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Real Madrid Defender Raul Albiol Can’t Wait For El Clasico
Spanish International relishing Barcelona test.
Apr 9, 2010 2:31:00 PM
By Rupert Fryer
Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol has admitted he is chomping at the bit ahead of tomorrow evening’s Clasico against Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
“I can’t wait,” he told Real Madrid TV. “Every player wants the match to start. The hours leading up to the game go by very slowly.”
The former Valencia man went on to dismiss suggestions that home advantage made his side the favourites.
“The favourite shows it on the pitch,” he said.
“Everyone said we would concede a lot of goals in the first encounter, but it was a very level match. It will be similar this time. We play at home and know we need to win the three points no matter who our opponent is. Barcelona, however, are a strong rival. We need to prove that we can win.”
Finally, the 24-year-old Spanish international insisted that stopping Barca star Leo Messi would take a team effort, reminding his team-mates not to give the Argentinian the space to work his magic.
“Stopping him when one-on-one is very hard. You need to have a very distinctive method of slowing him down. Every player needs to help close open spaces.
"He is deadly when he has room to work with because he is so fast with the ball at his feet. It doesn’t matter if he receives the ball 30 metres away from the goal, he still has the energy to shoot perfectly,” he concluded.
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“I can’t wait,” he told Real Madrid TV. “Every player wants the match to start. The hours leading up to the game go by very slowly.”
The former Valencia man went on to dismiss suggestions that home advantage made his side the favourites.
“The favourite shows it on the pitch,” he said.
“Everyone said we would concede a lot of goals in the first encounter, but it was a very level match. It will be similar this time. We play at home and know we need to win the three points no matter who our opponent is. Barcelona, however, are a strong rival. We need to prove that we can win.”
Finally, the 24-year-old Spanish international insisted that stopping Barca star Leo Messi would take a team effort, reminding his team-mates not to give the Argentinian the space to work his magic.
“Stopping him when one-on-one is very hard. You need to have a very distinctive method of slowing him down. Every player needs to help close open spaces.
"He is deadly when he has room to work with because he is so fast with the ball at his feet. It doesn’t matter if he receives the ball 30 metres away from the goal, he still has the energy to shoot perfectly,” he concluded.
Become a fan of Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything related to the beautiful game
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