Real Madrid Need Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale to Work Together to Win Clasico

La Liga returns after the international break in the best possible way on Saturday: El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The top two in the table, Real Madrid host Barcelona, trailing by three points and one place and knowing the match is at least a must-not-lose occasion, if not an outright must-win match. Despite only recently having lost their unbeaten start to the season, Real's performances before the most recent international break were not absolutely convincing after injuries and inconsistencies hit their top stars.

Always more of an occasion than a mere three points, Real manager Rafael Benitez needs his team to go for the win—even if they don't quite end up achieving it—rather than merely try to contain Barcelona throughout.

For the home team to have a chance of doing that, they need their two biggest star names in the final third to work together and show selflessness as well as quality on the ball, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale both below their top levels so far this term.

Conflicting Faces

Depending on which of the opposing and contradictory reports you read on any given week, Ronaldo and Bale are in a constant state of hierarchical battle, with both hoping to oust the other as top dog in Real Madrid's pecking order. Quite aside from that being an extremely pointless endeavour, it's one Bale cannot hope to win, at least without raising himself to beyond a goal-per-game forward on a regular basis.

From an agent's quotes causing friction to one being annoyed at the other's goalscoring exploits, headlines are never far away where duo's relationship is concerned.

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At times when they link up on the pitch, there's such an obvious matchup in their skill set—Bale's ability to cross accurately for Ronaldo to powerfully head at goal, for example—that it seems bewildering for posturing and popularity to come in the way of productivity. But that's the situation routinely presented. At other times, both seem almost extra careful to pay attention and give plaudits to the other, almost as if to show they are working together.

Against Barcelona, of all teams and of all situations given the league standings, the one-upmanship has to be put aside by both.

Ronaldo's Slump

Eight goals in 11 games might not sound like a "bad" run of form to most people, but then Cristiano Ronaldo isn't most people. He's the best player on his team, one of the top two players in the world and usually counts on a strike rate of more than a goal per game on average.

Quite aside from his goal return, anybody watching his performances of late without a biased view would accept he has been well below his usual level of output, in movement just as much as in end product.

It's easy to see what Real are missing from him, but it's tougher to pinpoint precisely why.

Ronaldo's usual runs infield from the flank aren't being serviced by those behind him, and in the past couple of games, he didn't make anywhere near the same number of them. When starting infield from the No. 9 role, he rarely looked to run behind the centre-backs, and his shooting has been erratic and desperate. He's hitting the ball from outside the box instead of feeding it wide and attacking the six-yard box, as has been his habit over the past few seasons.

There is little work rate, he hasn't had the usual plethora of low crosses fed into him—Lucas Vazquez does it, and usually Gareth Bale does it too, but Denis Cheryshev and Jese Rodriguez have not been particularly quick to look for this outlet when given game time—and his instances of petulance have increased again.

It may well be that the big stage of El Clasico is enough to fire Ronaldo's mentality again, but one thing is for sure: He has missed the selfless running of Karim Benzema, whose movement allows the space for Ronaldo to exploit centrally and who has turned into a fantastic link forward with the runners coming from wide and the second line of attack.

Bale's Return

Which brings us nicely to Bale. The Welshman needs to offer not just his own pace and dribbling, fearsome shots and crossing ability, but those attributes Benzema brings—the drifting wide to let Ronaldo surge centrally and the hold-up play and one-touch lay-offs that Ronaldo thrives on.

That's not Bale's natural game by any means, but if he starts as the centre-forward in a three-man attack again—as he against Sevilla last time out—then he simply must adapt his game this time to succeed as part of a pairing with Ronaldo.

It's not enough, not in this game, to offer good work individually.

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Ronaldo and Bale in particular need to be more selfless and find clever ways to link on the counter and during sustained play in the final third.

Of course, it's likely one of them will need to find a goalscoring touch at some point, too, but their chances of success will be greatly increased if they can actually provide each other with clearer opportunities inside the box rather than just hoping one can cross to the other on the counter.

Benitez's Options

There are two clear options for Rafa Benitez for this game, depending on whether Benzema makes it. Marca reported in the past couple of days that the striker is still undergoing physio work and missed training on Monday but hopes to make the game. Whether he is fit enough to start after a month out is another matter.

Keeping the 4-3-3 from the past few weeks means Casemiro will anchor the midfield—the game he seems most perfectly suited for, arguably—and either Bale or Benzema will start as the striker. The other option is 4-4-2, featuring Bale and Ronaldo in attack and Isco coming into midfield in place of Casemiro—as Marca indicated is a strong possibility.

Leaving out Casemiro would be a huge indication the team's mindset would be to attack in El Clasico, but it would also be risky if the Ronaldo-Bale pairing doesn't click as required from the outset. Tactical and technical work aside, what the manager must have been focusing on in training is improving the chemistry between those two and trying to incorporate their movements into a way of playing through Barca's midfield.

Side-Note Stars

Of course, the result of El Clasico won't just come down to two players. Barcelona's XI will be star-studded throughout, and Real Madrid's lineup will also dictate much, not least of all the formation Benitez chooses to start with.

There are a handful of others for the home team who will have a huge say in the outcome. Holding midfielder Casemiro has either a big role to play or none at all, as detailed above, while Sergio Ramos will be desperately hoping his shoulder can withstand another 90 minutes of action before he heads for surgery.

The return of Keylor Navas in goal is also absolutely pivotal to Real's hopes—he has missed the last two Liga matches with injury.

Then, at either end of the pitch, Real have Danilo and James Rodriguez.

The right-back has not been in the best form of late, and it's fair to say his technical and positional traits are not the reason he is in the side—his power and direct style is perfect for overlapping down the flank against weaker opposition, but more than once he has been a liability defensively. With Neymar in such impressive form, there could be a real mismatch down that side of the pitch between the two Brazilians.

James is one of the genuine match-winners on the pitch, a top-class performer and finally, from Real's point of view, fully fit. He has barely featured this season, but having come through the international break unscathed, he'll be involved from the start in El Clasico and has the movement, ingenuity and unpredictability to appear in the final third to bring end product to the attack.

The Colombian will be key to getting service to Ronaldo and Bale, as well as joining up with them and creating chances on goal. But even if all the other pieces of Real's chosen XI come together and put in a performance to stop Barcelona's attacking trident having an impact, Benitez still needs the big two to work together and show their qualities for Real to take all three points.

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