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Millions of spectators across the globe will watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona come Saturday, December 10, 2011. The greatness of El Clasico would want to be felt everywhere.
El Clasico 2011: Real Madrid vs Barcelona is expected to rock world football's stage again.
There have been no major injury report so far. El Clasico’s top stars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi Hernandez are all fit. Carlos Puyol is even expected to take part in the match after racing against time to be fit enough. The biggest name who may not be given a big role this weekend is David Villa. The striker is seriously struggling to find consistency.
At Real Madrid, the issue is different. The attackers are all in good form. Higuain, Callejon and Benzema have a multitude of goals between them in all competitions this season. Now Jose Mourinho is facing a headache over his starting XI selection.
What is certain is that Real Madrid will play with only one striker upfront as Mourinho confirmed on Thursday.
“There will be Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Angel] Di Maria, and then [either] Benzema or Higuain, ”the Portuguese boss told AS.
So, what kind of approach will Mourinho order Real Madrid to take against Barcelona? Los Blancos are exhibiting attacking football this season and they’ve been ripping the benefits out of this. No team, not even Pep Guardiola’s Barca, has scored as many goals as Real Madrid in La Liga thus far.
However, choosing to play positive football against the Catalans is a decision that involves risk. Only the bravest would dare confront Barcelona with an attacking system in a fixture as huge as El Clasico.
As one can recall, though, Real Madrid tried to play football but emphatically failed to do so as the Blaugrana humiliated them 5-0 in November 2010.
Barcelona like keeping the ball to themselves and through key players like Messi and Iniesta, they very well know how to punish opponents severely. Even the mighty Merengues are aware of Barca’s cunning traps.
Ahead of Saturday night’s splendid encounter, some insist that Jose Mourinho and his men will show that Real Madrid are no more under the dominance of the Catalans. Others, meanwhile, believe that Barcelona will tear down Los Blancos’ fortress yet again.
Interestingly, Real Madrid’s record at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of this weekend’s Clasico is perfect. They’ve netted as many as 28 goals in 6 home matches whereas Barcelona have scored only 8 times away from the Camp Nou in La Liga.
Real Madrid's 23-man squad for El Clasico:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Adan, Jesus
Defenders: Ramos, Pepe, Varane, Albiol, Marcelo, Coentrao, Arbeloa
Midfielders: Ozil, Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Sahin, Di Maria, Callejon, Altintop, Granero, Lass, Khedira
Forwards: Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuain
Ricardo Carvalho is out with a knee injury while Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo are guaranteed to make the first XI.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona Match Report
Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona, and this is how El Clasico ends… Jose Mourinho has once again failed to dominate Pep Guardiola’s men, but the match was far from being dull.
Real Madrid have lost El Clasico 3-1 to FC Barcelona.
Unexpectedly, it did not take too long for the scoreboard’s indication at the Santiago Bernabeu to change. A goal from Karim Benzema after only 21 seconds immediately put Real Madrid in front, subsequent to a costly mistake from Victor Valdes.
With the match going on at a lightening pace, Barcelona never looked too likely to net an equalizer. Conversely, it was Madrid who appeared to be perfectly on track as they fought to inflict even more pain on their visitors.
Real managed to maintain their advantage midway through the first half, thanks to what is now the fastest goal in El Clasico’s history. Nevertheless, the referee had to call for order before the half hour mark, as poorly timed challenges began to emerge. Xabi Alonso and Alexis Sanchez eventually received yellow cards.
On 30 minutes, Barcelona got back in the game in an exceptional manner. An excellent run from Lionel Messi past the Madrid defence gave Alexis Sanchez the chance to net a vital equalizer.
Both teams still kept pushing for more goals, but the tension raised, and Messi himself soon entered the referee’s book for a nasty foul. On 43 minutes though, the Argentine forward misbehaved again, but he luckily escaped a second booking that would have seen him get sent off.
Gerard Pique then also saw yellow early in the second period for badly tackling Cristiano Ronaldo. After a few attempts on goal from the Real Madrid winger, the hosts suddenly got behind following an own goal from Marcelo. The Brazilian defender was unable to control a volley from Xavi, and he did not escape his punishment.
Kaka’s entry in El Clasico later on appeared to be a smart decision from Jose Mourinho. Indeed, the Brazilian midfielder almost partnered with Ronaldo upfront to level the score around the hour mark.
Lassana Diarra and Pepe followed in the book shortly after, while Lionel Messi came close through a dangerous free-kick. On 66 minutes, former Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas entered the scoring sheet to make the score line 3-1 in favour of Barcelona.
Dani Alves picked up a pass from a relentless Messi, and then whipped a perfect cross for Fabregas to head home with precision. Unforgettably, this great movement from the Catalans followed a sad miss from Ronaldo.
Sergio Ramos was shown a card on 70 minutes, and Alves almost set up Xavi for a fourth goal, but the Spaniard headed just wide. Kaka nearly came to Real’s rescue six minutes from time, but Valdes impressively tipped the ball away for a corner that failed to produce anything.
Barcelona tried to stay in control in the last moments of the match, knowing how important a win would be. Real Madrid were not able to make use of the additional time, and in the end, the match ended 3-1.
This means that Los Blancos’ race for La Liga title has become much harder, and at this point, Barcelona could simply think of staying in form to snatch the top position of the table.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona Videos
HighlightsExtended Highlights
All Goals
1-0 Benzema 1' //
1-1 Alexis Sánchez 30' //
1-2 Marcelo (Own goal) 53' //
1-3 Fabregas 66' //
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