The Clasico has arrived. Real Madrid and Barcelona will come face to face at the Bernabeu tonight at 22:00 CET in the most highly anticipated match of the season.
The best game in the world
Real Madrid have won all of their 15 games at the Bernabeu this year in La Liga, fact that was stressed by several players throughout the week. “Real Madrid are always favourites at the stadium,” said Guti. The Whites have won 12 straight games and trust the incredible scoring skills of Cristiano Ronaldo (18 goals) and Higuain (24) will help them win the most important match in the world.
Everyone knows the fixture won’t be decisive because seven games will still remain in the championship once it’s over, but winning the Clasico certainly would mean taking a great step towards winning the title. The leadership will be at stake tonight and Real Madrid know that they’ve never failed at home thanks to the support of their fans.
REAL MADRID SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek
Defenders: Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos, Garay, Marcelo, Metzelder
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Gago, Lass, Diarra, Guti, Van der Vaart, Granero
Forwards: Benzema, Higuain, Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo
BARCELONA SQUAD LIST
Goalkeepers: Valdes, Pinto
Defenders: Pique, Puyol, Alves, Milito, Maxwell, Chigrinsky
Midfielders: Toure, Keita, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Jeffren
Forwards: Pedro, Messi, Henry, Bojan
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April 10, 2010 | Categories: Match Preview, Spanish Primera División | Tags: El Clásico, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, FC Barcelona | Leave A Comment »
We Madridistas would’ve rarely come across the word ‘The Underdogs’ in our prolific history. Irrespective of the opposition Real Madrid have never been the underdogs in any clash and in any competition. We’re always the favorites to win anything that is at stake. But today that isn’t the case. We’re the underdogs as we get ready to play the mother of all games – Él Clásico.
Realmadrid.com’s Juan Tapiador was not kidding when he called Barcelona a team with great quality and creativity. He wasn’t lying when he said that their excellent ball control, elaborate efforts, capacity to keep possession and effectiveness on goal makes Pep Guardiola’s boys a ‘Dream Team’ – a term that isn’t as common as ‘The next Maradona’. They do have the likes of Lionel ‘Jesus‘ Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in their ranks apart from Henry, Keita, Puyol and Pique. Goalkeeper Victor Valdes is currently the least defeated goalie in La Liga. They are like amoeba changing formations whenever they want to depending upon the situation. Guardiola has done well to groom youngsters who can fit into the first team’s style with ease. The likes of Bojan, Pedro and Jeffren have been the pick of the lot. And this Barcelona have snatched 34 points away from the Camp Nou this season, drawing just four and losing one on the other side of Madrid at the Calderon. They have as many points as we have but are in second place only because we’ve scored more goals than them. A win tonight would see them leapfrog us not only on points but also on the head-to-head that matters so much when the points are tied at the end of the season.
Barcelona come to our fortress missing only Abidal and Ibrahimovic through injuries. The rest of them are fit and are just coming out of a quarter-final victory against Arsenal in the Champions League. Bojan is considered to be the replacement for the Swede in their starting line up though they might even use Pedro.
BARCELONA SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Valdes, Pinto
Defenders: Pique, Puyol, Alves, Milito, Marquez, Maxwell, Chygrynskiy
Midfielders: Toure, Keita, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Jeffren, Pedro
Forwards: Messi, Henry, Bojan
The only thing that separates Real Madrid and Barcelona in the league this season is the one goal the latter scored at Camp Nou in the first leg. This will be the 80th Clasico since the first was played in 1980. Real Madrid defeated their eternal foe in 50 of their 79 clashes in the Spanish capital, drawing 14 games. The Whites have so far netted 169 strikes against Barça in Madrid, conceding just 87.
