Real Madrid play host to Barcelona on Sunday with, as usual, a huge amount at stake in one of the bitterest Derby matches in the world of club football.Both teams desperately want to win, at the very least to keep their super-critical fans happy, but there is much more at stake than just pride.Real lie second in the table with 70 points from 33 games, and five still to go, and are only behind league leaders Valencia on goal difference.However, a draw or worse against Barca, who have not won in the Santiago Bernabeu since 1997, would hand Valencia, the UEFA Cup semi-finalists and 2001-2002 champions, the advantage in the race for the title.The job of real coach Carlos Queiroz is also on the line after the reigning Spanish champions’ recent series of setbacks, which have included losing the Spanish Cup final, losing 3-0 at home to Osasuna and going out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.By contrast, his opposite number Frank Rijkaard is a relatively happy man.In December, when real went to the Nou Camp and notched up their first win there in 20 years with a 2-1 win, the Barca fans were calling for the Dutchman’s head. Now, after a 15-match unbeaten streak, Barca have risen to third although they are still seven points behind the leading pair. Queiroz is expected to put Ivan Helguera alongside his fellow Spanish international Raul Bravo in the middle of the back four and recall Jose Maria Gutierrez to accompany England captain David Beckham in midfield.Rijkaard’s main injury worry concerns Carlos Puyol. The Spanish international defender will have a late fitness test on his strained left hamstring.
