Saturday 2 April 2016 07:48, UK
Ahead of El Clasico, we compare two of Barcelona and Real Madrid's key attacking threats to see who has the edge...
The eyes of the footballing world will be focused on the Nou Camp on Saturday Night, when Barcelona and Real Madrid meet in the 232nd El Clasico, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
The eyes of the footballing world will be on this game but under particular scrutiny will be the £159m of talent the two sides recruited in the summer of 2013, namely Neymar and Gareth Bale.
If Luis Enrique's side are to achieve a fourth La Liga double in eight seasons then the Brazilian is likely to play a key part in their success. Neymar has contributed directly to 31 goals this season, scoring 21 and assisting a further 10.
The 24-year-old may have been eclipsed by team-mates Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez as well as Real's Cristiano Ronaldo in the goal scoring stakes, but he has proven to be La Liga's most creative player, setting up 82 chances - 18 more than any other La Liga player and 27 more than any of his Barcelona team-mates.
Neymar's understanding with Uruguayan Suarez has been particularly productive with both players providing a joint La Liga high five assists directly for the other.
Much of his creativity stems from his dribbling skills and that is another area where he is untouchable in La Liga. Neymar has completed 115 dribbles, 17 more than next best Lionel Messi, and he has completed 40 more than any opposition player.
With four goals in his last three games, Neymar has certainly got an end product to his game, something he has been accused of lacking in the past. He has scored 14 goals in 14 home league appearances this season, a total only Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo can beat and eight of his 10 assists this season have come at the Nou Camp.
Real Madrid's key player in this particular Clasico could prove to be Bale.
The Welshman's goal in his last appearance against Sevilla meant that he has eclipsed Gary Lineker as the all-time top British and Irish goal scorer in Spain's top division with his 43 goals coming in just 76 La Liga appearances.
Despite having an unwanted 100 per cent record in La Liga games against Barcelona (played four, lost four), Bale has scored 11 goals in his last eight La Liga outings and has yet to taste defeat in the seven games in which he has featured during 2016.
His 13 La Liga goals since December 20 is one more than the entire Valencia (12) and Getafe (10) sides have managed in that time, despite those sides having played three more games. One more goal on Saturday will mean 16 league goals for the season, a personal best since moving to Madrid.
In addition to seven goals in six La Liga appearances in 2016, Bale has also contributed four assists. No Real Madrid player has been credited with more than his total of nine assists this season.
Indeed, his nine assists already matches his total for the whole of last season. He has created 42 chances for team-mates this season and Karim Benzema in particular has benefitted from this - the former Tottenham player has directly assisted four of Benzema's 20 goals.
Bale is undoubtedly a key component of Zinedine Zidane's side, who failed to win three of the seven league games the Welshman missed with a calf injury.
Interestingly, the left-footed Bale has been most effective when starting on the right of Real Madrid's front three and cutting in, a similar role to which Messi plays for Barcelona.
It has been said that Saturday's Clasico threatens to be one of the most one-sided clashes in years, with Real Madrid having won just three of their last seven away league games and having already lost 4-0 in the reverse fixture in November.
However, if Bale can overshadow Neymar and Zidane's BBC triumvirate can better MSN then the Madridstas could well be celebrating just a second league win at Barcelona in the last eight years.
Watch Barcelona v Real Madrid, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7pm on Saturday
