Analysis: Real Madrid - Barcelona

This match is every year being awaited by the whole football world. The word “Superclasico” means more than a match – it is a spectacle in which high-end actors perform. We invite you to the analysis of the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Position in the table and team condition:
In the season of 2011/12 the situation in the Primera Divbision has been very interesting. Of course attention of the whole football Europe is attracted to the match of “The Royals” and “The Catalonia’s Pride”, other teams basically cannot even compete with these giants. Real Madrid is the leader (37 points) and Barcelona (34 points) has only 3 points less. It should be remembered that “The Royals” have one more match in stock and a potential win at home against the everlasting opponent would put them in a very comfortable situation.

Potential and team situation:
Mourinho’s players have been showing astonishing performance since the season’s very beginning. Real can boast a balance of 12 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in La Liga. Also the footballers from the capital play good in the Champions League where they have occupied the first place in their group without any problems. The former coach of the blue-garnet reds Cesar Menotti in an interview for one of the Spanish newspapers claims: “Real Madrid’s footballers will play under pressure since they well remember the last year matches against Barcelona”. In the meantime confidence is felt in the Royal club. The paradox consists in that a year ago football experts specified Real as the main favorite and Barcelona won being a better team. A similar situation was observed also at the beginning of the 2011/12 season in two matches of the Spanish Supercup when bookmakers bet for “The Royals’” win. But as it turned out later even the weakened by the absence of the key players Barcelona was able to defeat the strong opponent. In Superclasico only Ricardo Carvalho won’t play in Real.
“For me the mid-field is always the key to the game. The more mid-field players we have the better” – these words after Cesc Fàbregas’ purchase let us expect that the guests will play with a strong lineup 3-5-2. Such a tactic Guardiola used this season in matches against Valencia and Milan at San Siro and maybe he will again repeat it at Santiago Bernabeu. An advantage in this part of the field guarantees the desired by Barcelona control of the ball. Xavier Hernández and Andres Iniesta have to take care of this. If these fantastic players will correspondingly have much space then the footballers from Madrid may have troubles. The only uncertainty in the Catalan lineup remains the question who will be playing in the attack with Leo Messi. There are several candidates but we expect that David Villa will be the one. The injured players in the guests’ lineup are Adriano and Afellay whom we will not see at Bernabeu.

History of meetings:
At the Santiago Bernabeu Barcelona had never had easy and pleasant matches until the moment when the team was coached by Frank Rijkaard and then his successor Pep Guardiola. In the first decade of the XXI century the guests have won in Madrid already 4 times. The total balance of meetings at this stadium is on Jose Mourinho’s players’ side. Real Madrid has won 50 times, 15 matches ended up in a draw and only 16 matches were won by Barcelona. Goals ratio is clearly in favor of the hosts 170:90.

Tips and grounds:
“Superclasico” has its own rules. We are not these teams’ fans but consider that Barcelona will win. The guests played perfectly at Santiago Bernabeu in previous seasons. In contrast to Real Madrid (Ch. Ronaldo) Barcelona doesn’t depend on the disposition of one player, and the Portuguese is seldom lucky in such important matches. Although expectations for this match are extremely high we bet on the Catalans’ win, but we also want to mark that the result can be unpredictable.

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