Madrid obliged to keep title race alive in El Clasico, says Ramos

Madrid: Real Madrid are "obliged" to beat Barcelona on Saturday (1200GMT) if they are to maintain any hope of retaining their La Liga title, according to Real captain Sergio Ramos.

The European champions picked up a record fifth trophy of the year to cap a fine 2017 at the Club World Cup last weekend, but trail Barca by a mammoth 11 points at the top of La Liga albeit with a game in hand.

"It will be a massive game," said Ramos. "It is the biggest game in the world. We are obliged to win more than ever for the situation we are in to try to keep ourselves in the fight for La Liga."

For the first time an El Clasico will kick-off at lunchtime as La Liga seeks more attention from Asian viewers.

And the worldwide audience could be treated to the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale together for the first time this season.

Real's 'BBC' front three haven't played a single minute of action together, largely due to a series of injury problems for Bale.

However, the Welshman returned to play his part in the Club World Cup success with the semifinal winner over Al Jazira.

Ronaldo is also "100 percent" fit to play according to coach Zinedine Zidane despite the Portuguese returning to training with the rest of his teammates for the first time this week on Friday.

"He is 100 percent, he trained today and that is all that interests me," said Zidane, who unlike Ramos has tried to play down suggestions Madrid must win to remain in the title race.