But all that will not matter tonight as Real face the strongest Barcelona side in the history of the Catalan club. Real too have stars of their own but they will go into the game as underdogs considering the fact that they’re relatively new and just gelling into a team. Also, Barcelona currently sport the best player in the World in Lionel Messi and stopping him is supposedly impossible as the press around the World puts it. Arbeloa concurs. Speaking to AS he said:
If there was a way to stop Messi he would not have scored 40 goals this year. He is growing a lot this season. Now he is much more mobile. Before he stayed close to the wing and he is now moving very freely in the middle. There is hardly a way to man-mark him because he is in constant motion.
And that is a fact. He has more goals in this season than anyone else and it did seem impossible at least for the likes of Valencia, Arsenal and Zaragoza to stop him as they all saw the Argentine net a hat-trick past them. We too have conceded a hat-trick to him in the past but that was a different Real Madrid to what we have now. Now we do have in our ranks one the best players of this current generation in Cristiano Ronaldo and he too says the same:
We are demonstrating that we have a very strong attack, but it would be wrong to say that the attack is the most important part because we have a complete team. We are in good shape, confident, both in front of goal and in defence, midfield and forward. The team is getting better, we understand each other better. The team changed much from last year to this one, with new players and so we have to change some things.
This team is totally different to the one that started the game in the 2-6 defeat last season. We only had a few good men from this team in that side. We are much stronger in all aspects now than we were last season. But still we enter the game as underdogs as it is a Barcelona side that has been developed over a few years now unlike Real which is somewhat in a transition state. We too have our own injury worries with Kaká, Drenthe and Pepe down with injuries. The Brazilian hasn’t played for more than a month now.
Nineteen players have been tabbed for Clasico duty, two of whom were not included on last week’s squad list for Racing Santander. Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos, who served one-match suspensions, make their returns in place of Marcos Alonso and Mateos.
REAL MADRID SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek
Defenders: Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos, Garay, Marcelo, Metzelder
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Gago, Lass, Diarra, Guti, Van der Vaart, Granero
Forwards: Benzema, Higuain, Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo
The starting line up would see Xabi come in place of Momo Diarra, Garay in place of Metzelder and Sergio Ramos in place of Marcelo. Arbeloa will play as our left back. Gago will continue his fine run in the team as will Van der Vaart. Guti, who mostly is playing his last game against Barcelona for Real Madrid, will be used as a sub as he was in the previous games. We need to keep it tight and hold on to the ball as long as possible. Giving them possession will see them suck our blood like a leech slowly and steadily. Messi needs to be guarded but as important as him is Xavi who will create the chances for them. There isn’t much that I can add that hasn’t been said already. I really do think we’re the underdogs here and we need to prove a point. The stage is set for us to show the World that we are Real Madrid and there is a reason why we’re the best club in the World.
Probable Starting XI: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Garay, Arbeloa, Gago, Xabi Alonso, Granero, Van der Vaart, Higuaín, Ronaldo;
Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona
Para Siempre Blanco!
Hala Madrid!!
13.007491
80.252158
April 10, 2010 | Categories: Comments, Pre-preview | Tags: Álvaro Arbeloa, Cristiano Ronaldo, El Clásico | Leave A Comment »
Just another Madridista
We’re the underdogs – El Clasico pre-preview
We Madridistas would’ve rarely come across the word ‘The Underdogs’ in our prolific history. Irrespective of the opposition Real Madrid have never been the underdogs in any clash and in any competition. We’re always the favorites to win anything that is at stake. But today that isn’t the case. We’re the underdogs as we get ready to play the mother of all games – Él Clásico.
Realmadrid.com’s Juan Tapiador was not kidding when he called Barcelona a team with great quality and creativity. He wasn’t lying when he said that their excellent ball control, elaborate efforts, capacity to keep possession and effectiveness on goal makes Pep Guardiola’s boys a ‘Dream Team’ – a term that isn’t as common as ‘The next Maradona’. They do have the likes of Lionel ‘Jesus‘ Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in their ranks apart from Henry, Keita, Puyol and Pique. Goalkeeper Victor Valdes is currently the least defeated goalie in La Liga. They are like amoeba changing formations whenever they want to depending upon the situation. Guardiola has done well to groom youngsters who can fit into the first team’s style with ease. The likes of Bojan, Pedro and Jeffren have been the pick of the lot. And this Barcelona have snatched 34 points away from the Camp Nou this season, drawing just four and losing one on the other side of Madrid at the Calderon. They have as many points as we have but are in second place only because we’ve scored more goals than them. A win tonight would see them leapfrog us not only on points but also on the head-to-head that matters so much when the points are tied at the end of the season.
