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El Clasico Preview: Perfect Barcelona Host Mourinho’s Madrid in Season’s First Showdown

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The first Clasico of the season arrives on Sunday with the stakes as high as ever. Barcelona host Real Madrid at Camp Nou (4pm ET, live on ABC and ESPN+ in the United States) with a six-point lead at the top of La Liga and a perfect record to protect.

Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have won all nine of their league games, scoring 39 goals along the way. Raphinha has led the charge with 12 goals, with Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez also off to red-hot starts. The one cloud over their week was Tuesday’s 4-2 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, a reminder that even this attack-minded side can be got at.

Madrid, third on 21 points, warmed up with a 4-1 dismantling of RB Leipzig on Wednesday. Kylian Mbappe, their top scorer, has 12 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions, Arda Guler is impressing as a playmaker and Jude Bellingham is warming up nicely. But Jose Mourinho, coaching his first Clasico since returning to the Madrid bench this summer, will be without the suspended Vinicius Junior.

A Madrid win would cut the gap to three points and blow the title race open. A Barcelona win would stretch it to nine. Expect a classic.

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Borussia Dortmund vs Eintracht Frankfurt Preview: Unbeaten BVB Defend Second Place

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Borussia Dortmund put their unbeaten Bundesliga record on the line on Saturday when Eintracht Frankfurt visit Signal Iduna Park (12:30pm ET) in one of the fixtures of the German weekend.

Niko Kovac’s Dortmund sit second with 14 points from four wins and two draws, level on points at the top, and their success has been built on a rock-solid defence: just four goals conceded in six games. Serhou Guirassy and Fabio Silva have four goals apiece, and BVB warmed up with a 2-1 Champions League win away to Sabah on Tuesday. Captain Emre Can remains sidelined, but the home form is formidable; the last meeting between these sides in Dortmund, in May, finished 3-2 to the hosts.

Frankfurt, 11th with eight points, are the division’s great entertainers and its great concern. They have scored 10 goals but conceded 16, were humbled 6-0 by RB Leipzig earlier this month, and only last week recorded a first clean sheet in 14 league fixtures in a 1-0 win over Koln. Jonathan Burkardt and Younes Ebnoutalib lead the line for Adi Hutter’s side, with Mario Gotze pulling strings behind them.

Dortmund start as clear favourites, but Frankfurt’s threat on the counter means the Yellow Wall may not get a quiet evening.

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