It's El Clasico

Barcelona and Madrid are squaring off at Camp Nou for the 1st clasico of the season, which could turn out to be a mouth watering clash as Bale and Neymar could show what they are made of.

The Barca attack which was virtually unstoppable in the early stages of the new campaign. They have only scored one goal over the past two matches, and their overdependance on Messi already on the show, however, which should give Real an extra boost of confidence as they arrive to Camp Nou.

While Barcelona are going through a brief lull, los Blancos are coming off an impressive midweek victory over Juventus. It makes for an intriguing rivalry clash as Barca attempt to rebound and Real try to keep their recent hot streak alive.

For Barcelona, the squad is highlighted by the dynamic attacking duo of Lionel Messi and Neymar, who have been able to forge a successful partnership quickly. The Brazilian's willingness to adapt to a playmaking role has helped that process. Of course, while Messi and Neymar dominate the headlines, the midfield is still the foundation of Barca's success. Andres Iniesta and Xavi continue to showcase terrific form, which makes the forwards' job much easier.
They don't represent as big of an advantage over Real Madrid this season, though. The arrivals of Gareth Bale and Isco have bolstered the talent level in the middle of the pitch for Real and that will certainly come in handy for these rivalry matches.
The Blancos will also need a strong showing from Diego Lopez to secure a positive result. For Real to emerge from Camp Nou with a win, the goalkeeper will probably have to outshine all of the aforementioned superstars.

Also on the mind should be the league table as Madrid currently trail table toppers Barca by 3 points and Atletico Madrid lead their rival city by 2 points.

La Liga top 2 spenders

After looking at the EPL top spending clubs in our previous post, lets take a look at La Liga top two spending clubs.

Barcelona - £62 million

Barcelona added only one player in the transfer window, a marquee signing in the form of Neymar for slightly over £50 million. But they have to shell out around £12 million for their own striker Bojan Krkic.

Bojan was with AS Roma for two years—the second of which was actually spent at AC Milan—but under the terms of the initial agreement, the Spanish side had to fork out to bring back the one-time wonderkid if Roma decided they didn't want to keep him for a longer period. It's turned out to be a costly deal for the Catalan side, but they will hope the addition of Neymar is enough to propel them to another La Liga title.
One thing they will rue, their inability to sign a Centre Back as their defence could be the weak link.

Real Madrid - £144 million

Having broken their own world record for a transfer fee (which they break again and again) following the capture of Gareth Bale from Spurs.  His £85 million deal makes up the vast expenditure from last season's La Liga runners-up, but they also doled out huge fees on Spanish duo Asier Illarramendi and Isco, both of whom will have big expectations on their shoulders to wrest back the league title from Barcelona this season.
 Casemiro and Dani Carvajal were lower outlays, and Carlo Ancelotti will be hopeful that he now has a balanced squad with enough depth to challenge on all three fronts.
And, let's be honest, if he hasn't, then question marks will be raised over one man above all others.

Barca guide to UCL group stages

BARCELONA

History: Four-times winners, having featured in seven finals. Coming to the end of a glorious era with three triumphs between 2006 and 2011.
2012/13: Took La Liga by storm by winning it by record margin, despite former boss Tito Vilanova’s demoralising battle with cancer. Had a nightmarish Champions League as they were humiliated 7-0 by Bayern Munich in a remarkably one-sided semi-final.
Status: Faded greats needing to reassert themselves, potential to be hamstrung by over-dependence on Messi and defensive frailties.
Coach: Gerardo Martino is a legend in Argentina, with Newell’s Old Boys, but a relative unknown in Europe.
Main Man: Lionel Messi, who else? The side struggled without him at times in last year’s competition.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP 

AC Milan 
They have won the most number of aEuropean Championship. Having coming third after a bad start in the previous season, They have to beat PSV Eindhoven to get a place in the group stages .
Managed by Massimiliano Allegri, who hasn't always had it easy since taking the reigns in 2010, the Rossoneri have plenty of artillery with the likes of Mario Balotelli, Stephan El Shaarawy and Ricardo Montolivo.

Ajax Amsterdam 
Ajax finished seven points ahead of PSV Eindhoven last season to secure their third straight Eredivise title. They have some very good players if they can hold them till the end of transfers, but challenging Barcelona may be too much for them.

