The Big Bad El Clasico Preview

By: Corey | December 21st, 2007

EL CLASICO!

Thats the best graphic I could find at work. Read More!

This is probably gonna be my biggest preview yet, but I first I will begin by wishing you a Merry Christmas, and by giving all of my readers a Christmas card from Quinipiac University’s Complex 101A, the photo is a little big, but check it out:

Thats me on the left. That was before we had a rather large Christmas party that we were all proud of still and will be til our next Christmas party. Alright, so we will begin with my predicted lineup. Barring any unforseen injuries (knock on wood), here is what it will look like:

————Casillas—————
SR—-Pepe—-Canna—-~~Heinze~~ Marcelo
Sneijder–Diarra–Baptista–Robinho
———-Ruud—–Raul———–

—————Etoo—————
Ronaldinho————–Gudjohnsen
Iniesta——Toure——-Xavi
Abidal—-Puyol—Milito—Zambrotta
————-Valdes—————-

These do not represent by any means the tactical formation either team will use, but these most likely will be the players. Obviously their are numerous permutations, with Guti, Robben, Balboa and Marcelo all capable of inclusion for Real while Gio, Sylvinho and Deco can sneak into the Barca team.

For the record, I would not like to see Heinze at left back just because he is a better defender then Marcelo. If I was Zambrotta and Gudjohnsen/Gio, I would be worried about Marcelo’s forward runs and even more concerned with Robinho’s movement. But theres the catch, with Robinho occasionally drifting to the right, the left is wide open for Marcelo, which means its wide open for the fullback (Zambrotta) to overlap, which will only further complicate Marcelo’s situation. If Ronnie is on the left, Id still prefer Marcelo. Heinze unfortunately just is not a good player, we all know this by now, but he is the safer option so Schuster may just decide to go with him. And thats really the only permutation for Real I see happening.

Marcelo would be a great way to push Barca back, but he is a defensive liability, and with Etoo being a handful for two central defenders, and Sergio Ramos always going forward as well, it might become a little un balanced. Etoo and another player against Pepe and Canna is just scary. Marcelo is our player for the future, but Heinze may be a good stop gap, even if Messi isnt playing. My preferred option is Torres, he is a solid defender, and although he isnt spectacular going forward, he does a job. But that wont happen, he will be on the bench for this one. He is like Crespo at Sevilla, a youth team player who is solid if unspectacular, both could be Spanish internationals, but they have flashier players in their way. Pity.

With Heinze playing against Alicante, he didnt get injured, but he could be in to get back to the speed of a match for a start on Sunday or he may just be getting some match pace to sit on the bench and come if Marcelo is strugglin. Like I said Heinze is a better defender, but only marginaly, but Marcelo’s attacking threat is not lost on me. I need more time to consider this I guess. Two certain truths, 1. Heinze is crap, he has proven that so far, thats for you Ish 2. Marcelo is a great prospect and I still believe in him, but he may not be ready for this type of game.

Guti is my favorite players as you all know. Why he doesnt play instead of Sneijder is beyond me. I agree with the Beast and Diarra in the middle, but Sneijder on the right? I like Sneijder too, but Guti has better passing ability and he is a second capitan, he should be on the field for this one. Sneijder would be a great substitute in this game. But we all know Schuster doesnt read this column, but that leads to me asking, why doesnt he read this column and does he know how to read? Also, after Balboa played well and scored th equaliser against Alicante, why not have him on the bench instead of Higuain or Drenthe? He would be a great sub, providing pace on the right wing to really challenge Abidal, and he has a knack for scoring, no matter what the game. I love Guti, Raul, Sergio Ramos and Canna, and I strongly like the rest of the players barring Heinze, Saviola, Dudek and Robben, but it seems Balboa has entered into the love category. The dread lock brothers may be a great wing partnership in two to three years.

Pepe and Canna in the center is out best pairing, and after slamming Canna over the summer for being less then great, he has turned it around with Pepe or Metz beside him. Dont know why he didnt do well with Sergio Ramos, but not doing well with Helguera makes sense. Sergio Ramos will terrorize Abidal, a player that will probably not move past the half way line unless he is coaxed with milk and cookies to. Raul and Ruud will again look to pick up through balls and rebounds from weak Robinho shots. Which reminds me, if Guti does not play, obviously Robinho is gonna be fine, but it seems to starve Ruud of through balls. Guti hooks his man up, but Sneijder, not having the vision of Guti Haz, seems to prefer passing to Raul. So I challenge Sneijder and Baptista to make Ruud a happy boy and feed him the ball, we all know what he did last time we played Barca when he got service.

As for Barca, theres the Ronaldinho question. I think he will start, and I dont think Gio will start over Gudjohnsen. Why will Ronaldinho start? Cause Frank likes Iniesta in the left midfield slot, not further forward where Ronnie would play. Gudjohnsen can play on either side as can Ronnie, so there may be some switching going on, and I hope, I really hope Frank does the retarded tactical move of sometimes putting Etoo out wide. Because we know that worked well againt Arsenal in the CL final 2 years ago.

Yaya Toure is a great player, under rated, and more skillful then Diarra. But Diarra has physicality that can only be matched by the Beast. Xavi, Iniesta and Toure will have a pretty physical opponent double and Sneijder to deal with, but I think Barca’s central midfield is definately much better. Toure can watch the Beast go forward, while Iniesta is free to roam and Xavi is free to pass the ball to the sides and backwards and possibly mark Sneijder. Its why I want Guti instead of Sneijder, because then we wont have a similar midfield setup to Barca’s that would definately tip in their favor being at home.

