The former general director of the Spanish capital side was unimpressed by both teams this year but still expects a large turnout in the Bernabeu.
Sunday’s forthcoming El Clasico clash between La Liga leaders Barcelona and bitter rivals Real Madrid is a”race of this helpless”, according to Jorge Valdano, with both sides suffering from inconsistent form over the course of this 2019-20 season.
Zinedine Zidane’s side seemed to have turned around an early-season slump when they leapfrogged Barca to the peak of the Primera Division standings amid lots of unrest in the side, with Ernesto Valverde sacked and Quique Setien brought in to stop the rot at Camp Nou.
However, the Blaugrana have since returned to the peak of the table after poor results recorded by the Spanish capital ensemble, while either side failed to impress in Europe this week as Barca fought to a 1-1 draw in Napoli and Madrid were defeated at home by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
“We must analyse the matches in complete and I believe there are far more positive things to take from Real Madrid’s game than from Barcelona’s. Then again, Barca go into [El Clasico] after Messi scored four goals in one La Liga game (5-0 vs Eibar).”
About the 2-1 loss to Guardiola’s reigning Premier League champions, the prior Blancos general director said:”I was waiting for City [to do something], Madrid had ownership and they had been in charge. But when City did not have the ball they never awakened.
“Then, after City’s primary goal, Real Madrid lost control and that is something that’s been occurring frequently. Real Madrid should score first in the second leg but they do not have a fantastic relationship with goals right now.”
