Vinicius Jr and Gareth Bale all smiles as Real Madrid train ahead of el clasico against Barcelona - in pictures

Real Madrid forwards Vinicius Jr and Gareth Bale showed no signs of nerves ahead of the biggest match in Spanish football on Wednesday. Madrid travel to Catalonia to face bitter rivals Barcelona in the first clasico of the season that could have a huge impact on the title race and will take place amid fresh protests. Lionel Messi's Barcelona head the standings with 35 points from 16 matches, with Real Madrid only trailing on goal difference. The original La Liga fixture was set for October 26 in Barcelona, but owing to civil unrest in the – which included the jailing of nine Catalan separatist leaders – the match was postponed. Before they head to Camp Nou though manager Zinedine Zidane watched as his players trained at home on Tuesday having earlier given a press conference ahead of the match. To see a selection of images of Real Madrid in training, see the photo gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or thumbnails, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.

Vinicius Jr and Gareth Bale all smiles as Real Madrid train ahead of el clasico against Barcelona - in pictures

Madrid travel to Catalonia to face bitter rivals Barcelona in the first clasico of the season that could have a huge impact on the title race and will take place amid new protests