El Clásico Preview: When Spain Goes Silent

By Dylan Lebecki

In what appears to be the most anticipated football match of the season for Spanish football, FC Barcelona will travel to the Santiago Bernabeu to face ‘los rivales eternos’ – the eternal rivals – Real Madrid. Both teams are engaged in a two horse race at the top of La Liga with 77 points each and, although not decisive, this game could prove to break the deadlock and more importantly crown one of the two champions of Spain.

Having both lost 13 points this season it seems unlikely that points will be dropped in any of the 7 remaining games after ‘El Clasico’. And therefore as Guardiola himself put it so directly, both teams will “have to play as if it was a final”.

Real Madrid’s view:

Having crashed out of the Champions League and the Spanish Cup, Pellegrini will see the Spanish league as Real Madrid’s only hope to rescue an already disappointing season. After spending over $300 million on players alone last summer, the expectations to perform are high from all angles of the Real camp.  Furthermore, after living in the shadow of Barcelona’s exploits last season Real Madrid will be more than eager to maintain their 100% home record and defeat the team that many have gone as far as to say “the best team in history of football”. A win is Real Madrid’s only hope of retaining some of the light that Barcelona has been shining under for the last year and a half.

Overall confidence is high in Madrid with both Guti and Alonso publically saying that a victory is attainable and they will be disappointed with anything but it. It is a shame that Kaka will not play.

Barcelona’s view:

Although, Barcelona players were forbidden from talking to the press before the game, there is no doubt that Barcelona will be eager to continue to blow away the world with its majestic ballet-like football. And what a place to once again reaffirm the world that it is the best team in the game: The Santiago Bernabeu.

With many people saying that Barcelona this year is not as good as the treble-winning team from last year, Barcelona have responded to the critics by improving its game from the first half of the season, and progressing to the Champions League semifinals after bulldozing Arsenal aside. Domestically however, it’s results, although impressive is not enough, and in order to reclaim La Liga they cannot afford to drop any points, especially against Real Madrid.

The Messi Factor

The best player in the world has been in the form of his life and is only 3 days away from El Clasico managed to score four goals in the Champions League, against Arsenal no less. He already has 39 goals to his name this season in all competitions; one more than last season. If Pellegirini is to have any chance of getting a result on Saturday he must make sure he contains Lionel Messi- a task much easier said than done.

Messi does provide Barcelona with an extra dimension, and as Wenger’s men witnessed last week, when he is on form he can do anything. Messi, however, is not Barcelona’s only world-class player and therefore Pellegrini must make sure Barcelona do not retain possession for extended periods of time and must have a quick counter attack ready to exploit the wide spaces left behind by Barça’s attacking football when it does have the ball.

Mas que un partido / Més que un partit

Most football derbies have a different atmosphere than say a normal league game however ‘El Clasico’ means much more to Spain than just a game. Most Catalans consider themselves independent from Spain and are in favour of becoming a separate nation. When Barcelona defeats Madrid, this gives the people something to celebrate about and they go out into the streets waving their flags of Catalunya. In their minds it signifies that they are better than Spain and gives another reason to become independent much to the dislike of the rest of Spain. This is why ‘El Clasico’ means so much more to the fans of both teams, and why when Real Madrid battle Barcelona, it truly is more than just a game.

Prediction

Real Madrid 1 - 3 Barcelona, if Barcelona play their game and the players are on form, they’re unstoppable. Get ready for the match!

What is your view on the big match?