Varça visit the Santiago Bernabéu this Sunday, with the aim of taking another step towards consolidating their lead in the league and edging ahead of Real Madrid in terms of away Clásico wins (72-72). Leo Messi, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué are veterans of this incredible fixture, but others like De Jong, Griezmann, Braithwaite, Junior Firpo, Neto and Ansu Fati have never played at Los Blancos’ stadium for Barça. Neither has Quique Setién, who became Barça coach in January.
Despite the premiere of these six Barça first-team players, all but one of them have previously played at the Bernabéu with other teams.
Frenkie de Jong: A huge victory
De Jong made his debut at the Bernabéu last season, in the Champions League quarter-final tie for Ajax Amsterdam. The Dutch team lost in the first leg 1-2, but Erik ten Hag led them to an incredible 1-4 victory that showed the quality of Barça’s midfielder.
Antoine Griezmann: 4 goals at the Bernabéu
The most experienced of all six players in this list. The French striker has played a total of 15 times at the Bernabéu. Eleven matches were for Atlético Madrid with four more for Real Sociedad. He’s also plundered four goals in those games too. Like De Jong, the Frenchman also played against Zinedine Zidane’s team earlier in the season, and did so for 82 minutes.
Martin Braithwaite: A pitch he knows well
Barça’s new signing debuted in Spanish football at the Santiago Bernabéu, making his first start with Leganés in the first leg of a Copa del Rey tie. He couldn’t score on that occasion, but he did in the return leg at Butarque. The Danish striker experienced the Bernabéu again earlier this season, but Leganés were unable to come away with a positive result.
Junior Firpo: One game and one win
The Dominican, signed from Betis, has won at Real Madrid, having played for the Andalusians there last season. In fact, Firpo, at the age of 24, has yet to lose there as it’s his only appearance to date at the Bernabéu. Prior to that match, Junior faced Madrid at Benito Villamarín, and on that occasion Los Blancos were the victors.
Neto: Only a win is needed
The Barça goalkeeper could play for the fifth time against Madrid, the third at the Bernabéu and the first as a Barça player. The Brazilian has already played there with Valencia in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, where they came away with a draw and a defeat.
Quique Setién: The measure of Zidane
Quique Setién will look for his third victory as a coach at the Bernabéu. The Cantabrian has already led his teams in eight matches at the stadium, for Betis and Las Palmas, and he’s the only coach who has been able to defeat Zidane’s Madrid there twice.
Ansu Fati: A new appointment with history
At just 17 years old, the young Barça B player has already had the opportunity to play against Real Madrid (he is the youngest 21st-century footballer to do so). He played for 8 minutes in the league fixture at Camp Nou, on December 18th. This Sunday, the striker could once again provide another historic moment in his career by completing his first match at the Bernabéu.
