El Clasico: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona – Spanish La Liga match preview
Madrid and Barcelona will lock horns at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. The Spanish Champions are currently six points behind their arch rivals Real Madrid with Madrid also having a match in hand.
This gives Barcelona a hypothetical disadvantage of six points. Therefore, Josep Guardiola will have to win this game in order to cut the gap between the two sides.
This is one of the most important fixtures for Josep Guardiola. Since being in charge of the Spanish club, Guardiola has never lost a single league game against Real Madrid. Last season, Barcelona were able to win 5-0 at the Nou Camp and drew the game 1-1 at Santiago Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho is currently the coach of Madrid and the Portuguese tactician is expected to do wonders for Los Blancos. Last season, despite being humiliated by Barcelona at the Nou Camp, Mourinho picked his side up and helped them draw the game against La Blaugrana at home.
Barcelona were the favourites to win the league this season but Real Madrid, while playing under Jose Mourinho, have managed to impress. Los Blancos have snatched the ‘favourites’ tag away from Barcelona and they might be on their way to winning their first league title under their current coach.
Team News: Real Madrid
Real Madrid have been performing phenomenally under Mourinho this season. They have managed to impress in the last few games and that is one of the basic reasons why there is a lot of pressure on the visiting Catalan side.
Mourinho has managed to make Santiago Bernabeu a fortress, just like all the other home grounds he have been a part of.
For this El Clasico, the only player who will not feature for Madrid is their centre back http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ricardo-Carvalho-c30973. It is going to cause a lot of problem for Mouinho in terms of defending.
The Portuguese coach played http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-c30652 Albiol or Raphael Varane in Carvalaho’s position. It is definitely a drawback for Real Madrid who are already relying on Sergio Ramos to play in the centre back role.
Ramos’ position will be taken by Alvaro Arbeloa while http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcelo-c23554 will feature in the left back position.
Mourinho has already revealed that he will play a 4-3-3 formation against Barcelona. The probable line-up for Real Madrid is as follows:
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Karim-Benzema-c20350.
Team News: Barcelona
Barcelona are currently struggling in the league but there is no doubt that they have managed to pick back the form which was required. They were able to beat Levante 5-0 at the Nou Camp. Moreover, most of the players were rested by Josep Guardiola as Barcelona played their last group fixture in the UEFA Champions League.
Josep Guardiola has all the main players available to him. However, Carles Puyol might not feature in the derby game against Madrid as the Catalan captain picked up a concussion during midweek.
Guardiola believes that Puyol ‘might’ be fit to play the game. In case he is not, it is definitely bad news for the Spanish Champions.
The probable line-up for Barcelona is as follows:
Victor Valdes; http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexis-Sánchez-c4979.
Prediction:
This is going to be the toughest test for both the teams in La Liga. It might be a do or die situation for Josep Guardiola as a six point gap and a match to play in favour of Madrid is definitely something hard to catch up on.
Since Barcelona will be playing at the top of their game, Real Madrid might also look for a draw as it will also be in their favour.
Therefore, the expected score line of this game goes in favour of Barcelona. The Catalan Giants might steal a win while playing under pressure as they are best at it. Barcelona are expected to win 0-2 away from home.
The player to watch out for is Andres Iniesta. The Spaniard is playing phenomenally this season and he is expected to change the cause of the game – especially with Alvaro Arbeloa on his side of the pitch.
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