Real Madrid vs. Barcelona 2016: TV Channel, Live Stream Info, Probable Lineups For El Clásico

Zinedine Zidane has said that his Real Madrid side will go into Saturday’s contest with Barcelona in a very different mindset than they approached the last Clásico, when he says they had their “butts clenched.”

When Real Madrid traveled to the Camp Nou in April for Zidane’s first Clásico in charge, the team trailed Barcelona by nine points in La Liga. Yet Madrid thrived on the position of fighting from behind, ending Barcelona’s then 39-match unbeaten streak and going on to apply real pressure on the Catalans in the climax to the season.

When Zidane and his players return to the Camp Nou on Saturday, it is they who will go into the game as the team leading the pack and Barcelona as the pursuer. A second consecutive La Liga draw for Barcelona at Real Sociedad last weekend coupled with a sixth consecutive win for Real Madrid extended Los Blancos’ lead atop the table to six points.

“Tomorrow will be a completely different game,” he said in his press conference on Friday. “I've got a word to describe it, but it's rude: Last year we went there with butts clenched, if you'll excuse me. Now it's different. We've got to do this with our heads. The opposition are very strong and it's going to be a different match. All I want is for us to be prepared, just like last year, and how we've been doing things recently.”

Zidane also insisted that his team will have no thought of aiming to come away with a draw that would still leave Madrid in a strong position after 14 games of the season.

The Frenchman has confirmed that he will have Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro back available. He will have to go into the game, though, without both Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos. Bale could be out for up to four months with an ankle injury, while Kroos is still recovering from a fractured metatarsal.

Barcelona, meanwhile, has received an injury boost ahead of the game, with Andrés Iniesta back available after five months on the sidelines with a knee injury.

“The biggest news is that we’re getting [Andrés] Iniesta back, which has extra importance since he’s our captain,” head coach Luis Enrique said in his own pre-match press conference. “If there’s one player who helps most with our style, it’s him.”

Without Iniesta, Barcelona has struggled, winning just two of its last six matches in all competitions. As well as back-to-back draws in La Liga, a much-changed Barcelona team could only come away with a 1-1 draw from the first leg of its Copa del Rey tie with third-tier Hércules on Wednesday.

Along with stating that he doesn’t believe that a defeat on Saturday and falling nine points behind Real Madrid would put an early end to his team’s title challenge, he also doesn’t think that a win will silence his critics.

"It is important to beat a direct rival, but to think that will put an end to the critics, that is not true,” he said. “Sometimes the critics are necessary."

Probable Lineups

Barcelona

Real Madrid

Kickoff Time: 10:15 a.m. EST
TV Channel: beIN Sports
Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect