Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Latest News, Rumours, Odds Ahead of 2015 Clasico

Real Madrid seem to be relishing the role of underdogs heading into the upcoming Clasico match against Barcelona, with reports suggesting that the club is set to go into shutdown mode ahead of the vital game at the Camp Nou.

According to Jose Felix Diaz of Marca, the European champions—who trail their great rivals by one point ahead of the showpiece fixture—are going to close off leading up to the game, as key figures look to conjure a siege mentality within the playing staff:

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Last week didn't go all that smoothly, with tensions rising on Sunday morning at the Valdebebas training complex, getting the backs up of more than a few of the team members. For this reason, the captains have put their foot down.

Ramos and Casillas are the men behind this 'omerta'. What they want is to form a united front, at least for the next few days. They want to protect the team, both from any attacks from outside and any trouble that might be brewing within.

The captains have asked their teammates to put aside any differences they may have together with any personal issues with the club, and focus on getting back the league leadership, to save a season that started out as what was to be a historic show of brilliance and then went on to be a chaotic series of mishaps and cock-ups.

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Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Cracks have certainly been prominent within this group as of late. Cristiano Ronaldo’s perceived tantrum after Gareth Bale netted against Levante certainly wasn’t befitting of a squad of players united behind a cause, while losses to Schalke in the Champions League and Athletic Bilbao in La Liga have heaped pressure on manager Carlo Ancelotti.

A defeat to Barcelona at the weekend would intensify the levels of scrutiny on the group, but with Lionel Messi et all in sensational goalscoring form, Real look as though they’ll have a very difficult task on their hands if they’re to topple the rampant Catalonians.

Here's a look at how the bookmakers are seeing it:

Barcelona	Draw	Real Madrid
Player	Team	Odds
Outright
4/6	7/2	7/2
First Goalscorer
Lionel Messi	Barcelona	10/3
Neymar	Barcelona	5/1
Luis Suarez	Barcelona	5/1
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	6/1
Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	17/2
Gareth Bale	Real Madrid	9/1

Indeed, Messi turned in another virtuoso display against Manchester City in midweek to help Barcelona progress in the Champions League. In the aftermath of that masterclass, former Blaugrana star Gary Lineker—who once scored a hat-trick in Barcelona colours against Real—had words of high praise for the Argentinian and his old club, per Marca:

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It's a shame that Messi and Cristiano have to play in the same era... but Messi is better, he's a genius and that's the difference. He also plays more for the team than Cristiano does. Playing alongside Messi and under Pep Guardiola would have been a dream come true.

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Barça look better than Real Madrid right now… Madrid are on a poor run of form and Cristiano is struggling in front of goal... in my opinion Barça are favourites. Barça are playing much better than last season, they've tweaked their game a bit… and I think they're going to win the league and are one of the favourites to lift the Champions League

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Lineker also paid tribute to Messi during the win over City on Twitter:

Indeed, there’s little denying the Barcelona No. 10 is out on his own at the moment. Since the turn of the year he’s been in incredible form, not just in terms of goalscoring, but making space for the likes of Luis Suarez and Neymar to blossom, as well as creating a flurry of chances for his team-mates with some sublime pieces of passing.

David Ramos/Getty Images

As we can see here courtesy of barcastuff, Messi has an astonishing number of assists to match his stratospheric goal haul:

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Lionel Messi has now 175 assists in official games for Barcelona (149) and Argentina (26) #fcblive [via @barcastat]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) March 19, 2015"

Los Blancos face the unenviable task of nullifying Messi’s influence, and it's a challenge they've looked far from up to in recent weeks.

In the aforementioned clashes with Athletic and Schalke this Real team has not resembled a cohesive unit, and if they’re comparably accommodating against their great rivals at the Camp Nou, things could easily get embarrassing.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Ancelotti seems to be doing his part by trying to fester some team morale, though. According to Marca, the Italian dipped into his own wallet to put on a fancy seafood dinner for his players four days before the big game, with the aim of galvanising some spirit in the group.

As we can see here on the front cover of AS, it looks as though it may well have worked:

It’s expected that Real have closed ranks ahead of this upcoming clash, and Ancelotti seems to be making the right moves in order to inject some initiative back into his toiling troops. But you get the impression that things are on a precarious edge with Los Blancos at the moment, and one lapse could easily render all of the stringent preparations irrelevant.

Barcelona will be hoping to tug on the seam that’ll unravel this loosely sewn tapestry, and as was evident against City, they’re in a fantastic moment of form. If Luis Enrique’s men play with comparable endeavour, ingenuity and intensity against Los Blancos, there’s only going to be one winner come the climax of this gargantuan occasion.