SPORTS>Whatever happens tonight, all eyes will understandably be on Messi and Ronaldo

Whatever happens tonight, all eyes will understandably be on Messi and Ronaldo. The Argentine is the all-time top scorer in El Clasico with 25 goals, while the Portuguese could equal Alfredo Di Stefano as Madrid's highest goalscorer in El Clasico if he’s able to find the back of the net at least once.

Meanwhile, Madrid boss Zidane has made three alterations to the team that featured in their last outing, with Vazquez, Kovacic and Asensio making way for Nacho, Casemiro and Bale.

Ernesto Valverde has decided to make two changes to the Barcelona side that started the win against Deportivo, with Roberto and Iniesta coming into the starting line-up to replace Semedo and Dembele, respectively.

Real Madrid substitutes: Kiko Casilla, Jesus Vallejo, Theo Hernandez, Dani Ceballos, Mateo Kovacic, Lucas Vazquez, Marco Asensio.

Real Madrid XI (4-3-3): Keylor Navas; Nacho, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona substitutes: Jasper Cillessen, Nelson Semedo, Thomas Vermaelen, Denis Suarez, Paulinho, Ousmane Dembele, Paco Alcacer.

Barcelona XI (4-4-2): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba; Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta; Lionel Messi, Luis Saurez.

There’s just over 15 minutes left to go until kick-off, so let’s have a look at how the two teams will be lining up this evening…

This will be the 238th Clasico in all competitions, and it’s Madrid who currently have the slightly better record thanks to their 95 wins. Barcelona have won 93 times, while 49 games have ended in draws. It was the Catalan side that came away as 3-0 winners the last time the sides met back in December, but they haven’t been victorious against their bitter rivals at home since March 2015.

It’s a battle that looks set to go right to the wire, as Madrid still have a game in hand over Los Rojiblancos. Domestically, it’s been a season for forget for Zidane’s side, but a record-denying win over Barcelona, and a second-place finish ahead of Atletico, would definitely give the fans something to smile about. It’s certainly going to be tough tonight, and they’ll have to be at their absolute best if they’re to leave victorious.

While Madrid were poor in LaLiga, they have been excellent in the Champions League, and a third consecutive final appearance has handed Zinedine Zidane the chance to break another European record. That all comes later, though, as Atletico Madrid’s earlier defeat against Espanyol has handed them the opportunity to move to within one point of their local rivals in the fight for second place.

On reflection, it’s been a rather comfortable domestic campaign for Barcelona, who, thanks to Madrid’s struggles, were in control for most of the season. Their disastrous Champions League exit at the hands of Roma will hurt for quite some time, though, and it’ll surely give them extra motivation heading into a tie that they’d desperately like to win in front of their own fans.

Barcelona may have wrapped up the league title with a 4-2 win against Deportivo La Coruna last weekend but there’s still work left them for them to do, starting with tonight’s clash against their bitter rivals. Never before has a LaLiga team gone unbeaten for the whole season, and the Blaugrana will be aiming to move one step closer to making that a reality with the sweetest of victories this evening.

Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of today’s LaLiga game between Barcelona and Real Madrid at Camp Nou.