El Clásico: Xavi’s Barça head to Real Madrid with unexpected optimism

Laughed at after the last meeting – a fifth straight defeat to Madrid – Xavi Hernandez and Barcelona are beginning to see green shoots ahead of Sunday night's la Liga clash with Los Merengues

BOUNCEBACKABILITY: Barcelona's coach Xavi

LOSING to Madrid hurts but we’re closer to winning,” Gerard Piqué said at the end of the last clásico. It was a curious kind of consolation after yet another defeat knocked Barcelona out of the Spanish Super Cup, but this time there was something for them to cling to. That, at least, was the hope and since then it has hardened into something more tangible. 

The 282nd meeting between these clubs Sunday night may offer an indication of how much closer they have come or how far they still have to travel.