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El Clasico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid Preview

By Laieke Abebe

MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 23: Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona (4) celebrates as he scores their second goal with Luis Suarez during the La Liga match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio Bernabeu on April 23, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 23: Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona (4) celebrates as he scores their second goal with Luis Suarez during the La Liga match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio Bernabeu on April 23, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) /
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For only the second time in the history of El Clasico, the two teams will meet outside of Spain as Barcelona and Real Madrid play tonight in Miami, Florida.

El Clasico is arguably the greatest rivalry in sports and even if it’s in a friendly, Barcelona and Real Madrid definitely want to win. The match will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. This means that the rivalry will be played in North America for the first time. The people who run the International Champions Cup did a great job to make this happen. Despite that, some of the big names are missing in this match. Overall, it should still be entertaining for the fans.

As everyone knows, the news regarding Barca revolves all around the Brazilian superstar winger Neymar. He has been linked with a move to PSG over the last few weeks. We don’t know what his decision is and the Brazilian has remained quiet about those rumors. On the pitch, he is his usual self. Neymar has scored all three goals for Barca in this preseason. Teammates of Neymar are trying to convince him to stay with the Blaugrana. We will see how that plays out.

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Along with Neymar, most of the Barca team are in Miami to play this match. The great sensation Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will likely form the MSN attacking trident with Neymar at least for the first half. New manager Ernesto Valverde will likely make many substitutions again as it is only a preseason tilt. The younger players, like Aleña and Samper, have done some good things and will get another chance against Barca’s greatest rivals.

On the Real Madrid side, many of the big names are in Miami ready to play in another installment of El Clasico. However, the biggest star on the team will not lace up his boots this evening in Miami. Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will not play due to personal commitments. Of course, he is one of the best in the world and has the right to do so. However, the Portuguese star has a court hearing on July 31st stemming from him being accused of tax evasion.

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Overall, the match will be exciting and the fans have waited for this in a long time. Despite Ronaldo not being available, Real Madrid still has a strong team including Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema among others. It will still be a chance for everyone to get playing time this evening. Of course, expect the fans to be in full voice throughout the match. It’s El Clasico: the greatest rivalry in world football and maybe the best in all of sports.