El Clásico Preview: Barcelona - Real Madrid

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Argentine's Messi and Higuain will face off in Il Clasico as Barcelona host Real Madrid.

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It’s the big one in Spain. El Clásico. Barcelona versus Real Madrid. It’s the blockbuster showdown that needs no further introduction.

A Gloomy Day In May

May 7, 2008. That’s a date that many Real Madrid fans will cherish and remember for a long time. It’s also a date that most Barcelona die-hards will have seared into their memory, albeit for a very different reason.

It was on that day that Real Madrid convincingly crushed their eternal enemies 4-1 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, just 72 hours after they had clinched their 31^st Primera División title. That triumph, of course, forced Barcelona to perform the traditional guard of honour, or pasillo (corridor) to usher their champions out onto the pitch. It was the most despicable of insults imaginable for the Catalan mammoths, so much so that the final scoreline almost became a secondary talking point.

Seven months and one week later, they meet again. But how quickly things have changed. The two teams have literally swapped places and fortunes. Los Merengues are swamped with all kinds of crisis, from their injury nightmare to the sudden coaching switch to their struggles to keep pace with their fierce rivals.

The Blaugrana, on the other hand, are flying high and sauntering away at the top of the standings. Playing some of the most celestial football on the continent, if not the planet, they look invincible, untouchable and irresistible. Barely halfway into the season, they already look red-hot favourites not only to bag the league title, but to do it by smashing every available record in sight. Is there anyone, or anything, out there that can stop them?

Their only three blips in the entirety of the last three months were the 1-1 draws against Basel and Getafe, and last Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk. All three matches were played with a slightly weakened team but more curiously, all three were at the Camp Nou. That may seem like a good omen for Madrid but in truth, it’s actually a bad sign.

Every time Barça stumble, they bounce back and rip their opponents to shreds in the next game. They annihilated Real Valladolid 6-0 after the draw against Basel and they scorched Sporting Clube de Portugal 5-2 following the stalemate with Getafe.

Valladolid and Sporting CP, with all due respect, may not be the most formidable of obstacles but Guardiola’s men are just as ruthless against their equals. Of the three direct title rivals they have met so far in La Liga, they have swept past Atlético Madrid 6-1, Sevilla 3-0 and Valencia 4-0. Real Madrid and Villarreal now remain the only two victims, or trophies, in the top six yet to be mounted on the walls of the Camp Nou.

Mayday In Madrid

Depending on how Saturday’s match and how the season turns out for Barcelona, they could very well thank Madrid for that famous/infamous 4-1 mauling seven months ago. It brought the curtains down on the Frank Rijkaard-Deco-Ronaldinho dynasty and it heralded the arrival of the Pep Guardiola-Lionel Messi era.

Likewise for Madrid, depending on how they fare at the Camp Nou this weekend and how their campaign eventually swings around, they could also end up thanking their bitter adversaries.

The Catalans’ majestic form over the past few months no doubt led Bernd Schuster to ill-fatedly remark that his struggling men in white do not stand a chance of winning at the Camp Nou. That statement, in turn, led the club – or played some part at least – to relieve the German of his duties as coach last Tuesday, making him the seventh trainer to be discharged by the ‘White House’ in the last five and a half years.

But Schuster’s sacking was a necessary move. Los Blancos needed a breath of fresh air and a new perspective on their football after spending the last month and a half painfully labouring away just to get a result sufficient enough to postpone a full-blown crisis.

Schuster’s inability to improve and expand on last season’s title-winning strategy, tactics and game plan meant that the team had to utilise almost the exact same approach this term, one that their opponents had long figured out how to neutralise. Starved of new ideas, Madrid eventually turned to the only thing they had left to get them out of trouble: true grit and determination. But even Harry Houdini could only keep escaping for so long.

Enter Juande Ramos. The 54-year-old was SOS’ed to come haul the team out of their doldrums. The Bernabéu hierarchy, in particular sporting director Predrag Mijatovic, will be hoping that the more adventurous and attacking-minded ex-Sevilla coach will bring a fresh ideology to their game and a rejuvenated, positive mindset to take on the beast that is Barcelona.  

