Congratulations to Harry Kane for winning the Ballon d’Or. He has his limitations but overall a phenomenal footballer who deserves his dues. Let’s win trophies so that our players are shoo-ins for the award next season!

CAMAVINGA TO MBAPPE THEY CAN ONLY FOUL SO MANY TIMES BEFORE WE BREAK THROUGH THE BETTER TEAM TAKES THE LEAD

Arda Güler and Kylian Mbappé have both taken significant steps forward this season per @StatsBomb data. Güler’s open-play expected assists have increased 27% per 90 (0.22 → 0.28), while his passing On-Ball Value (OBV) has risen an astonishing 309% (0.11 → 0.45). In other words, he’s a much more influential creator. Mbappé, meanwhile, is getting into much better scoring positions. His non-penalty xG90 has increased 43% (0.51 → 0.73), touches inside the box are up 16% (11.6 → 13.4), and his xG per shot has risen 33% (0.12 → 0.16), despite his shot volume remaining virtually unchanged. Interestingly, despite dribbling more than before, Mbappé’s shot OBV (0.25 → 0.17), dribble and carry OBV (0.24 → 0.15), passing OBV (0.00 → -0.05) and open-play expected assists (0.21 → 0.17) have all declined. The overall picture suggests Real Madrid’s attacking system has become better optimized for Mbappé as a pure goalscorer, getting him into more dangerous positions and improving the quality of his opportunities. This duo should slice Flick’s high line up in El Clasico.

WOW did not see Bernardo Silva coming in the starting lineup because statistically he has been dribbled past a lot this season. However, him starting indicates Mourinho has read the dynamics of this game (attack Barca relentlessly) correctly! Let’s punch Barca in the mouth!

Finishing and efficiency in front of goal will inevitably come into play in El Clasico. Barcelona have scored 17 more goals this season than Real Madrid (50 to 33, 51.5% more), despite recording only 3% more touches in the opposition box. In other words, Barcelona only need 9.6 box touches per goal, 32% less than Real Madrid’s 14.1 box touches per goal. Raphinha is scoring 1.78 goals per 90 and scoring 43% more goals than xG. Yamal is scoring 0.89 goals per 90 and 36% over xG. Mbappe is scoring 1.01 goals p90 from the same amount of xG. Adeyemi on the other hand is 20% below xG with 0.81 goals p90, despite recording the most touches in the opposition box p90 on either team with 11.28 (ahead of Mbappe at 11.01, Vinícius 9.55, Yamal 9.44). Of course, Diomande’s presence will make things interesting. Vinicius’ 9.55 box touches were quite inefficiently utilized and not cohesive, plus Diomande’s willingness to slide passes to Mbappe has made Real Madrid’s attack much more lethal and efficient.