The El Clásico Preview: Barcelona vs Real Madrid

As the Real Madrid circus of footballing superstars rolls into the the home of the Catalan footballing Gods, the world will watch the clash between these two Spanish giants with bated breath. El Clásico is more than a football game, but its result also has widespread repercussions on whatever tournament the match is played in. In a previous article, I looked back in time for 10 of the most iconic El Clásicos. This article is a preview of the upcoming game.

FC Barcelona Preview

Form Guide (Earliest First)

In all matches – W W W W W W, In home games – W W W W W W

In El Clásico – W W D L W L, In El Clásico at Camp Nou – W D W D L W

Barcelona: Probable Starting 11

Barcelona are sitting pretty at the top of the table in La Liga, with 6 wins out of 6. However, they have not been as fluid of late, eking out last-minute victories against Spartak Moscow, Granada, and Sevilla, as Messi, Xavi and Villa rode to Barcelona’s rescue in the respective matches. The La Blaugrana are coming off a comfortable 2-0 away victory over Benfica in the Champions League in midweek. However, they were rocked by the news of their captain, Carlos Puyol, going out injured for two months with a dislocated elbow. This leaves the Barca coach, Tito Vilanova with a headache in defense, as Gerard Pique hasn’t regained match fitness since the left foot sprain he suffered mid-September during the Spartak game. It seems like Vilanova will turn to new signing Alex Song to partner their previous midfielder-turned-centreback Javier Mascherano in defence.

Going forward, Barcelona don’t really have any issues with personnel, with Iniesta, Busquets, Xavi, Messi, Fabregas, and Villa all fit. Villa’s return from his long-term injury has been most welcome, and it was his injury time winner against Sevilla that kept up Barcelona’s winning start to the season. However, Vilanova is likely to persist with Messi, Sanchez and Pedro up front, with Villa coming off the bench as an impact substitute. Another option might be to play Fabregas instead of Sanchez or Pedro, but either way, the attack looks strong as usual.

Key Player: Lionel Messi. As far as the key player for Barcelona is concerned, it is difficult to look beyond the little Argentine wizard. Messi has already scored 10 goals and created 5 assists in 10 games this season, and he will be Barcelona’s biggest threat. Xavi was strangely off form the last time these two sides met at the Bernabéu in the Super Cup, so he will be looking to make amends for that in this game.

Real Madrid Preview

Form Guide (Earliest First)

In all matches – W L W W W W, In away games – W W L L L W

In El Clásico - L L D W L W, In El Clásico at Camp Nou - L D L D W L

Real Madrid: Probable Starting 11

Real Madrid have endured a difficult start to the season, with sloppy losses, rumours of player unrest, and the saga of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s unhappiness dominating the headlines. Due to an iffy start to their league campaign, they already find themselves eight points behind Barcelona – a difference that would become eleven, if they lose the Clásico. However, the Los Blancos seem to have rediscovered some of their mojo recently as they beat Deportivo 5-1 in the League over the weekend. They followed it up in midweek with a 4-1 away victory against Ajax in the Champions League. More importantly, Ronaldo seems happy again as he notched up his two consecutive hat-tricks in these two games.

Unlike Barcelona, Real Madrid do not really have any injury problems. Expect Mourinho to play the same team that beat Barcelona in the 2nd leg of the Spanish Super Cup in August. Gonzalo Higuain will probably return to the starting 11 in place of Karim Benzema, despite the latter’s superb performance against Ajax. Once again, Real’s strategy would involve moving the ball to their forwards quickly – a strategy which Mascherano found too troubling in the last Clásico. One can also expect Modric and Benzema to come off the bench as impact substitutes.

Key Player: Cristiano Ronaldo. The ex-Manchester United player has a staggering 158 goals in 154 appearances for Real Madrid, including 6 goals in the last two games he has played. He has had a superb record in Clásicos as well, scoring in each of his last 5 games against Barcelona. Stopping Ronaldo from being effective in attack would be critical to the success of the Barcelona defense, especially that of their probable centre-back pairing.

Key Matchups

Cristiano Ronaldo v/s Dani Alves

If there is one criticism of Ronaldo’s game, it lies in his unwillingness to track back and help out his defense. If he exhibits a similar tendency in the upcoming match, the left-back Marcelo could find himself isolated against the marauding runs of Dani Alves. On the flip side, if Ronaldo is in the mood, it will be very difficult for Alves to make those forward runs, and this would cut off an important avenue for Barca’s attack.

Lionel Messi v/s Pepe/Ramos/Khedira/Alonso

What Real Madrid did very well in the Super Cup games was to crowd out Messi both from front and behind. Madrid will probably attempt a similar strategy at the Nou Camp, with one of Pepe and Ramos, as well as Khedira and Alonso, converging on Messi as soon as he gets the ball. If they successfully press Messi, it could nullify Barca’s most potent threat. However, if the pressing fails, then Messi could bring the other forwards- who don’t have men marking them- into play to devastating effect.