El Clasico's Fire Power Under the Lens

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.

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.

"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.

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.

 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.

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.

A Truce through the City

With Del Bosque’s men losing out to a fortuitous yet impressive English side on Saturday, the Spanish public needed some respite, or at least an adequate distraction, from the continued difficulties la selección seems to be having where friendlies are concerned. As the international break had left football fans with a whole Sunday to fill by themselves, other interests outside the sport had to be pursued.

In Madrid, sports rag Marca was on hand to provide disoriented aficionados with a wholesome activity to take part in during this match deprived day. ‘La Carrera Marca’ (The Marca Race), which started in 2010, is an annual event organised by said paper which brings both sides of the capital city’s major footballing divide together: Real and Atlético. Supporters of either club (and even the odd gate crashing Getafe or Rayo Vallecano fan) tog out in their team’s colours and compete to finish a 10km circuit through the city on foot in the fastest time possible-with the Rojiblancos claiming the bragging rights last year.

As a budding journalist and a man with scarce all else to do, I decided to join the estimated 7,999 other runners at the Santiago Bernabeú to embark on this clever marketing ploy.

However, cynicism about marketing aside, this was a fantastically well-organised event and the camaraderie between both sets of supporters, los Merengues and los Cocheneros, was a wonderful thing to behold; with countless groups of friends showing up wearing opposing colours to each other. The only bad blood I was aware of was that racing through my own veins, as the side effects of a somewhat masochistic Friday night lingered on within me.

I foolishly decided that watching my beloved Ireland beat a nine man Estonia should be celebrated with the thirst quenching assistance of an overly-priced pint of Murphy’s Red or two, followed by a few more which in turn were washed down with several more for good luck. This did my already abject fitness no favours, but promises had been made and I was damned if I was going to let fellow signees (my friend Paul and cousin Conor) do it without me and grab all the attention. So I soldiered on, scrapping myself out of bed on the crisp Sunday morning and self pityingly making my way to the starting line, where Paul met me in similar condition. Conor in a confused state thought the number 9 was in fact the number 7 on his alarm clock and had to be rudely awoken by me thirty minutes before the starting gun to ensure his participation-a panicky taxi journey through the empty Madrid streets got him to the back of the queue just in time, but we wouldn’t see him until the other side.

Fortunately for us though, the organisers were a far less sadistic bunch than our subconscious minds, which was evidenced by the down hill nature of the course so reaching the finish line was an attainable goal even for leaden footed imposters like us.

The route took us from Real’s sacred ground, down the wide, pulsating artery that is the Paseo de Castellana, past los blancos cherished fountain in Plaza de Cibeles, then past los Indio’s own revered water feature, Neptuno, up through the heart of the city, Puerta del Sol for good measure, before finishing up at Atleti’s riverside arena, the Vicente Caldéron.

Although the first three finishers wore red and white, the overall outcome of the race saw the Real contingent bag the ‘Fastest Fans’ title. Despite my choice to kit out in red and white (I just thought it was a nicer t-shirt), I would like to clarify that my performance, while not breaking any records, did not negatively impact on the Rojiblanco median time: finishing with a respectable time of 42:40.

After the podiums had been cleared and the complementary bottles of powerade had been knocked back and tossed to the ground, the competitors began to hobble off in their separate directions, all united under the same feeling of accomplishment and good will for what was an enjoyable day out.

In under a fortnight’s time both two sets of supporters will gather once again at the mythical Bernabeú. However, this will be under far less harmonious circumstances, as the “real” Derbi Madrileño is contested.

Whereas the head to head in the fun run stakes is evenly matched, the footballing accolades significantly favour los Madridistas over the course of the last few years: in their last eight league encounters Real has managed seven wins and a draw over its lowly neighbour. And going on existing form this trend looks likely to repeat itself a week from Saturday, as Mourniho’s side’s seemingly unstoppable form shows no sign of waning, especially at home where not a single point has been dropped so far this season.

This doesn’t bode well for the already under fire Gregorio Manzano, who has not exactly had the rosiest of receptions at Atleti since his appointment from Sevilla back in June. On the back of a shockingly poor 3-2 lose at the hands of a ten men Getafe, the atmosphere within the decrepit walls of the Calderon must be bleak at the moment.

Before the acrimonious reuniting of this Sunday’s Carrera athletes, both clubs have “warm up” league games this weekend, with Real away to Valencia and Atletico at home to Levante.

Before then, blisters should have fully heeled, stiffness should have eased and muscle fatigue should be a thing of the past, but one thing remains certain, the temporary amnesty of the old city rivalry will be well and truly over.