Real with a mission to rescue La Liga?
(Baonghean.vn) - Now, the battle between Barca and Real is no longer limited to the win-lose between the two great rivals of Spanish football, because in the last 8 rounds, Real is the only team that can stop the winning streak of the team at CampNou. With 76 points, 9 points more than the second team, if they defeat Real, Barca can win La Liga 4-5 rounds early, which is a real disaster for Spanish football.
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Ugly football
If the absence of center-back Mathieu does not affect Barca much, center-back Varane suffered an ankle injury and could not play, which greatly affected Real. This means that Real will have to start with the center-back duo Sergio Ramos and Pepe, and the blocking position must be assigned to the young Brazilian midfielder Casemiro.
In acceptable matches against Barca, Real always put a holding midfielder in front of the two central defenders, playing like a football athlete. Sergio Ramos and Pepe have done that very well, even though they often get red cards.
In the first leg of the El Clasico at the Bernabeu, coach Rafa Benitez used the central midfield duo Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. These are thin players, with low fighting ability and an attacking tendency. So Real's goal seemed to open the door to players with the ability to move smoothly from Barca such as Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic or the MSN attacking trio.
On the other side, Barca's midfield trio plays different roles, bringing great efficiency. Sergio Busquets plays the role of a sweeper and a bridge between the midfield and the defense. Although his ability to launch attacks is certainly less than Modric and Kroos, he has only scored 6 goals in 239 appearances in La Liga. But with him, Ivan and Iniesta are free to approach the opponent's goal in a "weaving and weaving" style.
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Neymar Real 0-4 Barca |
At home, Real lost 0-4 when Benitez urged his players to play an open game with the Catalan team, so when they came to NouCamp, coach Zidane seemed to have realized this. Speaking before the match, he affirmed that he would strengthen the steel in the midfield.
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro will play as an "anchor" between the midfield and defense, often covering the midfield. His young age allows Casemiro to compete with opponents in speed and endurance. This will be a great addition to Toni Kroos or Luka Modric. In addition, Casemiro's wide movement and close approach will help Real limit midfielder Ivan Rakitic's long-range shots.
If coach Luis Enrique declared that "no matter what kind of football Real plays, attacking or defending, Barca only has one option, rushing forward and attacking, attacking relentlessly", then people understand that ugly-football is the weapon Real will use to deal with it. In addition to arranging a defensive midfielder to be able to disrupt the opponent's play, isolating Busquets from the surrounding satellites with Benzema, who creates space, both fighting for the ball and playing the role of a passer.
Winning scenario
According to statistics, since 2002, no classic match has ended in a 0-0 draw, the average number of goals in matches since then is 3.22 goals/match. In terms of head-to-head history, Barcelona has only lost one home match against Real Madrid in the last 7 matches, that was a 1-2 loss in the 2011-2012 season.
Therefore, Zidane fully understands that he cannot defend against Barcelona's MSN trio at this time. Zidane needs to analyze Benitez's mistakes and carefully study Barcelona's recent difficult matches against Arsenal or Villarreal to come up with the optimal solution.
To rescue La Liga, in addition to the sports newspapers Marca and Newsweek, which are close to Real, football experts all advise Zidane to use the "attack" tactic. Focusing the ball down the two wings with Ronaldo and Bale racing to break the distance of Barca's formation. Taking advantage of Vazquez's agility or the dexterity of Jese and Isco, forcing Barca's defenders to make mistakes, forcing the opponent to "commit suicide" by pressing continuously are the decisive factors to defeat the Catalan team.
- Barca are unbeaten in 39 matches in all competitions and can Real Madrid stop this record? - In the last 5 matches, Barca scored 20 goals and conceded 4 times, Real also won all 5 matches, they scored 18 goals and conceded only 3 times. - Barca have only lost one of their last seven home games against Real. That was a 1-1-2 defeat in April 2012 against Jose Mourinho. - Barca won 4 of their last 6 matches against Real in all competitions. - Barca have never beaten Real in La Liga when they were 10 points ahead like they are now. - The last time the two teams met was the first leg at the Santiagio Bernabeu, Barca won 4-0. |
Expected lineup:
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Expected lineup |
Barcelona (4-3-3): Bravo; Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitić, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Navas; Danilo, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Kroos, Modric, Isco; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo
An Thanh
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