El Clasico ICC 2017: Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona - 5 Talking Points

#3 Shortcomings in the starting line-up

What do both teams need?

Real Madrid have allowed the departure of Alvaro Morata, James Rodriguez and Pepe, so far since the end of last season.

Los Blancos have handed Pepe's jersey to Jesus Vallejo and are hopeful that the youngster will be able to fill up the huge void left by the Portuguese veteran. While Borja Mayoral is so far seen as the person to fill in the boots of Morata, although it is believed that the club will sign a striker before the end of the window.

While there is no denying that the talent and potential is there in the youngsters at Madrid, the defence didn't give a good account of themselves in the first El Clasico of the season - with Messi and company having a pop at Keylor Navas' goal at will.

It wasn't just about the loss to Barcelona. Zinedine Zidane's side were annihilated by Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in their last game, as they went on to lose the game 4-1. Before that, the Madrid outfit were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United.

Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane are undoubtedly an excellent first choice central defensive pairing but beyond that they only have Nacho to cover for them. Vallejo is there in the squad but some might argue that he still isn't ready for the first-team, as has been visible in the games so far.

On the other hand, the scenario is slightly but not completely different at Camp Nou. While Barcelona have a bloated squad with a good amount of dead wood, they also lack quality at some of the key positions - namely, defence and midfield.

While the Catalan giants addressed one of their biggest shortcomings of last season by the capture of Nelson Semedo, Ernesto Valverde's team still find themselves ill equipped in central defence and central midfield.

Barcelona have been heavily linked with moves for Marco Verratti and Paulinho over the course of the transfer window so far, which goes on to show that the club want to strengthen in that position, however, there have been no such reports regarding central defenders.

The Camp Nou outfit currently have Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, and Javier Mascherano as the first-choice central defenders, while Thomas Vermaelen has returned from his loan at Roma and Marlon has joined on a permanent deal. Despite having the numbers, Valverde's side need a world-class addition to their defence, given the age of Mascherano and the eventual decline of Gerard Pique - who has already reached the 30-year landmark.