Barcelona vs Real Madrid – Mourinho to end Clasico losing run
There’s no Premier League match this Monday but when the La Liga offering is Barcelona versus Real Madrid in Jose Mourinho’s first Clasico as boss of Los Blancos is far more than just a nice consolation.
It’s been billed in some quarters as the ultimate club football match because of the number of World Cup winners and Ballon d’Or nominees involved, while Real Madrid are bidding to end a four-game losing streak against their rivals and Barcelona want revenge on Mourinho for their Champions League exit last season.
Given Barcelona’s recent dominance of the fixture, doing the double in each of the last two seasons and scoring 11 goals in the process, impressively managing to keep three clean sheets in the process, it’s no surprise that they are evens favourites.
It’s difficult to shrug off the feeling though that Real Madrid won’t get a greater chance than this to end their losing streak against Pep Guardiola’s side. Not only are they above them in the table, they are unbeaten all season too, winning 15 of their 19 in all competitions. It’s 5/2 that they make it 16 in 20.
In Mourinho, they have a tactician who has shown that he can get the better of Barcelona, twice knocking them out of the Champions League, while every point Barca have dropped this season has come at the Camp Nou, drawing with Real Mallorca and losing to Hercules.
But while the statistics perhaps lend themselves to a bet on Real Madrid, the most likely goalscorer plays for the hosts, as Lionel Messi is 10/11 to net at any time.
Yes, Cristiano Ronaldo (11/10) has scored one more than him in La Liga this season, however he is yet to notch in a Clasico and hasn’t been as consistently prolific as the Argentine, who has incredibly been on the scoresheet in each of his last ten appearances for club and country.
It’s 8/1 that the tie will be level at half-time, with Real Madrid triumphing, meaning that a £10 bet would deliver an £80 profit. New customers can sign up here for a free £10 bet.