Real Madrid vs Barcelona: The Starting 11

Before going into the next Match I will rate the performance of players in the last game vs Manchester City.

1. Benzema: 2/10, Very Poor game that has very less involvement, only misses and bad finishes, final third game play missing completely. And his pressing was also gone in the 2nd half.
2. Vinicius: 8.5/10, created a few good chances, missed a sure 1 on 1 chance by slipping but that's a certain miss, got substituted for no fault and referee was too harsh on him. Gave one assist and was the best attacking player of the day.
3. Isco: 7/10, Decent game and a goal to sum his play, was good in distribution as well, could have taken a few more but was a bit lazy, especially when the opponent defence was not that quick.
4. Modric: 7.5/10, did his bit, controlled the game, few chances were initiated, pressed better than all other mid-field players. 
5. Casemiro: 3/10, did all he was supposed to do but very poorly, a poor back pass lead to Ramos red card, casual on the ball and lost possession too many times and at times wrong passes to the defence. His poorest outing of the season.
6. Valverde: 6/10, good first half, lacked the dynamic attitude which he generally carries. He could not do the job of Kroos of controlling the game. Defensive work was fine but link up play with the forwards was missing and so fewer chances created by the team. 
7. Mendy: 8/10, did very well to be honest, no defensive lapses from his side Even crossing was better from his side.
8. Ramos: 4.5/10, was below par, with hardly any pressure he was committing fouls and first goal was his fault, should have marked better and should have got his head to the ball. There was slight nudge but for his experience it will be still counted as an error. Seemed lack of communication on occasions and gave enough space to Jesus. Got a red card but neither was his fault nor was that a red card offence, it was a clear dive and VAR should have seen that.
9. Varane: 7.5/10, Was solid and prevented several chances, but lacked support from right. Apart from that did very well defensively.
10. Carvajal: 5/10, defensively okay in the first half, could have done more with support up front, chemistry missing going forward. No real crosses. In the 2nd half went to horrible from okay, unwanted challenge leading to Penalty and the goal that made the difference.
11. Courtois: 8.5/10, overall good performance except the first goal, could have been slightly better. But a great outing.
12. Bale: 6/10, he tried some crosses but was not getting support in the centre. After the red card seemed lost.
13. Jovic: 4/10, seemed completely lost. A lot of it could be due to the red card but need to try harder to win possession back when off the ball.
14. Lucas Vazquez: 5/10, came late but was only caught napping in both attack and while trying to win the ball back.
15. ZZ: 6/10, Benched Kroos, which was leading to less chances created. Kept Benzema for full 90 mins, withdrew all the performing players for no real reason. No real change to influence the game, especially in the attack even when things were not working well.

The upcoming match is against Barcelona. the el Classico at home in the La liga match day 26. Barcelona are 1st on the leader-board and Real are 2 points behind them on the league table. After the loss to Manchester City their chances are slim in the Champions League this game is the most important game to have any chance in the league, Madrid can not take any risks and have to win at any cost.

Looking at the 

Injury list:

1. Asensio
2. Hazard
3. Mariano

Only Asensio is injured. And he has not been practicing with the team. He has started individual workouts and shooting now. 

Suspended:

1. Rodrygo

Just recovered:

1. None

Practiced:

Asensio is on his recovery process.

Skipped Practice:

None

Coach Comments:

• None.

Other Comments:

• ZZ is now focusing on the next games and is the right thing to do. He needs his strikers to start scoring goals. In my opinion they will try for a 1-0 win.

Squad Updates:

This is a crucial game for the league title being a 1-2 battle at the top, with no other cup in sight this should be taken with all seriousness.

In the goal Courtois will start, he was good last game but he did not commit many errors except the one leading to the goal. Though he had few bad games in the recent past, things are getting better for Courtois. 

Ramos and Varane will start as the center backs. Mendy will start on the left and will provide better defensive option and Carvajal will start on the right. So Mendy, Ramos, Varane and Carvajal should start. Defence has been in bad form and occasional switching off has led to several goals and they should try to avoid any errors leading to such goals.

All the mid-fielders are available but it's been a poor outing in the past few games in terms of controlling the game. It is a very difficult decision for ZZ whom to pick. There has been lack of any consistency in the last few games but they have been creating several chances with no finishing. But taking the past game's rigor and current fitness level into considerations it is going to be Valverde, Casemiro and Kroos in the middle. Modric and James will be on the bench.

As Asensio and Hazard have been injured, Vinicius will start on the left and Isco will start on the right. Vinicius, Benzema, and Isco will start. And Jovic and Bale should be on the bench. 

So the formation would be 4 3 1 2.

So the final starting 11 will be: