Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will square off at the Camp Nou for the first El Classico of the season on Sunday. This La Liga encounter will also be the first time both teams square off since the departure of Lionel Messi from Barcelona to PSG.

This summer Messi left for Paris Saint-Germain leaving a gaping hole in the Barcelona unit. The visit by Madrid will close a three-game home stretch for Barcelona that coach Ronald Koeman called crucial to getting his team back on the winning path after a poor start to the season left him under intense pressure.  

Madrid returns to Barcelona on the heels of a much-needed 5-0 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. Madrid’s big win followed two upsets: A shock loss to Moldavian side Sheriff at home and a defeat at Barcelona-based Espanyol in the Liga.

Barcelona enters the round in seventh place but just two points behind Madrid, which is in second place and level on points with Sevilla, Atlético, and Osasuna.

Here are the playing XIs and the bench for both the teams:

Barcelona (4-3-3): Marc Andre Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Gerard Piqué,
Eric García, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Frankie De Jong, Gavi; Sergino Dest,
Memphis Deepay, Ansu Fati

Subs: Riqui Puig, Demir, Neto, Philipe Coutinho, Clement Lenglet,
L De Jong,Sergio  Aguero, Roberto,
Umtiti, Pena, Nico, Balde

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois; Lucas Vázquez, Militao,
Alaba, Mendy; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric: Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Karim  Benzema.

Subs: Lunin, Luis Lopez, Carvajal, Vallejo, Nacho, Hazard,
Asensio, Marcelo, Valerde, Mariano, Camavinga, Blanco