Former Real Madrid coach highlights the conditions needed for Madrid to catch Barcelona in upcoming Clasico | OneFootball

A crucial week awaits FC Barcelona as they have two very difficult matches awaiting them in the space of only three days. The first of these matches is against Bayern Munich in the League Phase of the UEFA Champions League, and the second against Real Madrid in La Liga.

The Bayern game is scheduled for this Wednesday and is naturally taking most of the attention of the Barcelona fans. However, El Clasico is inarguably one of the biggest games for the Catalan club in almost every season, and this time it will be even more important as both the teams are separated by only three points.

However, the quality that the two teams have shown on the pitch has been vastly different, with the Merengues usually struggling to get wins, while the Blaugranes have steamrolled most of their opponents.

In such a context, SPORT reports that one of Real Madrid’s former players, coach, and Sporting Director, Jorge Valdano, admitted that his former team will have to raise its competitive level to be able to catch the Catalans. He made these comments as he appeared in a program on Movistar+:

“Now that the Clásico is approaching, Madrid would have to improve and Barcelona would have to decline for Madrid to be able to catch up with Barça.”

As already stated, there is still only a three points difference between the two teams on the La Liga table. Barcelona have won all of their matches barring one, in which they fell to a defeat to Osasuna as Flick decided to rest several of his starting players.

On the other hand, Real Madrid are yet to taste defeat but have drawn three of their matches, including the one against Atletico Madrid. Thus, the upcoming tie can have significant implications for the league campaign of both sides, but as things stand, Barcelona are definitely the favorites.