7 Articles to read before El Clásico

3 minutes

Real Madrid keep on scoring but will it be enough against Barcelona?
-Sid Lowe
-The Guardian
One week, Messi leads in the Pichichi charts, the next it is Ronaldo. TheClásico is a confrontation of a thousand subplots; Messi v Ronaldo, players who define their teams, is the most compelling of them. At times, you can almost picture the two of them on the phone before the weekend’s games, deciding on the number of goals they will get. They are in cahoots, having a giggle at all our expense, and to our joy. How many this week, Cris? Two, Leo? OK then.

Barca leaves Everyone Guessing
-Jonathan Wilson
-Fox Sports
Barcelona against Real Madrid, Pepe Guardiola against Jose Mourinho, Lionel Messi against Cristiano Ronaldo: it may be familiar but the saga is yet to pall. The sulphurous atmosphere around the games – the diving and feigning of injury on the pitch, the insidious allegations of conspiracy off it – may tarnish the reputations of all concerned but the thrill of seeing what are by some distance the best two sides in the world going head-to-head remains.


Crunch Time In El Clasico

-Graham Hunter
-ESPN
One year ago today, Mourinho won his only match against Barcelona as Madrid manager in a Copa del Rey final in which Los Blancos played on the front foot, attacked and stood firm versus a Barca side which, then as now, had hit a small dry spot in its river of goals.


Barcelona Vs Real Madrid:El Clasico Tactical Preview
–Michael Cox
-Zonal Marking
Neither side would have wanted this game to be sandwiched between two European Cup semi-finals – especially since both find themselves one goal down in their respective ties. Usually these sides have had a full week to prepare for the Clasico, or at least the opportunity to rest players ahead of it. This time, the most important game of La Liga season has suddenly arrived.
 
–Javier J. Hernández.
-El Centrocampista
Everybody knows the current situation of course; Cristiano has reached 40 goals, Messi is just one behind with 39. The Argentinean leads the assists department with 14, compared to Ronaldo’s 11. However, there are a lot more stats behind these numbers that may escape the average fan. Until today that is, as we take the challenge of analysing every aspect of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo during this amazing season.
 
-Bassam
-Real Madrid Football Blog
An essential factor that we will need for this game is to use a creative Trivote in the middle of the field. The key word in that last sentence is “creative”. A trivote of players that can defend rather than attack will not help us much going forward. This is why i suspect that a trivote of Alonso-Khedira-Granero should be used in this game. If we recall the last game we played against Barcelona in the Camp Nou, the introduction of Granero sparked a more creative and controlled midfield. Granero also offers the flexibility that we don’t have with Alonso and Khedira alone as Alonso only plays the ball from deep, while Granero offers the ability to play the ball a bit further up the field.
 
Could Benzema be key for Real Madrid?
-Tim Stannard
-Football365
With Messi and Ronaldo set to be the focus of attention as ever for opposition defenders and midfielders in this weekend’s mega-match, some other players may well have to step up to the mark to take their place. And this is where Real Madrid have an enormous advantage over Barcelona.
 
 

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