Spanish La Liga
2010-11-29 - Barcelona vs Real Madrid
A Sports Betting Pick by FootyGaffa
Football : Spain : La Liga
Camp Nou, 29th November 2010, KO - 8pm (UK)
Since 1929 there have been 160 league "El Clasico" meetings between Spain's two giants, with Real Madrid slightly edging it with 68 wins compared to Barcelona's 62 wins and 30 of the matches ending in a draw. The two will lock horns in the Nou Camp on Monday night in front of 98,000 fans. Football heaven....
BARCELONA
Barcelona have enjoyed the bragging rights over their greatest rivals for the last couple of seasons winning this fixture home and away 2 years running and their fans will be expecting more of the same as they have now gone 17 games unbeaten since their shock home defeat to Hercules back in September.
For all the critics and concern directed at Barcelona this season they are just one point behind Madrid, scoring the same amount of goals and only conceeding 2 more. In the last couple of months Barca have be in tip top form sweeping teams aside with easy and scoring for fun, bagging a record breaking 8-0 scoreline against an admittedly poor Almeria last week.
It seems there are no fresh injury concerns for either team so Guardiola can field his strongest team in the formation that he now seems very comfortable with. So 4-3-3, Busquets to get the nod over
Mascherano protecting the back four with Xavi and Iniesta playing tika-taka in midfield and the front three of Messi, Villa and Pedro.
We know Barcelona have no problems going forward but the key to this fixture will be keeping Real's danger men quiet. Alves will have to be very disciplined in going forward and also keep an eye on Di Maria as there is no doubt the Argentine has great ablity to open teams up.
Also like Messi there is no real stopping Ronaldo but Barcelona must try and limit his possession of the ball as he is on fire at the moment, currently the leagues top scorer with 14 although notably he has never scored against Barcelona.
It will be tempting to have a little flutter on Messi to score at anytime considering he has scored in his last 9 consecutive appearances and has a total of 13 goals for the season. He also likes scoring against Madrid having 7 in 8 games against them.
Possible Barcelona Lineup :
Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi, Villa
Real Madrid
I read an interesting article that highlighted the fact that of the two teams to take points from Barcelona this term (Hercules and Mallorca) both have been managed by ex-barca players who clearly knew how to play against them.
Obviously few opposing managers know Barcelona better than Jose Mourinho who worked there in his apprenticeship as number two for Bobby Robson and also Van Gaal. Since then his mangerial record against Barca at his previous clubs is not too bad either, overcoming them in the Champions League with Chelsea and tactically out smarting them last season in the semi with Inter Milan.
Mourinho is however yet to get a win at the Nou Camp and his record against Barcelona actually reads 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats. He now brings his "new project" to the Nou Camp top of the league and undefeated in all competitions since he took charge with 19 wins, 6 draws and zero defeats.
Jose has stated that the key to beating Barcelona is to stick to his own game plan and not to try and beat them at their own game as you are likely to get passed off the park. I am therefore expecting to see Madrid line up in a 4-2-3-1. He will use Alonso and Khedira in the middle of the park to try and stifle Xavi and Iniesta linking up and dictating.
Real Madrid will look to counter attack quickly using a lot of direct/long balls to try and get Ronaldo and Di Maria into one-on-one situations with a bit of space to beat their markers.
For me, Madrid are most improved in defence from last year with the partnership of Carvalho and Pepe only conceding 6 La liga goals all season. I'm pretty sure they will be unable to keep a clean sheet but if they at least limit Barcelona to a goal or two they at least stand a chance of getting a favourable result.
Possible Real Madrid lineup :
Casillas, Ramos, Carvalho, Pepe, Arbeloa, Khedira, Alonso, Ozil, Di Maria, Ronaldo, Higuain
HEAD TO HEAD
10/04/2010 Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona - La liga
29/11/2009 Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid - La liga
02/05/2009 Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona - La Liga
13/12/2008 Barcelona 2-0 Real Madrid - La Liga
07/05/2008 Real Madrid 4-1 Barcelona - La liga
23/12/2007 Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid - La Liga
PREDICTION
Being a big Barca fan I am, for the first time, a little nervous about the prospect of a high flying allstar Mourinho team coming to the Nou Camp on a mission to break the 4 game winning streak Barcelona have enjoyed. I certainly think that their team this year is far stronger than last years team but have they all gelled together as a team as well as Barcelona play as a team?
I think one thing is for sure, we are guaranteed goals with both teams scoring 33 goals each in the league after 12 games. You could take the over 2.5 goal option but in recent times this fixture has produced under 50% overs so I shall take the both teams to score option as I really can't see Madrid not finding the net and would be very disappointed if Barca don't score. Lets face it these teams are all about attacking and both have that "We'll score one more than you mentality".
If I was to pick a winner I'd hope home advantage was enough to get Barca over the line here.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
Main Bet : Take both teams to score @ 1.61 (on the exchanges)Consider : Anytime goal scorer Messi @ 2.10 or Ronaldo @ 2.25 to break his duck against Barca!
