With the world coming to a stand still this Saturday night to watch the two titans of Spanish and, let’s face it, world football battle it out, I take a look at both Real Madrid and Barcelona’s forward line ups.
Real Madrid
First of all in the white corner a reluctant mention must go to Ángel Di María, who is in the form of his life at the moment and with his 11 assists (the most by any player in any of the top five European leagues) and three goals is thoroughly justifying the €30 million Mou coughed up to Benfica for him. Although certain elements of his game continue to frustrate this blogger, i.e. his persistent diving, his all round play this season has been top drawer and more so than ever he will be a real threat to the Barca back line as his creative streak shows no signs of petering out.
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| Di Maria: A moment of hand puppetry after scoring |
2011/12 has been Real Madrid’s best ever start to a season. Breaking the previous club record of 46 goals in the opening 14 games, held by the 1959/60 team, which included DiStefano, Puskas and Gento, the current squad has notched up an incredible 49 goals. That’s an average of 3.5 goals per game.
Obviously without Cristiano Ronaldo running riot in midfield things would be very different. Rampant in midfield and devastating in front of goal CR7 is in blistering form this year, and apart from his 17 league goals he has also turned provider on six occasions. El Clasico, and it’s fair to say the big occasions in general, have not always produced the best from the 26 year old, however, scoring the winner against the old enemy in the Copa del Rey final this year will have boosted his already astoundingly high confidence no end. And while previous encounters between the sides at the Bernabéu have seen the former Manchester United ace come up short in comparison to Lionel Messi in the never-ending battle to find out which one of them is the world’s greatest player, this time round the surrogate father is almost unplayable at home. His eye for goal is keener than ever, as his six goals and four assists in six league games go to prove.
Nonetheless, the Portuguese maestro is not the only blanco Pep will be concerned about.
Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín are also making waves, if not significant ripples, in the scorer charts with 19 league goals between them. Mourinho’s fondness for a 4-2-3-1 formation, in order to exploit space for Ronaldo and Di María to prowl the wings and cause havoc, means that the two forwards are used interchangeably, usually on a game-to-game basis.
Last night against Ajax in the final group game, just for the hell of it, the Special One started with both of them together. Any inkling either player had about this experimental tactic being repeated on Saturday was nipped in the bud my Mou after the game when he said, “Saturday is a different game and Cristiano, Di María and either Benzema or Higuaín will play”.
The fact that it was the former Lyon man who came off early in Amsterdam could be interpreted as the French man being rested ahead of the big clash on the weekend.
Benzema, having originally struggled to settle in, now looks at home in Madrid, thanks in no short part to having the club’s sporting director and fellow Gaul, Zinedine Zidane as a mentor. Benzema has always had the necessary level of natural talent to fit in at the club but previously seemed to lack the psychological strength an institution like Madrid requires. He is coping far better with the competition within the squad now though and seems to be enjoying his football once again. Of the two forwards he is probably the more complete player: able to play as the lone man up front or drop deeper if needs be, as he showed when filling in for Di Maria in midfield recently.
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| "No hard feelings mate" |
All the same, Higuaín is by no means a second rate striker and could easily feature. The affable French-born Argentine is as cynical as they come, holding the best goals to games ratio of all la liga players: only seven starts and seven appearances as a sub in the current campaign have produced 12 goals from Pipita.
Barcelona
While Mourinho’s decision as to who will start between Benzema and Higuaín is anyone’s guess, los culés have one player who (failing a natural disaster or a well orchestrated abduction by Madrid fans) is guaranteed to start, the untouchable Argentine, Leo Messi. A superlative heavy homage to la pulga (the flee) is wholly unnecessary, as we all know what the wizard from Rosario is capable of: 17 league goals and 7 assists since the beginning of the season speaks for itself. Even though only one of these goals was scored on the road (against Athletic), the Santiago Bernabéu is a particularly fruitful hunting ground for the number ten, where in this calendar year alone he has silenced los merengues no less than four times in three games, including during the Champions League semi-final, when he took on the Madrid midfield and back line singlehandedly in a mazy, one-man-against-the-world style dribble before cooly slotting the ball into the back of Casillas’ net.
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| Gentlemen before battle: Ronaldo and Messi |
Pep’s selection conundrum comes in the form of choosing between the other world class strikers at his disposal. Whether the Philosopher (as old buddy Zlatan affectionately refers to him) sticks with the 4-3-3 formation, which he has employed for most of the season, or reverts to a tighter 4-4-2, in order to quash Real’s midfield, remains to be seen. Going on previous encounters I’m willing to hazard a guess at the former, in which case the chances of making the starting XI would be much more favourable for the likes of David Villa, Alexis Sanchez, Pedro or this season’s Masía revelation, Isaac Cuenca (Adriano still out with a knock).
Having to play in a system that’s designed to best utilise star man Messi requires the other forwards to adapt, and in some cases play out of position. This is definitely true for Villa, who for his standards has had a pretty quiet season so far. Rumours that he and Messi don’t get along with each other should to be taken with a grain (if not a shaker) of salt, however, there is no denying that El Guaje is being played wider than he’d like, and seeing as he doesn’t offer much in terms of defensive duties or build up play this puts extra pressure on his finishing ability. Nonetheless, even on his quiet days the number 7 is capable of scoring goals from thin air, like during his last run out at the Bernabéu when he cut in on his right and curled the ball spectacularly into the top corner of Madrid’s net to equalise, having done little else up until that point.
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| Infectious yawn: Villa and Pedro |
There is also the prospect of Alexis Sánchez, whose arrival to the Camp Nou was somewhat overshadowed by all the drama surrounding Cesc Fabregas’ return to Catalonia. The Chilean didn’t have an ideal start to his la liga career, picking up a hamstring injury against Real Sociedad, which saw him side-lined for most of October and lost him his place in the pecking order. However, in recent weeks he has found the frightening form which made him such a hit in Udinese. Fast, skilful and willing to track back, Alexis is a versatile forward who can play anywhere along the front line and even drop deeper into midfield if called upon to.
No one expected new boy Cuenca to hit the ground running in the manner which he has since coming into the Barca first team. While he may not have exactly been blessed in the looks department, the precocious 20 year old makes up for this with his footballing talent. A definite crowd-pleaser, he possesses all the hallmarks of an azulgrana: pace, pin-point passing, invention, intelligence and finishing. As Guardiola so eloquently put it after another fine performance against Levante on Saturday, “Physically speaking he might not be popular with the ladies, but on the field he does things that will amaze you. He does his work perfectly!” Playing out of his skin against BATE in the Champions League last night and contributing to all four goals will have done his chances of starting his first Clasico no harm.
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| Girl repulser, Isaac Cuenca |
That leaves Pedro. Ankle problems have limited his playing time this season and, although, lasting the whole 90 minutes on Tuesday night against BATE he probably lacks enough match time to merit a start. Saying that, his work rate, passing and knack for scoring important goals will ensure that he remains an ace up Pep’s shirt sleeve and is likely to feature at some stage during the clash.
Verdict
The stage is set for another epic encounter and this time Madrid has the upper hand because of their six point advantage going into it. That said Barca are sure to have fire in their bellies and will do whatever it takes to close the gap between the clubs.
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