Two of the best footballing sides in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 hosting the first leg at the Nou Camp on Thursday.
The stage is set for one of the most awaited fixtures in La Liga. Barcelona will be taking on their arch-rivals, Real Madrid.
La Blaugrana fans would be eager to see how their new coach, Tito Vilanova, performs against Real Madrid; as Josep Guardiola was able to impress almost every time Barcelona faced Los Blancos during his era.
The first leg of the two-legged tie will take place at the Nou Camp, and Vilanova is going to try and take the home advantage with the stadium fully packed with Les Cules.
On the other hand, Jose Mourinho can boast about the Spanish La Liga win which he managed to pick up last season. And in the second leg of the domestic league, Madrid were able to win against Barcelona, and that too at their home stadium, the Nou Camp.
Now, the two rival clubs are going to face each other in the Supercopa de Espana, and anything can be expected from the much-anticipated fixture.
Team News: Barcelona
The hosts are currently in extraordinary form. Not only have they managed to win each and every pre-season game; in fact, they also won their first La Liga game emphatically.
The Catalan giants were able to tear apart their first opposition, Real Sociedad, with the final score of 5-1. Lionel Messi was able to score a brace, with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 and Carles Puyol writing their names on the score-sheet as well.
Tito Vilanova currently has each and every player available; except the injured Eric Abidal, who is expected to return to action by the end of December.
However, the Frenchman will be rarely missed, especially with Barcelona signing two defensive players, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-Song-c4804.
With all his favourite players available at hand, Tito Vilanova is going to field a 4-3-3 formation with the following line-up:
Victor Valdes; http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexis-Sánchez-c4979.
Team News: Real Madrid
Despite winning most of their pre-season friendly games, except the 5-2 loss against Benfica, Madrid were expected to start their La Liga campaign with a bang.
However, the Spanish champions faced a stern test in the shape of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863, who were able to keep Madrid at bay and managed to draw the game 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho is going to try to boost the morale with a win against Barcelona, but it will definitely not come easy for the Portuguese mentor.
Currently, Mourinho has almost all the players available for him. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ricardo-Carvalho-c30973 is back in training, but he is still not expected to start, since Madrid are planning to sell him during the transfer window.
Since http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcelo-c23554 just returned back from the Olympics, he will not be starting the fixture, and Pepe is also out injured.
Therefore, Mourinho is going to start the fixture with the following line-up:
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629, Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria; Gonzalo Higuain.
Prediction:
Since both the teams are considered to be the best in La Liga, it is definitely going to be a closely competitive fixture with few goals.
Madrid are without one of their main players, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-c29670, who always manages to shine against the Catalan rivals, Barcelona.
Therefore, Barcelona are expected to win the game, but with a narrow score-line. The Catalan giants might clinch the fixture with the final score of 2-0.
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