We are gonna have some very important match ups, so lets detail them:

Milito vs. Ruud
Milito is gonna have his hands full, as Ruud is a sneaky one. I expect Ruud to win this matchup, he has played the best center backs in the world his entire career and he has always found a way to score. Not to discredit Milito, but it appears stopping him from scoring on a half chance is near impossible. If Milito is on the top of his offside trap game, then Ruud will get frustrated, but since his last goal was from outside the box (how often does that happen), he may need to be followed around the park the whole match.

Raul vs. Puyol

Whether Charles marks Raul is up for debate, Milito will probably be the man marker on Raul if Ruud has the ball and vice versa, so Puyol is the clean up man. Raul is slippery to, and he likes scoring against Barca, but he has not in awhile, so he is due for one. I pit these two together only because they are both captain of their side, so who ever is the stronger leader will help their team preail. Raul is the man.

Robinho vs. Zambro/Abidoll
Where ever his dancing feet show up, he will look to get the better of either full back. Abidal may find himself with little to do often as Robinho will mostly attack Zambrotta. And with purpose, as Abidal can go forward all he wants, he is not as much a threat as Zambrotta is. Robinho will win have to win this matchup since I doubt Guti will play and he will have to link midfield to attack all on his own.

Sneijder maybe vs. Toure
It might be Sneijder, but he is technically on the right where Abidal would track him, but that would mean Abidal would be moving infield with Sneijder leaving the flank open for Sergio Ramos, and I am pretty sure Frank has considered this and will have Toure marking Sneijder. Which means Baptista should easily run over Xavi or Iniesta. Midfield will be where the west is won, so we shall see what the pairing is for Real and Barca.

Marcelo (Not Heinze) vs. Whoever the hell Barca plays on the left
Marcelo, if he starts, will have a job to do. I think in the course of writing this post I have decided Marcelo would be a better bet then Heinze, such is the level of distrust I have in Heinze doing naything useful. Whether its Ronnie, Gudjohnsen or Gio, he may have to check his forward runs just to cover the dangerous attack Barca has.

Sergio Ramos vs. Abidal
Sergio Ramos will be all the way up Abidal’s ass most of the game, so Abidal probably will only venture forward if necessary. I guess the bigger question is, who Sergio Ramos will have to gallop back and defend against. In Sergio Ramos we trust, if he plays like he did last year at the Camp Nou, we will win.

Baptista vs. Any Barca Midfielder
Not much to say here, he will be covered by one of Iniesta or Xavi, and occasionally Toure. He is of course a big dude and he moves forward really well while having a physical presence to defend. Also, Diarra will have to cover Iniesta or Xavi, which ever Baptista is not covering, so the midfield battle will have to be won by the Diarra-Baptista-Guti?/Sneijder although I assume Sneijder will be in.

Here are some choice words from Barcelona:

Joan Laporta “The game will affect the emotional state of all the fans over the festive season,” he explained.

“We are playing for more than Real Madrid because the game is at our ground and we have a greater obligation to cut the gap.”

“I am approaching the game feeling calmer than on other similar occasions as I have great confidence in the players and coaching staff,” .

Eidur Gudjohnsen “It is a match that you have keep going in until you cannot do any more,” he said. “There is more than the three poins to play for and the team is calm, united and very focussed.

“The win in Valencia has given us a lot of confidence as we had not won away for some time. I have seen the spirit and confidence grow. We are ready to win.”

“I dedicated the goal to him because he is going through a tough time,” the Icelandic star explained. “When I went through a few problems he was always with me asking how I was and lifting my spirits. I just wanted to thank him for his friendship.”

“I think that it is a decision that I would not like to have to make,” he continued. “Everyone knows what I think about Ronaldinho and his great quality. If he plays, I think we will see a player more motivated than ever.”

“I think that he will be very important for how his team plays, but the whole team will cause us problems” he explained. “They have great players in every position. In the last game they won without playing that well and that is something only great teams can do.”

Gabi Milito “He’s a goalscorer (Ruud), and we’ll need to be careful to monitor him closely, to close him down and not to allow him space.”

“He’s a very important player for us, but we must wait for the decision of the coach,” he pointed out.

“The match? I’m very keen to play in it because it’s a massively important global game. It’s an opportunity for us to draw within a point of them.

“The desire that I have is the same as that of the others in he locker room.

“Both teams are in the midst of some good form, having won well in recent matches. We’ll need to watch out for the details.”

Deco “The players that are ready have to play and I think Ronaldinho is in good condition;” he said. “But it is still down to the coach to decide.”

“It takes away the focus from what is really important and while we talk about this, they take advantage in Madrid,” he explained.

“What is important is the team and I think that now we are in a good moment.

“We are training hard and are motivated, so we should not cause ourselves problems.”

It seems like everyone is in Ronnie’s corner except for Frank. So we will see if he starts, seeing as how he is way off his best I wouldnt mind him starting actually.

And as Laurie pointed out, this is why we all love Catalunya, thanks Laurie: http://www.theoffside.com/leagues/spain-la-liga/for-the-ronaldinho-henry-and-messi-fans-who-have-everything.html#more-5149

Who is gonna score? Shit, I have no clue. But are we gonna win, damn straight we will, it will be my first Christmas present. 1pm eastern time, catch it on GolTV or on a stream from livefooty. HALA MADRID HALA MADRID HALA MADRID! I only hope we have the incredible game we had last year, where I was screaming my lungs out, pulling at my jersey, crying in joy and amazed at the passion and skill displayed on the field. And a little disappointed we ended up drawing, but it was still a beautiful game, here is a reminder for you.

Barcelona V Real Madrid SSN match report
Uploaded by fredFiftyFour