The Clasico it taking on greater significance this season due to Real Madrid and Barcelona's spectacular start to the 2022/23 LaLiga Santander campaign.

Los Blancos and the Catalans have managed to grab 16 out of the possible 18 points thus far and everything points to the title being decided by fine margins this year.

Barcelona are back

Barcelona have squad depth and players who make the difference such as Robert Lewandowski, who has nine goals in the first seven games.

Barcelona's figures speak for themselves, as they have registered six wins and one draw, having netted 19 goals and conceded just one. Real Madrid, who have been solid too despite the draw against Osasuna, have the same number of points.

Los Blancos have scored 18 goals and conceded seven, with the fact that they are struggling to keep a clean sheet being their main drawback at the start of the season.

A duel of two world-class strikers

Barcelona have found in Lewandowski their most decisive player. With nine goals in seven games, the Poland international has inspired the Blaugrana to victories in games which they wouldn't have managed to win last season, such as the one against Real Mallorca.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid's leader Karim Benzema is expected to be awarded the Ballon d'Or on the day after the Clasico. The Frenchman picked up an injury in this first stretch of the campaign and was forced to miss a few games, having netted just four goals.

Vinicius' impact

Lewandowski and Benzema may be the two stars, but Real Madrid's most decisive player at the start of the season is Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian forward is unstoppable, having scored six goals thus far. In that sense, Real Madrid have found in Vinicius something that Barcelona do not have, as neither Raphinha nor Ousmane Dembele have stood out as much as their Los Blancos counterpart has managed.

Barcelona are stronger in defense

While Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has broken his longest streak in LaLiga without conceding a goal, Real Madrid's goalkeepers have allowed in one goal per game. The seven goals conceded by Ancelotti's team is a black mark in these first few games of the campaign.

Heading for a 100-point league

If they keep up this pace, Real Madrid and Barcelona will record 114 points each this season. Obviously, neither of the two teams will manage to do so, but this could be a title race were both reach the 100-point mark. This happened when Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were in charge of Los Blancos and the Blaugrana, respectively.