Barcelona vs Real Madrid: they are nominated for Ballon d'Or, but will miss El Clasico

Karim Benzema without any iota of doubt is the biggest face of the El Clasico after the departure of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who lit up the fixture jointly for nine years before Ronaldo left Spain for Italy in 2018 and Lionel Messi also left for France this year.

Benzema who has been tipped to be one of the favourites for the 2021 Ballon d'Or but has missed the recent training reportedly due to a foot injury and could miss the biggest game of the season. Benzema also have a court case ongoing over an alleged involvement is a sex tape blackmail case.

Another star who will miss the biggest La Liga game so far is Barcelona youngster Pedri, who is the most used player in Europe last season, he played over 70 games including representing Spain in two competitions, the UEFA Euro 2020 and the Olympics. He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.

This year's Clasico is not expected to carry much weight like previous ones but coaches and players have not downplayed its importance due to the absence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Benzema called it the biggest football match in Europe despite the image drastically suffering the absence of the two superstars.