How this weekend's El Clasico will affect La Liga

CR7 vs MS10

Not a few persons think winning the El Clasico goes a long way in determining which of Real Madrid or Barcelona wins La Liga. But the obvious truth is, as glamorous as the Clasico is, any of the teams can only get a maximum of six points from the games and if other results don’t fall into place, you can’t talk about winning the title.

But then, there’s always the issue of bragging rights, even when the Clasico does not directly affect who wins the title or even the standing on the table.

And it is this scenario we will see on Saturday when the first of this season’s El Clasicos hold at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid are fourth and a whopping 11 points behind Barca, with the Catalans also maintaining a healthy six-point gap over closest rivals, Atletico. So from that point of view, the Clasico will have very little bearing on the table. A win for Real will almost certainly see them remain fourth, even if it improves their number of points and bridges the gap between then and Barca to eight points.

The season doesn’t end until May, so while the result from this weekend’s Clasico may have little direct effect on how the season ends, it could have a psychological effect. A win for Zinedine Zidane’s side could be the trigger they need for what has so far been an underwhelming start to the season – at least by their standards – and could also send Barcelona into a tail-spin, if the after-effects aren’t properly managed.

But a win for Barcelona not only extends their lead over their bitter rivals to 14 points, it gives them the psychological advantage and belief that they are getting closer to winning the title again.

So in the end, it becomes more of what the result would do to the minds of the teams, rather than the direct impact it would have on the table.