La Liga

Real Madrid looks to extend La Liga gap in latest Clasico vs. Barcelona

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:43 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI.com Staff/Sports Illustrated via Planet Futbol

Real Madrid owns a three-point lead atop La Liga with a game in hand and can take a major step toward its first league title since 2012 when hosting rival Barcelona in the latest edition of El Clasico (2:45 p.m. ET, beIN Sports).

Real Madrid drew Barcelona in their earlier meeting this season, with Sergio Ramos's late heroics salvaging the point. The club advanced to the Champions League semifinals for a record seventh straight season last week, ousting Bayern Munich in dramatic, yet controversial, fashion, with Cristiano Ronaldo's hat trick in the second leg of the quarterfinals the difference.

Barcelona, meanwhile, was ousted in the Champions League by Juventus, failing to score over 180 minutes. With that trophy off the table and a six-point deficit at this stage in the season a mighty hill to climb against a Real Madrid side that has lost just twice in the league all season, a win is surely a must for Barcelona to entertain thoughts of repeating as league champion. The task is made more difficult through the suspension of Neymar, which Barcelona was contesting up until gameday but ultimately relented, with the Brazil star out for the match. That leaves Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to do the heavy lifting at the Bernabeu.

Stay tuned here for lineups and highlights of goals and key plays throughout this match.

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