"Every day is worse," read the front page of Thursday's Marca with a picture of Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois picking a ball out of the net in a 2-3 Champions League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.
“Madrid in freefall... and on Saturday it’s Barca.”
“I am responsible,” admitted coach Zinedine Zidane. “And I see myself as capable of fixing it.”
The defeat was Madrid's second at home in four days, the first against newly promoted Cadiz.
With the clasico in mind, Zidane kept some players back, like Karim Benzema. But he had to bring them on when the Ukranians led 3-0 at half time. It was too late and Madrid’s uncharacteristically poor home form in Europe continues.
Next up are Barcelona, who have had problems of their own, in an empty Camp Nou.
It's the first clasico of the Covid era. The Catalans' last ultimate away game in front of fans came in March, and that 2-0 defeat swung the title race back in Madrid's favour and Zidane's team didn't lose momentum as Barca were prevented from winning a ninth La Liga title in 12 years.
Saturday's meeting at Camp Nou follows a weekend when both lost in the same game week for first time in 17 years. The season is young and it's odd to see Madrid in third and Barcelona ninth. However, Barca have games in hand and have also played well apart from that Getafe defeat, when the victors had only 27 per cent of possession.
Barca did win easily at home in the Champions League on Tuesday by putting five past Hungarians Ferencvaros, with further excitement from their young players Pedri and Ansu Fati, both 17. The former is too young to drive and took a taxi home after the game.
Lionel Messi is playing well and while there are still serious disruptions around him on the field which will see a change of club president, results will set the mood.
The clasico – the term has been used since the 1940s – is usually a game which delivers and justifies the billing, but last season’s encounters were limp in comparison to the spectacular encounters of previous years.
"It's the best match with the best football in the world and I'm not just saying that because these are Spanish teams," former Real Madrid player Fernando Sanz told The National.
“I can remember the games in the 80s and being on the stadium to see Butrageuno, a true hero of Spanish football, or the Bernabeu applauding Ronaldinho despite him playing for Barcelona.
“Now I see two teams with lots of young players: Francisco Trincau (20), a wonderful and powerful attacker, Sergino Dest (19) who recently debuted on the left but usually plays on the right. He reminded me at Daniel Alves. Ronald Koeman, the new Barca coach, was asked to completely change the team and he’s achieving that. He’s bringing in young, top quality attack-minded players. Ansu Fati (17) is another.”
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The last 10 clasicos
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Like their great rivals, Madrid were a selling club in the close season as they sort to cut their wage bill. They too have youngsters.
“It’s impressive to see players like Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Odegaard,” added Sanz. “They’re 19, 20, 21. Incredible to see these young players for both teams and they’re the future. People say that Messi or Sergio Ramos are getting old, but we see these incredible young players. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have got to plan the next cycle."
This is true, but while Messi stayed in Spain, there has been a drift of both established and emerging talents towards England. La Liga are working hard to promote their league as the best in the world, but it has also been criticised for its two-team dominance. Sanz thinks this is changing.
“The league is stronger overall and that’s why you see results like Cadiz and Getafe beating Madrid and Barcelona,” he said. “They are not going to have the peaceful tranquil year that they thought they might have.”
That much became apparent this week.
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Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing
In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.
While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.
In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all).
“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”
Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.
"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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