El Clasico preview: Title on the line for desperate Barcelona?

The greatest dance of Spanish football is set to play out once more Saturday as Barcelona hosts rival Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the 2016-17 La Liga season.

For the Blaugrana, there's more than the usual bragging rights at stake in this Camp Nou clash - the La Liga title could all but slip away with a loss, as Real Madrid could widen its lead atop the table to nine points on week 14 of the season.

Here's how we stand heading into the match:

With Atletico Madrid well behind its regional rival over the first 13 matches of the season, the title race is quickly narrowing to just three teams, with Sevilla finally finding domestic consistency. Barcelona will be desperate for a win - and rightly so - in order to close the six-point gap.

Injuries and suspensions

Barcelona was reeling with a few defensive injuries in the build up to this match but looks to be going into El Clasico with a clean bill of health, as knee injuries to Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba seem to have cleared up; he and Gerard Pique returned to training and Iniesta was declared fit to play, too.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid will be without star forward Gareth Bale - who's out for four months after undergoing ankle surgery - and won't be able to replace him with Alvaro Morata who remains sidelined with an Achilles issue. Zinedine Zidane's side will also miss Toni Kroos, Fabio Coentrao, and Danilo.

Projected lineups

Barcelona starting XI: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Neymar, Suarez, Messi

Real Madrid starting XI: Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Kovacic, Modric, Isco; Ronaldo, Benzema, Vazquez

What to watch

El Clasico has been billed as the battle between two of the world's most talented sides, and this year is no exception. Barcelona comes into the match having played out to a pair of draws while Madrid is in a hot run with five wins in a row.

Lionel Messi will look to get one over Cristiano Ronaldo, who has enjoyed a trophy-laden 2016 where Messi hasn't; the Portuguese icon is set to win yet another Ballon D'Or, but Messi will look to prove himself once more as the undisputed No. 1, though it's his team's fate that will be his primary concern.

Zidane will need to ask for plenty from his younger stars as the likes of Lucas Vazquez, Marco Asensio, Mateo Kovacic, and possibly Casemiro will need to fill in for a few key sidelined starters and the task of keeping Barcelona's "MSN" trio off the score sheet won't be easy.

As ever, star players will clash across the park in this highly anticipated match.

What they're saying

Enrique: "I feel optimistic when I see my team train and compete every day. There are many great teams around but none are better than ours.

"It's great to have Iniesta back, he's our captain and the reference point of Barca's style, but I don't think our style will change because of one player. We're a collective."

Zidane: "I'm not focusing on how Barca played in their last game, it will be a completely different performance from them. We're going to play against the champions and champions always turn up in the big games. But we also have a team of champions.

"Last year you could say we went to the Camp Nou feeling nervous and desperate not to lose, but now we're going there without any fear.