Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid know that any slip they make will be heavily punished by league leaders Barcelona and for the sixth time this season, that was the case as they failed to make the most of three good chances when drawing 0-0 with Deportivo La Coruna. Of all the teams they’d have wanted to clash next, it would have been Barcelona and Valencia, but a tight 1-0 win for the Catalan Giants has propelled them to a ten point lead. Indeed, there’s a lot of thinking to do for Los Blancos.
Their form all season has been excellent, having lost only twice in the league - once away at Barcelona, let’s not forget –and their form over the last five games reads WWWDD (one of the two draws at Lyon is respectable) and they thrashed Malaga 4-1 at the Rosaleda back in October.
Pepe has had his yellow card from the weekend rescinded, but is still not a definite thanks to illness. The one man who could push Madrid to trophies this season, Gonzalo Higuain was back on the training pitch at Valdebebas this week but he still has some way to go in his program of recovery, while teenage star Sergio Canales is back in the squad after a minor physical problem and will take his place on the bench. The Spanish press have been doing quite a bit of chirping about a 2 striker system that Mourinho may play with Xabi Alonso holding the midfield, which would suggest a lot of urgency in the camp.
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| Real Madrid's draw at Depor has left them a mountain to climb in the title race |
Malaga’s season has promised and failed to deliver in spectacular style. Given a top class manager foreign takeover and importing of multiple signings, much was expected from the Andalusian side, but they come into this match second – bottom of La Liga. Pellegirni’s side arrested a worrying run of seven matches without a victory with their 3-1 win over Almeria at the weekend, which was important not only for the result, but how they did it (coming from -10 at HT to eventually lead 3-1 at the whistle).
It’s not all been bad though, as they are on a run of four games unbeaten, and two of those were draws with decent outfits Sevilla and Getafe, not forget an impressive point away at Villareal, a side heading for Europe next season.
The relegation candidates do have a have a long injury list to deal with though, with Julio Baptista, Helder Rosario, Javier Malagueno, Duda and Reuben Martinez are out due to injury problems.
The success of Real Madrid’s season is likely to rest on very tight margins, which is why it was all the more galling for them to draw at Deportivo at the weekend, which has all but ended the title race, given that Barcelona have already travelled to Athletico Madrid, the Mestalla, and Espanyol, with only a home El Clasico to come. While it hasn’t been uncommon for teams to hold los Blancos to low scoring draws away from the capital, no-one has yet to breach the great club’s perfect record under Mourinho at their Bernabeu home and they’ll be making sure they do so again.
Advice
2 pts Real Madrid to win both halves (10/11 Stan James)
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