The first of two El Clasico's in the space of a few days sees Real Madrid travel to Barcelona looking to land a definitive blow to the runaway La Liga leaders.
The Copa Del Rey second leg semifinal clash at the Camp Nou, will be the first of three massive games for Real Madrid in the space of seven days, with a league matchup against Barca scheduled at the Bernabeu for Saturday, before the Champions League second leg against Manchester United next week.
"They are matches that we all like and that everyone wants to play," Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, making one of his rare appearances in front of the Spanish press, said. "I like them.
"I prefer matches of this magnitude to others where there is nothing at stake. So we are ready to play. We're looking forward to tomorrow's match, the one on Saturday and the one against Manchester United."
Among the three, the league clash will be seen as the least important, with Real currently 16 points adrift of their archrivals with only 13 games remaining.
However, the Copa Del Rey is important to both sides, but Real in particular, as they are pretty much out of the running for the league title.
Barca will have the slight advantage having scored at the Bernabeu which earned them a 1-1 draw. Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring for the Catalans in the first leg, before the impressive Raphael Varane equalized.
Mourinho is expected to put out a strong side on Tuesday, with the likes of Xabi Alonso, Karim Benzema and Varane recovering from their knocks, while Sergio Ramos, Fabio Coentrao and Angel Di Maria return from suspension.
Mourinho might also consider giving Kaka a start, after the Brazilian starred for Real in their 2-1 win over Deportivo.
Barca do not have too many injury problems, with the likes of Fabregas, Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Carles Puyol expected to return to the starting lineup after being rested at the weekend. Adriano is the only injury doubt, although the fullback is back in training.
The intensity of the El Clasico is like no other, and after falling short against AC Milan in their last big match, Barcelona will be determined to get back on track against their bitter rivals, although they did win 2-1 against Sevilla at the weekend.
Expect Real to play on the counter yet again, particularly away from home, and the duel between the peerless Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be one to watch out for as always, particularly after the superstar duo failed to shine in the first leg.
Expected lineups: Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Puyol, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas; Pedro, Messi, Iniesta.
Real Madrid: Diego Lopez; Arbeloa, Varane, Ramos, Coentrao; Khedira, Alonso; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema.
Prediction: 2-1 to Real Madrid
