Dec 11, 2011
Barca stun Madrid in El Clasico, Real Madrid - 1, Barca - 3
FC Barcelona got the league back on track with a thrilling 1-3 comeback win at Santiago Bernebeu. The match started with a disaster as far as Barca were concerened. We went a goal down in the very first minute following a horrendous mistake by Valdes. But this match was about whether Barca's grit and they dig deep and produced a brilliant comeback. Sanchez equalised in the 30th minute and Xavi and Fabregas scored in the second half to conquer the stadium of Santiago Bernebeu. This is Real Madrid's first defeat at home and also this looks like their first defeat after going 1-0 up.
This clash had a huge importance as it set the phsycology for the rest of the clashes this season. Many of the pundits would like this victory. Many were arguing that Mourinho's second season is really when he push things up opponent's throat. But this one didn't go according to the script for him. One of the most disappointed football writer would be Sid Lowe from Guardian who predicted a Real Madrid win. He did last season also. So he is officially our lucky charm. Putting to rest all confusion regarding the formation and line-up, Guardiola decided to go with a 4-3-3 formation. David Villa was ommitted from the starting line-up again and Cesc took his position. We had Valdes on the goal; Alves, Pique, Puyol and Abidal formed the defender. The midfield had the Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets. The front trio had Cesc, Messi and Sanchez, with Cesc playing teh false 9 role. Meanwhile Real Madrid went with a 4-3-3 formation, with Casillas, Coentrao, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Diarra, Ozil, Maria, Benzema and Ronaldo.
Dec 10, 2011
FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid Clasico Preview
Less than 24 hours is left for the start of the first edition of this season's "El Clasico" encounter in the La Liga. Usually this would have been the first meeting between the two giants of not only Spanish football, but World Football. But this year they have already met twice in the two legged Super Copa clash and Barca had emerged deserving winners at the time. Since Guardiola took over as manager, the first Clasico has always been played at Camp Nou. That gave Barca the edge to get to the front foot early on. This time FC Barcelona will be visiting Santiago Bernebeu for the first edition. The last time this has happened was in the 2006-07 season, when Barca went down 2-0 and eventually lost the League. But don't worry a year ago Ronaldinho inspired Barcelona mesmerised the Bernebeu crowd with a 3-0 victory and eventually won the League and the Champiosn league. This is Guardiola's third fourth visit to Santiago Bernebeu as a coach and he hasn't tasted defeat in any of those visits. Of all the visits this one could be extra tricky with Real Madrid leading us by three points with a game in hand. So this eventually become a must win match for FC Barcelona. From a fans perspective, Barca fans are a bit confused about how we will approach this clash. There is no doubt that we will be going for the kill, but the confusion is about the formation and the line-up. I will come to that a bit later. First we will start with our opponents.
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