Clasico Line-ups: Barcelona Play Dani Alves On Right Wing, Real Madrid Bench Guti

The Clasico between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu this evening sees the following twenty-two players start:

REAL MADRID: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Garay, Arbeloa; Van der Vaart, Xabi Alonso, Gago, Marcelo; Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain.
Substitutes: Dudek, Metzelder, M. Diarra, Lass Diarra, Guti, Benzema, Raul

BARCELONA: Victor Valdes; Puyol, Milito, Pique, Maxwell; Busquets, Keita, Xavi; Alves, Pedro, Messi.
Substitutes: Pinto, Chygrynskiy, Marquez, Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Henry, Bojan

Expert View

Goal.com International's Spain editor, KS Leong, offers his views on the line-ups:

Real Madrid: No surprises at the back as Pellegrini goes for the usual rearguard of Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Garay and Arbeloa, and all four will have to chip in to stop Messi. A rejuvenated Gago starting in place of the out-of-sorts Lassana Diarra will bring more security to the Madrid midfield, while Marcelo will have to help out massively in defense with Dani Alves starting in midfield. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain should get plenty of support from Rafael van der Vaart, but the good news for Guti.Haz fans is that he has not been dropped from the squad and he has made the bench.

Barcelona: Pep Guardiola's decision to start Dani Alves in attack and push Puyol out to the right-back slot should kill two birds with one stone. The Brazilian will give the Blaugrana an extra dimension in attack while Puyol occupying the right side of defense will ensure the team do not leave any gaps for Ronaldo to exploit. Busquets, Xavi and Keita line up in what has now become Barcelona's regular midfield set-up, but as usual, look out for Lionel Messi to lead the frontline.

Fan Views

Goal.com Spain's Juan Lirman has been on the streets around the Bernabeu to speak to fans of both sides.

Ivan, a bona-fide Gutista came all the way from Zamora to watch the Superclasico, but reacted with amazement to the news that Guti was to be excluded. "Guti, left out? That's impossible, I can't believe it," he said. "This will be a disaster for our team.

Meanwhile this group of four came from Barcelona, half supporting Barca, the other half Madrid. Barcelona fan Sara called for a 4-2 win for the visitors, but Jessica, her Madrid-supporting friend, sees a 2-1 victory for the hosts. Ruben and Javier also backed their own respective sides, 2-0 and 3-2.