LaLiga: Who would make your El Clasico XI? Messi, Cristiano and.. Paulinho?

Social media is a wonderful platform which allows people to interact with others from all over the world on a variety of subjects. You can find long lost school friends, converse with your idols and even find new job opportunities. Yet for the vast, vast majority it’s primarily about debating controversial opinions on sport.

In the last few months the key focal point for these debates are lists of players based on their performances and combined XIs of two rival teams. This, more than anything else, is like waving a rag in front of a bull. Intelligent rebuttals are pushed to one side as it’s all about expressing your anger and questioning the intelligence of the person who wrote it.

So today I thought the logical move would be to join this movement of anger-inducing articles and throw together what I feel would be the best current XI using Real Madrid and Barcelona players. You know, ahead of this little thing called El Clasico.

Now here’s a few ground rules to hopefully explain some of the omissions from this starting line-up:

• You can only select players who are available for the match on Saturday

• It isn’t necessarily about who is the best player, but who is in better form

• You can’t just select an entire XI from one of the two sides

• Despite both sides playing more of a 4-4-2 this season, I’m using a 4-3-3 template

Goalkeeper

One of the easiest positions to pick is goalkeeper. Marc-Andre ter Stegen is in the best form of his life. The German international could benefit from Manuel Neuer’s injury problems and start at next summer’s World Cup. And even if Neuer is fit, there’s an argument ter Stegen is more deserving of the no.1 shirt. He’s been phenomenal.

Keylor Navas isn’t a bad goalkeeper, not by any stretch of the imagination. He doesn’t come with a lot of fan fare but he gets the job done; he’s reliable. However ter Stegen’s current form makes him one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

If you’re looking for unlikely heroes in El Clasico, you shouldn’t discount the German. Ter Stegen gets the nod.

Full-backs

At right back you need to pick between Dani Carvajal and probably Nelson Semedo. For me, you go with Carvajal. The Madrid man is an engine down the right-hand side and, having overcome his health problems, is getting back to his best.

Semedo has disappeared from Barcelona’s starting line-up in recent weeks, with both Aleix Vidal and Sergi Roberto being preferred to him. The reason behind that change remains a mystery. And both of the other Barcelona options are makeshift full-backs as opposed to playing in their natural role.

On the left hand side of defence it’s a straight fight between Marcelo and Jordi Alba. If you had asked me this 6-12 months ago I’d pick the Brazilian without a second thought. Even with his fitness concerns, Marcelo offers so much down that flank. Mostly doing it all by himself, he was key to Madrid’s quick counterattacks.

However there’s been a slight decline in the form of Marcelo and that’s coincided with Alba’s rise to prominence at the Camp Nou. On the verge of an exit under Luis Enrique, Alba is now a key man for Ernesto Valverde. His positional awareness, in defence and attack, makes him a hard man to beat. In particular that connection with Leo Messi can be crucial when looking to break down team which defend so deep. Alba’s my pick.

If they’re good enough for Spain, they’re good enough for this El Clasico XI

In the centre of defence it’s a bit more difficult. If Samuel Umtiti was available, he’s the first name in there but unfortunately he’s out until the new year. The reality is behind him, everyone else is on a similar level of being good but prone to lapses of concentration.

The obvious option would be to opt for Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique and I’d probably go along with that, just. Raphael Varane’s form remains erratic which might be concerning as he’s 24 now, not exactly a youngster. Thomas Vermaelen’s recent form is strong but that probably isn’t enough to fairly judge him on. So, let’s go with Spain’s centre back partnership instead.

Midfield trio with a wildcard option

In midfield, to anchor the team, I’d pick Sergio Busquets. Casemiro hasn’t put a foot wrong with Madrid but we’re seeing the best version of Busquets in the last 2-3 years. Like Casemiro he can break up the opposition’s attacks but the Barcelona man is better in possession and has a greater range of passing.

The next man to slot in there would be Toni Kroos. Luka Modric receives a lot of plaudits – and rightly so – but Kroos is a bit better right now. They occupy different roles but Kroos’ passing is so crisp. He rarely wastes possession and gets most attacks going. For me, he’s excelled over his midfield partner this season.

Now this is where it gets a bit controversial. Andres Iniesta, as we all know, can turn it on and blow away the competition. However those days, and how often they occur, and becoming less and less frequent. Ivan Rakitic floats between brilliant and ineffective from game to game too. Modric is a slightly poorer version of Kroos so that only leaves one option: Paulinho.

Yes, Tottenham flop and Chinese Super League legend, Paulinho makes the team. The reasoning behind this is he offers something different to both Kroos and Modric, the obvious picks, by adding a goal threat to the midfield. In LaLiga he’s got six goals, is solid in the air and retains the ball well. Paulinho rounds up the midfield choices.

Front three offer up no surprises

On the left-hand side of attack is Cristiano Ronaldo. His LaLiga goal return isn’t anything to shout about but he has 16 goals in 19 starts across all competitions. While not playing in his ideal position out wide for Madrid at present, he’s still a constant goal threat. His record in El Clasicos is 17 goals in 28 matches. You can’t not pick Cristiano.

Naturally this means Leo Messi sits on the right of the front three. The little Argentine is unplayable at the moment and the only reason he doesn’t have 30 goals this season is because of the woodwork. His vision, trickery and cool finishing mean he’s a certain starter in any potential XI. Plus he’s played a key role in previous El Clasico’s as well scoring 24 goals and providing 13 assists.

In the striker position it’s a little less clear. It feels like Karim Benzema is the easy one to blame when the goals dry up at Madrid. Not carrying the star power of his teammates, the Frenchman’s contribution is constantly under the microscope. But he has more assists than Suarez, is stronger at dribbling, is offside less often and doesn’t have as many bad touches as the Uruguayan.

However while Benzema is perhaps unjustly blamed for everything going wrong at Madrid, I still don’t think he does enough to oust Suarez.

Suarez, for all his misses, still hits the back of the net more than most. He’s got nine goals to his name and gets more shots off than his rival. This isn’t the best version of Suarez and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Barcelona look for a new striker in the summer. But, in saying that, he’s still the best striker available and completes my XI.