And he could not have asked for a more daunting task to kick-start his Madrid coaching career in La Liga. Teams often take weeks of mental, physical and tactical preparation to face a juggernaut like Barça, only to be steamrolled merciless. Juande, on the other hand, would have had no more than 72 hours to prepare his wounded soldiers. It raises the phrase ‘baptism of fire’ to a whole new level.

FORM GUIDE

Barcelona

Dec 09 Barcelona 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

Dec 06 Barcelona 4-0 Valencia (LA LIGA)

Nov 29 Sevilla 0-3 Barcelona (LA LIGA)

Nov 26 Sporting CP 2-5 Barcelona (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

Nov 23 Barcelona 1-1 Getafe (LA LIGA)

Real Madrid

Dec 10 Real Madrid 3-0 Zenit St. Petersburg (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

Dec 07 Real Madrid 3-4 Sevilla (LA LIGA)

Nov 29 Getafe 3-1 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)

Nov 25 BATE Borisov 0-1 Real Madrid (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

Nov 22 Real Madrid 1-0 Recreativo Huelva (LA LIGA)

TEAM NEWS

Barcelona

The only scare for coach, Guardiola was the absence of attacking midfielder Alexander Hleb from training earlier in the week due to a fever. But the Belarussian returned to normal work-out with the squad on Thursday and he will be available for selection.

Andrés Iniesta has resumed training with the rest of the group following a long lay-off due to a muscle tear in his right thigh, but he is still at least two weeks away from making a match return.

Samuel Eto’o has also rejoined his teammates after he ended Thursday’s training session early to attend to non-footballing commitments, while defender Gabriel Milito remains sidelined with a long-term injury. 

Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Valdés – Dani Alves, Márquez, Puyol (c), Abidal – Xavi, Touré Yaya, Hleb/Gudjohnsen – Messi, Eto’o, Henry

Real Madrid

Arjen Robben and Marcelo will both be suspended, leaving a huge gap to fill down the left flank. Either Sergio Ramos or Míchel Salgado will be tasked to occupy the leftback role while Royston Drenthe, who has shaken off a minor knock he picked up in midweek training, will deputise in attack.

Wesley Sneijder looks likely to miss out despite his best efforts to shrug off a muscle ailment while Gabriel Heinze, who was optimistic of making a comeback of his own following thigh injury, also looks doubtful.

Pepe, Miguel Torres, Mahamadou Diarra, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ruben de la Red complete the absentee list.

Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Casillas – Salgado, Metzelder, Cannavaro, Sergio Ramos – Van der Vaart, Gago, Guti – Higuaín, Raúl (c), Drenthe

PLAYERS TO WATCH

This is a night when the stars come out to play. From back to front, bench to bench, the glittering array of names is endless and in a game like El Clásico, every player will be out to impress and attempt to elevate themselves from a hero status to a legendary figure.

Lionel Messi and Xavi will be the chief tormentors for Barcelona. One is akin a rampaging pitbull, the other like a silent assassin. On their day, they are individually impossible to stop. Put them together and you have a twin-terror that will destroy everything in their path.  

Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o are the other danger-men in attack. They are two players who have given Madrid endless grief throughout their careers down the years and they will be expected to do no less on Saturday. All four are potential match-winners for the Blaugrana and all of them want a slice of revenge for the night of May 7.

For the Merengues, their key players are spread evenly across the pitch. Iker Casillas and his goal will most likely be pelted endlessly throughout the night and anything short of a saint-like performance, things will get ugly. Fernando Gago has been impressive in his last few games and as he has done so frequently in the past, he will have to pull double, maybe even triple duty to help out his teammates.

El Capitán Raúl, as usual, will lead by example and he will be hoping to add to his tally of goals against his familiar foe. Gonzalo Higuaín, so often the hero for the team, will attempt to steal the show and the limelight away from his compatriot, Messi.   

PREDICTION

Click here to read the Goal.com Spanish team’s full predictions for El Clásico.

KS Leong, Goal.com