Barcelona face toughest test yet at scorching Real Madrid

The first El Clasico match of the season takes place at Santiago Bernabeu tonight, and it could pose the toughest challenge of Pep Guardiola’s reign at Barcelona.

For this reason, you can get odds of 9/5 for Barcelona to win, and, considering they are widely renowned as the best team on the planet, that could prove unmissable for some punters.

Real Madrid meanwhile, are 7/5 to emerge victorious within 90 minutes, a feat that has evaded them against Barcelona during Jose Mourinho’s relatively short Bernabeu tenure.

It is 12/5 that the two sides cancel each other out.

This certainly looks as good a time as any for Real to break Barca’s stranglehold on La Liga, and with six home victories from as many matches, another one tomorrow would put them in what many would dub an unassailable lead in the race for the title.

Brave punters may even be tempted to take advantage of the 3/1 odds for Real Madrid to win both halves.
In terms of choices for first goal scorer, there are two obvious picks in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are both priced at 4/1 to hit the net first.

At longer odds, Karim Benzema could represent value at 7/1, as he is a player who has experienced a resurgence under Mourinho’s close man management style this season.

Another interesting market on the game looks to be betting on a team to come from behind and win or draw, with Real Madrid 7/2 to stage a fight back, and their Catalan rivals an appealing 4/1.

Keep in mind that Barcelona have scored more goals in the first 15 minutes of a game than any other side in La Liga, whilst the home side have notched more in the final 15 than any other.