It’s that time of year again. The second El Clasico has
always been the deciding factor in the often two horse race that is La Liga and
even with Atletico now making it a three way battle for the Spanish title,
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have the chance to deliver a knockout blow to Barcelona’s
title hopes with a win in the second El Clasico tonight.
Barcelona’s 2-1 win in the reverse fixture seemed to bring
about all of Real’s old problems outside of Madrid, with that victory opening
up a 6 point gap between Ancelotti’s men and the Catalans, but since then,
astonishingly, they haven’t been beaten – that defeat took place at the end of
October. In the interim, they have been held to just 6 draws, all of them away
from the Bernabeu, and are still unbeaten at home or in Europe since that time.
With so many star players balance has been a problem for
Madrid in recent seasons but with Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric amongst the most
in form centre midfielders in Europe, the attacking foursome of Cristiano
Ronaldo, Karim Benezema, Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria has had few equals
going forward, with a tally of 77 league goals between them, just 3 behind
Barcelona.
Benezema has been much maligned by certain sections of
Madrid’s support but form and fitness are issues of the past and he has been
instrumental in putting together attacking moves between Cristiano Ronaldo, who
continues to defy belief on a weekly basis, and Gareth Bale, now living upto
his pricetag with 17 assists and 15 goals. Angel Di Maria has also replaced
Mezut Ozil in fine style, putting immense speed between midfield and attack
that has been too much on many an occasion for most defences, as shown by 15
wins and just three draws since the last Clasico.
Barcelona’s latest stumble of just 5 wins from the last 10
league games leaves them dangerously perched going into tonight’s game; Win and
they are neck and neck with Madrid but lose and the gap is seven points with
time very short for the three results they would need to turn the gap.
At the Camp Nou they have been as good as ever, putting away
Manchester City with ease while showing their prowess in wide margin wins
against Almeria and Osasuna, but their form on the road against the elite has
been their only Achilles heel and they are set to a top six league position,
suffering defeats at Real Sociedad (3-1), Athletic Bilbao (1-0) and a 0-0 draw
at Atletico.
Madrid have won only one of their last 6 clasicos at the
Bernabeu but haven’t had such balance and form for some time and may be set up
to contain the Neymar-Messi partnership while taking advantage of the attacking
nature of Jordi Alba and Dani Alves on both wings where they must now face Bale
and Ronaldo as a pairing. Madrid’s midfield setup now sees them dominate games
far more, with Barcelona’s judge advantage in possession a key factor in many
of their victories, but that could be turned on it’s head today, and even with
a stronger defence than the outfits that turned up for defeats at Socidedad and
Almeria, they look vulnerable against a side that have scored on at least two
occasions in 12 of their 13 league games at home. The last seven Calsicos have
seen both teams score and Barcelona are still well capable of getting their
name on the scoresheet, so the 9/1 on a 2-1 win for the home side – with a
cover for the opposite scoreline – is our preferred method.
Advice
1 pt Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona (9/1 general)
1 Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (12/1 general)
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