ElClasico: 3 huge match-ups to decide Barcelona v Real Madrid showdown

The first ELCLASICO of the 2023/24 season is just around the corner and the stakes could hardly be higher in this meeting between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, with the latter just one point ahead of the former in the LALIGA EA SPORTS table. As this heavyweight duel approaches, here's an in-depth look at three key duels which could determine whether it's FC Barcelona or Real Madrid celebrating on Saturday evening.

João Cancelo vs Vini Jr.: The Brazilian faces the competition's top tackler

Over the past few years, Xavi has often put Ronald Araújo up against Vini Jr. in ELCLASICO, but João Cancelo's excellent start to his FC Barcelona career has seen the Portuguese lock down the right-back spot. As such, it should be the 29-year-old who'll go up against the player Carlo Ancelotti had repeatedly described as "the best winger in world football".

Cancelo and Vini Jr. have only faced off once before in their careers, when Real Madrid produced an incredible comeback in the 2021/22 Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City. However, Cancelo played at left-back for the majority of that game, so there wasn't a direct duel between these two talents.

On Saturday, we should finally get to see if Cancelo can handle Vini Jr.'s incredible pace and trickery. Although the Brazilian has missed time over the first few months of the season with injury, he has still been his usual electric self when he has played and is achieving 1.9 successful dribbles per game, with only 10 players in LALIGA EA SPORTS having more. On the other hand, Cancelo is the player with the most tackles per game in the entire competition, with 3.7 per 90 minutes. In other words, one of the best attackers is going up against one of the best