The World Stops For El Classico

El Clasico - The game which packs all the facets of modern day football, be it the tiki-taka procession of Barcelona, the fleet-footed counter-attacks of Real Madrid, the mazy runs of La Pulga, the trickery of CR7, Pepe's classic brain fades and Busquets’ equally classic theatre and last but definitely not the least (definitely not :D) the eye-poking and grass-sliding (depending on the result) of one Mr. Jose Mourinho, all jam-packed into an enthralling 90 minutes.

Madrid faces Barca at Camp Nou on Sunday

Barcelona has started the league with a perfect record while Real Madrid….ummm….not so much. But if you looked at Barcelona’s recent matches, they had gone behind to Osasuna, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla before coming back to win and just scrapped through against Granada at home. All matches had one thing in common – the opposition had a clear game plan to contain Barcelona and they almost succeeded. This is something that happened last season too, ultimately resulting in Barcelona losing the league title.

Real Madrid on the other hand, started the season with something of a mini-crisis. 8 points dropped in the league before it barely started, dressing room drama between Mourinho and his charges, and the icing on the cake – Ronaldo’s sad face in the newsflash, you name it, it was all happening at the Bernabeu.

But none of that matters now. ‘The world stops for El Clasico’, said Mourinho in the build up to the match. I couldn’t agree more.

Whatever the pre-match form, El Clasico brings the best out of the two giants of La Liga. A perfect example would be the Real Madrid victory in the 2nd leg of the Super Cup. On the back of a draw and two losses in the opening 3 fixtures of the season, Madrid tore Barca apart in the 1st half of that match to eventually grab the Super Cup. No complacency and a lot of intensity.

Therefore, if we can be sure of one thing, it is this – for a Clasico, the slate is wiped clean and we start afresh.

Things look good for Barcelona in the attacking department. El Guaje (David Villa) is back and is back among the goals.

El Guaje back in action

Villa provides something others (except Messi) simply cannot, a potent goal threat. Villa generally starts on the left wing. When he has the ball he does 3 things. One, he runs to the by-line and provides crosses (somewhat rare), which is what most wingers do. Two, he cuts inside and shoots, usually to devastating affect. Three, he links up with Messi to play some delightful one-two’s, which usually end with Messi doing what he does best.

These are things Barcelona sorely missed in the previous season.

That last match at Sevilla is the perfect demonstration of this fact. David Villa came and David Villa scored. He linked up with Messi and unleashed a clinical finish, something you generally expect only from Messi in the rest of the team.

So Villa’s return couldn’t have come at a better time. I would love to see him start the Clasico (perhaps that is why he was rested at Benfica).

Iniesta’s return from injury also boosts the attack very much. We all know what the magician is capable of.

Also Fabregas finally seems to have gotten permission to score instead of asking his teammates whether or not he can shoot every time he gets the ball in the box. I used to scream ‘Shoot already, you idiot!!’ and when he finally did, it was usually not a pretty sight. So, Cesc back among the goals is another positive for Barca ahead of the big tie.

Attack aside; Barca's defence should be their major cause of worry ahead of the Clasico. If I was to point out one indecision in Pep and Tito's tactics, it is their insistence to use midfielders as defenders. They didn't buy a defender in the summer - big mistake!! Now, they have a back line of Alves, Song, Mascherano, and Alba – all of them used to being in the opposition half for most of the match. Real Madrid will be licking their lips.

There was a glimmer of hope when Puyol started against Benfica, but alas, it was not meant to be. A decision on Pique will be taken on Saturday. So no respite till then.

CR7 all smiles again

Real Madrid is coming and they will press like hounds-out-for-blood in the first half-hour and Barcelona can win only if they survive this initial period.

On the other end, the Real Madrid camp finally looks to have come out of their mini-crisis, not least because Ronaldo is flashing smiles to the world. With Mourinho finally acknowledging the existence of his team and Ronaldo scoring two consecutive hat-tricks, they couldn’t have arrived at the Camp Nou on a better note given their start to the season.

Real’s defence looks much more solid and secure than Barca’s, with Ramos most likely to start barring a physical assault on Mourinho. Pepe, as usual, will be looking to ‘stamp’ his authority on the game. Pun intended! The big question will be who will start – Mesut Ozil or Luka Modric or the latest nominee, Kaka? I personally think Ozil is much more suited to the speedy counter-attacks whereas Modric shines more when he takes control of the game and dictates the play from the centre (which is unlikely against Barca). I think Kaka is out of the question as Ozil and Modric were rested at Amsterdam specifically for the Clasico.

Another sure-shot name on the team sheet would be Angel Di Maria who will look to terrorise Barca’s defence and he could just as well wear war paint to maximise the effect. Normally, Benzema and Higuain present another selection dilemma, but I think Higuain’s misses and Benzema’s sharpness (did you see that bicycle kick?!!) has helped solve that turmoil. But hey, you never know! Mourinho might start Essien at right-back!! :P

Overall, Barca’s make-shift defence tips the scales considerably in favour of Real Madrid. But, football isn’t football if everything goes according to plan, more so in the case of a Clasico.

I just hope whoever wins thoroughly deserves it!! J