The start of the season has already given thrills spills and
two missed penalties and we now get to see the big guns back in style as
Barcelona take on Real Madrid, meaning that the new season in Spain starts as
the old one ended – with an El Clasico.
There’s lots to discuss but the lingering issues for those
who are trying to split the teams is the gap between them, which as we know is
paper thin and can be decided on little more than a referring decision, as was
the case according to Jose Mourinho at the Bernabeu last season .
There’s lots to discuss but the lingering issues for those
who are trying to split the teams is the gap between them, which as we know is
paper thin and can be decided on little more than a referring decision, as was
the case according to Jose Mourinho at the Bernabeu last season .
There’s no doubting that the gap between the two is closing.
Gone are the days of 6-2 and 5-0 tonkings which leave the world laughing at the
Galacticos – Under Mourinho they finally ended a run of five straight Clasico
losses, and have tasted defeat in just one of the last four – winning after
extra time on one occasion in the Copa Del Rey.
I personally, am still of the opinion that Barcelona are the
better side. The aggregate score in Clasicos last season including the Copa De
Rey was 8 – 3 to Barcelona, but that comes with the proviso that 6 of those
goals came when Barcelona were at home, that number dropping to two (in
suspicious circumstances based on what side you’re on).
The other major thing to note is the strange patterns of
recent super Copa matches – The last three have seen the home side win, and
three of the last 4 have seen the home side win the first leg, with the losers usually
begin the side that took La Liga last season (one of the big two) and for those
who like the punt on the overs or unders, the last seven Supercup ties have had
three or more goals and all but one since 2007 have seen both sides score.
Take what you like from the fact that the Spanish and
European Champions have not had a spectacular pre-season, losing matches to
Chivas Guadalajara and Manchester United, but friendly successes don’t count
for much at all here on the Vic Page, as has been shown by more than a few
teams on the opening weekend.
Carles Puyol remains an absentee, Gerard Pique is doubtful
and Andreu Fontas has little experience of games, and there are slight doubts
over the fitness of Xavi, which do accentuate the theory that Barcelona improve
a lot for their first leg encounters in these matchups.
For today the advice to have only a small punt on Madrid to
gain the win here given that it’ll be likely that they go fully into this and
close the gap a little further, while home teams have the advantage for the
first leg in this encounter. There’s
also a pattern which has seen the away side lead and then lose in 4 recent
Supercopa matches, 3 of them being the first leg. Barcelona/Madrid pays 33’s
with Stan James.
Advice
1 pt Real Madrid (6/4 general)
1 pt Barcelona/Madrid (33/1 Stan James)
1 pt over 2.5 goals (5/6 general)
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