Barcelona Confirms No Guard of Honor for Real Madrid at Clasico

Real Madrid was triumphant at the Club World Cup, but Barcelona won't provide the guard of honor in their meeting at the Bernabeu.

Barcelona's director of Institutional Relations, Guillermo Amor, confirmed that Real Madrid will not receive a guard of honor in El Clasico on Saturday despite their recent triumph at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Real Madrid secured a 2-1 victory over Al Jazira in the semifinal before Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in the final gave Madrid a narrow win over Brazilian side Grêmio.

However, Amor has insisted that no El Pasillo (guard of honor) is necessary as they are usually just for Champions League and La Liga titles.

"In this club, the guard of honor is usually made when we participate in the Champions League or La Liga... and this is not the case," Amor confirmed following Barca's 4-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruña, as quoted by Marca.

Saturday's installment will be the third Clasico of the season. Both sides faced each other in the Supercopa de España before the new La Liga campaign kicked off, with Real Madrid securing a 5-1 victory over two legs.

An own goal from Gerard Piqué gave Real Madrid an early second-half lead at the Camp Nou back in August, before Lionel Messi leveled the scoreline from the penalty spot. 

Ronaldo then moved into the spotlight when an outstanding goal was swiftly followed by his sending off, with Marco Asensio putting the icing on the cake late on in the first-leg.

The 21-year-old then fired in from distance in the opening minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu to put further breathing space between Madrid and Barcelona, with Karim Benzema scoring the final goal of the Supercopa de España and giving Los Blancos the pre-season bragging rights.