Shared spoils in Camp Nou
The millions of fans around the globe who will tune in to watch Sunday's 'Clasico' in Barcelona could witness the death throes of Real Madrid's La Liga title challenge in their seventh match of the season. Kickoff is at 7:50pm CAT (SA, GMT+2), Live on SS3, SSHD2 and supersport.com, build-up starts at 7:30pm.
Defeat at the Nou Camp for Jose Mourinho's side, who are chasing a second consecutive title after ending Barca's three-year run as champions, would stretch the Catalan club's lead over their bitter rivals to 11 points.
While that may seem insignificant compared with the 93 points that will still be available, it is worth noting Barca only dropped 15 and 18 points respectively during the whole of their title-winning campaigns in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Three times previously Barca have hosted Real with a lead of eight points or more and three times they have gone on to claim the title.
WHAT DID THEY SAY
Lionel Messi: "The game against Madrid is different from all the rest. The game on Sunday won't be about getting revenge (for the Super Cup), it's about extending our lead over a rival in the standings."
Cristiano Ronaldo: "We are going to have a tough game at Camp Nou, but we believe in our chances and are sure we will get a good result."
Tito Vilanova: "In a Barca-Madrid there are no favourites. It doesn't matter where Leo [Messi] plays. Rival teams always focus on him. The players are calm ahead of the match against Real Madrid."
Jose Mourinho:"We need to get back to the level of last season, as you know it is difficult to maintain for months on end. We lost that level of play, and all I am worried about is recovering it, as we have been doing, and this game is important in this sense."
