a bid to boost their midfield option.

Sevilla have had a rough start to the 2022/23 La Liga season. The Spanish side has managed just a draw out of their three fixtures since the beginning of the new season. The epileptic performance is their worst in 41 years and will be hoping for a bounce back to their winning ways.

According to information gathered by Diario Sport, Sevilla has already made an early bid worth €28m for the Lens midfielder, who has been in fine form since the commencement of the new French Ligue 1 season.

Fofana has made one assist and scored two goals for Lens who started the season on a good note. Currently, Lens were able to secure 10 points out of 12, meaning they have won three and drew one and are yet to lose any game this season.

The Ivory Coast international joined Lens for a minut fee of €8.5m and has had 77 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, netting 14 goals and eight assists.

The 27-year-old midfielder, born in Paris, started his senior football career at Man City, unfortunately, he was not able to feature in the club’s first team. He later joined Udinese where he enjoyed playing time and a great senior career before joining Lens in France.

Read also: Chelsea revealed Aubameyang’s Jersey Number

During his senior career in football, he has had a loan spell at Fulham and Bastia. If the deal is sealed he will be a good acquisition for Sevilla who are in dire need of a scorer and a playmaker.

How Old is Seko Fofana?

Seko Fofana was born on May 7, 2022, in Paris, France. He is currently 27 years Old. The player still have a good number of years to add more accolades to his football career before retirement.

Soon, the player who is in constant search for winning trophies may seek an opportunity elsewhere but as it stands there is no official statement as regards him wanting to leave the Club despite keen interest from big clubs such as Arsenal, Sevilla, etc.

Seko Fofana Stats

Seko Fofana is currently enjoying his senior football career in the French Ligue 1 as he keeps improving on his arrival at Lens from Udinese for a fee of 8.5m pounds. Fofana featured in 30 games during his first season at the club (2020/21), scoring just 2 goals and making 3 assists.

In the 2021/22 season, the Ivorian had 36 appearances in the French Ligue 1 scoring 8 goals and made one assist, a performance quite better than that of the previous campaign.

Amazingly, it seems the new 2022/23 season is going to be his best season at Lens as the midfielder has scored 2 goals and made 2 assists in just four matches. If Fofana can maintain this performance till the end of the season, he might be contending for the Ligue 1 golden boot.

Also, during the 2021/22 season, he featured in the French Cup competition where he played 3 matches, scoring 2 goals and assisting one.

The most impressive part of Fofana’s career is his self-discipline. All through his two-and-a-half spell at Lens, he had only picked 5 yellow cards in all competitions and no red cards.

Will Seko Fofana leave Lens?

As it stands, Seko Fofana is not leaving Lens for now. The Ivory Coast midfielder has not declared his intention of leaving his current club and is currently enjoying his spell at Lens.

With the curtain of the Summer transfer window fully drawn, clubs interested in Seko Fofana can only go and lick their wounds until the next transfer window opens.