Barcelona come to our fortress missing only Abidal and Ibrahimovic through injuries. The rest of them are fit and are just coming out of a quarter-final victory against Arsenal in the Champions League. Bojan is considered to be the replacement for the Swede in their starting line up though they might even use Pedro.
BARCELONA SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Valdes, Pinto
Defenders: Pique, Puyol, Alves, Milito, Marquez, Maxwell, Chygrynskiy
Midfielders: Toure, Keita, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Jeffren, Pedro
Forwards: Messi, Henry, Bojan
The only thing that separates Real Madrid and Barcelona in the league this season is the one goal the latter scored at Camp Nou in the first leg. This will be the 80th Clasico since the first was played in 1980. Real Madrid defeated their eternal foe in 50 of their 79 clashes in the Spanish capital, drawing 14 games. The Whites have so far netted 169 strikes against Barça in Madrid, conceding just 87.
But all that will not matter tonight as Real face the strongest Barcelona side in the history of the Catalan club. Real too have stars of their own but they will go into the game as underdogs considering the fact that they’re relatively new and just gelling into a team. Also, Barcelona currently sport the best player in the World in Lionel Messi and stopping him is supposedly impossible as the press around the World puts it. Arbeloa concurs. Speaking to AS he said:
And that is a fact. He has more goals in this season than anyone else and it did seem impossible at least for the likes of Valencia, Arsenal and Zaragoza to stop him as they all saw the Argentine net a hat-trick past them. We too have conceded a hat-trick to him in the past but that was a different Real Madrid to what we have now. Now we do have in our ranks one the best players of this current generation in Cristiano Ronaldo and he too says the same:
This team is totally different to the one that started the game in the 2-6 defeat last season. We only had a few good men from this team in that side. We are much stronger in all aspects now than we were last season. But still we enter the game as underdogs as it is a Barcelona side that has been developed over a few years now unlike Real which is somewhat in a transition state. We too have our own injury worries with Kaká, Drenthe and Pepe down with injuries. The Brazilian hasn’t played for more than a month now.
Nineteen players have been tabbed for Clasico duty, two of whom were not included on last week’s squad list for Racing Santander. Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos, who served one-match suspensions, make their returns in place of Marcos Alonso and Mateos.
REAL MADRID SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek
Defenders: Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos, Garay, Marcelo, Metzelder
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Gago, Lass, Diarra, Guti, Van der Vaart, Granero
Forwards: Benzema, Higuain, Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo
The starting line up would see Xabi come in place of Momo Diarra, Garay in place of Metzelder and Sergio Ramos in place of Marcelo. Arbeloa will play as our left back. Gago will continue his fine run in the team as will Van der Vaart. Guti, who mostly is playing his last game against Barcelona for Real Madrid, will be used as a sub as he was in the previous games. We need to keep it tight and hold on to the ball as long as possible. Giving them possession will see them suck our blood like a leech slowly and steadily. Messi needs to be guarded but as important as him is Xavi who will create the chances for them. There isn’t much that I can add that hasn’t been said already. I really do think we’re the underdogs here and we need to prove a point. The stage is set for us to show the World that we are Real Madrid and there is a reason why we’re the best club in the World.
Probable Starting XI: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Garay, Arbeloa, Gago, Xabi Alonso, Granero, Van der Vaart, Higuaín, Ronaldo;
Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona
Para Siempre Blanco!
Hala Madrid!!
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April 10, 2010 | Categories: Comments, Pre-preview | Tags: Álvaro Arbeloa, Cristiano Ronaldo, El Clásico | Leave A Comment »