El Clasico: Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo absent – who can light up El Clasico?

The most famous fixture in the world: El Clasico.

For the past 10 years, it has been a personal playground for two larger-than-life global icons. But neither of them will be playing on Sunday afternoon when Barcelona and Real Madrid lock horns at the Nou Camp.

Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, has gone to Juventus after a nine-year stay in Madrid that yielded 450 goals and 15 trophies including four Champions League crowns.

And now Lionel Messi is missing too, with Barca's talisman sidelined after breaking his arm in last weekend's 4-2 win against Sevilla – a result that feels the reigning champions top of the table and gives them the chance to move seven points clear of struggling Real On Sunday.

It will be the first Clasico to not feature nor Messi or Ronaldo since December 2007, when Real decimated, Gianluca Zambrotta, Gabriel Heinze and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Since then, Messi and Ronaldo have been the brightest of stars in the galaxy of world-clbad talent that is El Clasico: Messi is the fixture's all-time leading scorer (26 goals) and attend (14), while Ronaldo holds the record for the most consecutive Clasicos with a goal (six games, all in 2012).

So how will Barca cope with Messi's sudden absence? How will Real overcome their post-Ronaldo hangover? How will the peer's absence affect the wider pattern of the game? Let's take a look.

Where are Real's goals without Ronaldo?

Really Zinedine Zidane is putting it mildly.

Los Blancos have drawn one of their past league games, including shock defeats by Alaves and Levante, Julen Lopetegui's position hanging by a thread.

Marcelo in last weekend's 2-1 home defeat by Levante.

Even the midweek Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen did not offer much solace. True, Karim Benzema got on the scoresheet for the first time in nearly two months, but the 2-1 victory – sealed by another goal from Marcelo – was far from convincing, especially in the kind of game they would routinely win by a street when Ronaldo was around.

Removing a player who scored at least 40 goals in the past few years. of genuine goalscorers.

When Real won the league and Champions League doubles in 2017, 48 league goals were provided by Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez. Mariano Diaz added.

There is still an abundance of creative talent in the squad: any manager would like to be able to call upon Gareth Bale, Isco, Marco Asensio and Benzema. But none of these players are out-and-out scorers, they are the ones who are most likely to work outside the penalty area, supplying the ammunition rather than firing it.

One statistic to illustrate the team's dramatic downturn in firepower is the last year they have a world record by scoring in 73 consecutive games, while this season they have already been scoreless four times.

This week Isco bristled at the suggestion that Real are badly missing Ronaldo, snapping: "We can not cry about someone who did not want to be here."

But the facts speak for themselves. Real possesses nothing like the same kind of goal threat since the Portuguese departed.

Isco can be excused from the recent drop in the world for the first time in the future.

Mission impossible: replace Messi

Barca boss Ernesto Valverde had a simple answer when he asked for compensation for the loss of messi in the aftermath of Argentina's injury last weekend, saying: "I do not know."

A few days later full-back Jordi Alba, who enjoys a particularly fruitful relationship with his captain, was similarly downbeat. "Nobody can replace Messi," he lamented. "He's the best player in the world."

But, for the short-term, Barca do not have a way of replacing him, Valverde has plenty of options at his disposal.

The most obvious is Ousmane Dembele, the speedy winger who was signed in a £ 135.5m deal from Borussia Dortmund following the departure of Neymar before the start of last season.

Dembele's time at the club so far has been maddeningly inconsistent, with the Frenchman looking at his opponent's possession, and regularly provoking the ire of Luis Suarez by concluding a promising run with a wasteful cross or over-ambitious shot.

Considering Dembele's shortcomings, the preferred option could be a more advanced role for versatile Sergi Roberto, who was selected for that task Messi missed a Clasico in 2015. On that occasion it worked a treat, with Roberto badisting the opener for Suarez in a thumping at 4-0 victory at the Bernabeu. (Messi appeared from the bench with his team already 3-0 up.)

Valverde could also turn to an unknown quantity in the form of Brazilian winger Malcom, who was signed up for more than 30m from Bordeaux in the summer but has barely featured so far, making just two brief substitutes appearances.

Another chance is homegrown midfielder Rafinha, who had started just twice before scoring in Wednesday's win over Inter Milan, the club joined on loan last term.

Arturo Vidal, who has also started just getting closer to Bayern Munich, has just started the process of having a relationship with him. There is also the option of adopting a more regular 4-4-2 training with Suarez partnered with young striker Munir El Haddadi.

So Barca have plenty of potential solutions for their Messi problem … but none of them look particularly convincing.

Marcelo the main beneficiary?

Other than whoever will eventually replace Messi, the player most likely affected by the absence of the Argentine should be Real Marcelo's left-back.

The dynamic Brazilian is an incredibly important part of the real attacking approach, illustrated by the fact that he has scored two of their past three goals.

However, in previous Clasicos since Messi moved back to the right wing of his 'false nine' role, Marcelo has often – albeit reluctantly – accepted the need to subdue his attacking instincts and give himself a better chance of shaking his adversary.

This indirect but important consequence of Messi's presence was articulated by his international team-mate Pablo Zabaleta.

"The full-back can not get forward too much because then," Zabaleta told me.

"If you give space to Messi, you'll be in trouble and concede goals.

This observation is backed up by stats: Marcelo's average number of pbades for his career is 51.8, but in three of his four clasico appearances at the Nou Camp that figure drops to just 41. The exception was last season's 2-2 draw When Marcelo exerted his usual influence with 66 pbades he was punished by Barca goals.

In this particular Clasico, Marcelo will be released from the burden of having to guard Messi and will therefore have the freedom to play his natural game, much to the benefit of Real's attacking play.

But Barca could still attempt to target the Brazilian, but he did not want to go back to the next stage. Valverde dares to take an aggressive approach.

Either way, it seems certain that the team will be better off than Messi's absence will significantly boost their chances of victory.