A SINGLE point separates Real Madrid and Barcelona heading into tonight's clash at the Camp Nou.

You have to go back four and a half years to find the last time the two Spanish giants were this close

when they faced off in the Clasico.

The date was November 29, 2010 and the outcome could not have been more emphatic. Pep Guardiola's Barcelona unleashed the terrors of the Earth on Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid. When the dust settled, the scoreline was 5-0 and it came to be known as the "manita" - or little hand, one finger for every goal.

Tonight could be even more definitive. A Barcelona win would send Luis Enrique's team four points clear with 10 games to go. And there is no question momentum is with the Catalans.

Never mind the result. The mid-week demolition of Manchester City was one of the most stunning, one-sided affairs you're likely to see. And it represented a personal victory for manager Enrique who - just a few months ago, seemed to teetering on the edge.

Too much, too soon, it was suggested. He was seen as too inflexible, too introverted, too preoccupied with his idea of football and, at the same time - and, yes, it's contradictory, but criticism so often can be - too insecure with his constant rotation. His notion of playing Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar together in some sort of free-form magical front trio didn't yield results until he turned into something more orthodox and less fancy. Neymar hugging the touchline, Suarez clearing space as a traditional striker and Messi going vintage, starting wide right and cutting inside, a move as familiar as it is (nearly) unplayable.

The result? Seventeen victories in their last 18 matches. And Messi moving back into the stratosphere with a scoring rate of more than a goal a game.

Contrast this with Real Madrid. They ended 2014 with 22 consecutive victories and began 2015 with five defeats in 16 games and boos at the Bernabeu. Cristiano Ronaldo hit the skids as sharply as Messi soared.

Gareth Bale was getting booed, half the midfield was injured until recently, the other looked as if it was playing in cement boots.

Meanwhile, the Madrid press was freely speculating that Carlo Ancelotti, nine months after winning the Champions' League and Copa del Rey, was living his last days as boss at the Bernabeu.

Lose today and they'll be back, harder than before. The good news for Ancelotti is that Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos are back from injury. The latter brings experience to the back four and has a knack for big goals in big games, the former was the glue that kept an impossible lop-sided front six together. The Croat won't be mistaken for Claude Makelele any time soon, but his reading of the game and experience brought some much needed balance to a midfield that has recently been too easily overrun.

The stakes, therefore, are huge and the world will be watching, as it always does come Clasico time. If the pendulum doesn't start to swing back the other way, Enrique could well be on his way to delivering the title (and maybe more: Barca remain on track for the Treble) in his first year at the Camp Nou.

THE Premier League's response to the Clasico - Liverpool v Manchester United - won't be a title decider and, in fact, hasn't been since the days of Rafa Benitez and his "FACTS". The prize today is a big step forward towards a place in the Champions League, the same "fourth place trophy" that gets derided when Arsene Wenger talks about it but is absolutely critical to both teams today.

United can probably withstand one more year of no Champions League income, reduced sponsorships and a comparable transfer deficit to last summer but after that the margin of error goes down to close to zero and they'll have to operate with "normal" transfer budgets.

Liverpool's revenues aren't comparable to those at Old Trafford, which is why Brendan Rodgers, unlike Louis van Gaal, knows he needs to largely make it work with this group of players.

Maybe that's why in many ways he's been more bold than Van Gaal, experimenting with various formations and personnel before settling on a 3-4-3 which, in the current game, is virtually unique. Van Gaal, the visionary has also pulled a range of schemes and combinations out of his hat, albeit with worse results in terms of performances.

Rodgers has prove to be the superior alchemist this season and it's not something you would have expected in the summer. A victory would put Liverpool ahead by a nose, but the run-in is tough for both clubs: Arsenal and Chelsea away for Rodgers, Manchester City and Arsenal at home, Chelsea away for Van Gaal. What this suggests is that even a United win at Anfield probably won't lock up a top four finish, but rather this one will go down to the wire.

FRIDAY'S Champions League draw kept the uber-favourites apart, which is good for TV rightsholders and those who want to see the big boys square off as late as possible. Barcelona's clash with Paris Saint-Germain is nowhere near as straight-forward as it appears. The Parisians have already beaten the Catalans in the group stage and the encounter with Chelsea showed a side to PSG - resilient, tough-minded - we had seen only in glimpses before.

The Madrid derby could either be the umpteenth banana peel for the holders or the opportunity for Carlo Ancelotti to atone against a manager who seems to have his number. They've already played six

times this season and Atletico have won four, drawing the other two.

Bayern are favourites against Porto as you would expect, but Julien Lopetegui's team are the only side still undefeated in the Champions League and in Yacine Brahimi have arguably the best player outside the big five European Leagues. Then there's Juventus who didn't hide their contentment at being drawn to face Monaco. A word of warning: Arsenal too were rather pleased at being pitted against them and we all know how that went...