Celtic 
Celtic strolled to the Scottish Premier League title last season. Their Champions League run was impressive too, qualifying ahead of Benfica in a group that included Barcelona, before succumbing to Juventus in the knockout stages.
The Hoops made a lot of friends during last season's Champions League, and manager Neil Lennon is already to looking forward to continuing some of their new friendships: 

Prediction: Winner (group), Runners-up

Barca scrape through with a win against Malaga

Barcelona claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Malaga at la Roselada on Sunday night.Els Blaugrana dominated possession for long periods but could only convert once, the goal coming from Adriano's long-range wonderstrike, and los Boquerones posed a threat all game long.

Malaga started the game the better side, packing in two banks of four and counterattacking with pace. Los Boquerones played an incredibly defensive game, founded upon counterattacks through four or five players at most, and Barca struggled to break them down.
The only goal of the game came through Adriano, who cut in off the right and fired an incredibly 25-yard effort into the bottom corner. Neymar and Sebastian Fernandez went close late on, and els Blaugrana's questionable defence remains an issue.
Gerardo Martino, though, is sitting on two wins from two and six points from six.

STATS
 Shots: Malaga 9-15 Barcelona
 Passing: Malaga 68%-89% Barcelona
 Possession: Malaga 26%-74% Barcelona

Barca beats hapless Levante 7-0

Barcelona swept aside a poor Levante side, sending a message to the rest of La Liga with a 7-0 demolition of Levante on Sunday.
Barca scored six first-half goals through five different players before cantering to full time in Gerardo "Tata" Martino's league debut as Barca's manager. The hosts ne

eded only moments to break down Levante, with Alexis Sanchez opening the scoring in the third minute.
Cesc Fabregas collected a through ball in the box and played across for Alexis, who tapped in. Cesc started the next scoring move as well, chesting down for Lionel Messi, who exchanged passes with Pedro before tucking away a low finish in the 12th minute. Dani Alves made it 3-0 in the 24th minute, converting a rebound, and the rout was on. Pedro scored Barca's fourth with a curling shot in the 26th minute before Messi's 42nd-minute penalty made it 5-0.
Xavi Hernandez then finished Cesc's looping, lofted ball in first-half stoppage time for Barcelona's sixth. After the break, new signing Neymar made his Liga debut, entering as a substitute for Alexis in the 64th minute. Pedro scored his second of the game, Barcelona's seventh, in the 73rd minute. 

Stats
Shots: Barcelona 22-4 Levante
Passing: Barcelona 92%-61% Levante
 Possession: Barcelona 78%-22% Levante

Watch the highlights

Barcelona loosing out on Liverpool's vice captain

In securing the signature of starlet sensation Neymar earlier this summer, Barcelona added another impressive component to what was already a near faultless Blaugrana attack. 

However, every side has its weaknesses, and if one were to be picked from Gerardo Martino’s squad, it undoubtedly lies in the defensive ranks. In recent weeks, Daniel Agger and David Luiz have emerged as candidates to fill that particular void, although it seems that both of those ships have sailed. 

 While Agger’s run at Anfield doesn’t exactly fall in line with the club’s most prosperous era in football, the centre-back has been a marvel for the Reds in recent seasons, one of the few true stars in a largely disappointing time for the club. At the moment, Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano will be looked at as the prime central defenders under Martino while Carles Puyol is a slightly less reliable asset due to injury. Meanwhile Martin Montoya and Marc Bartra will be going through their graduation from La Masia but are by no means to be considered first-choice options. 
Last term, Agger completed 89 percent of his passes, forming a very capable possession-based trio alongside either Martin Skrtel or Jamie Carragher at centre-back and Pepe Reina in goal. That experience with Reina and the frequency with which the Liverpool defence were happy to play with the ball from the back is something that will only have enamoured the Dane’s style with what Barca always strive to enforce. It’s the defensive side of things where Agger would lend the biggest helping hand, however, after he muddled in with eight defensive actions per game on average last season, a higher ratio than any Barcelona player could manage. Reds fans everywhere can be glad to hang on to such a talent, too. Granted, the English side probably welcome more opposition chances than Barca do, but Agger would be as likely as anyone else to benefit from that alleviated pressure. It’s no secret that one of Luiz’s more controversial attributes is his tendency to run forward with the ball, attacking whenever possible. While that helping hand in attack would be useful to some, it’s an assured central presence that Barcelona require at the moment, and Agger reaffirming his Liverpool loyalty is a blow the Spanish titans could have done without.