FT: Barca 1 Real 3- Unofficial Match Thread

Barcelona 1-3 Real Madrid
Ronaldo (P) '13 '27 Varane '68
Alba '89, lovely assist from Iniesta


Prediction:
Barca 14-12 Madrid


Teams:
Barcelona (4-3-3): Pinto; Alves, Pique, Puyol, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas; Pedro, Messi, Iniesta.
Substitutes: Valdes, Mascherano, Adriano, Song, Thiago, Villa, Tello.

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Diego López; Arbeloa, Ramos, Varane, Coentrao; Xabi Alonso, Khedira; Di María, Ozil, Ronaldo; Higuaín.
Substitutes: Adán, Pepe, Kaká, Benzema, Essien, Modric, Callejón.

Apologies if this has been done already on another board, if you don't feel like a traitor, post on this thread...


Keep me amused while I indulge myself in an essay involving obese patients trying to lose weight.


There’s just too much history between these two teams. But in the Copa del Rey, they’ve played each other 31 times. Real Madrid have won 10 of these and Barcelona 14. There have been seven draws.

Barcelona have lost just twice at the Camp Nou against Madrid in this cup. Reuters
The goal tallies are surprisingly close. Barcelona have scored 61 and Madrid 59 times.

Barcelona have lost just twice at the Camp Nou against Madrid in this cup.

Real beat Barcelona in the 2011 Copa Del Rey final but were ousted by their arch-rivals in the quarters last year.
KEY BATTLES

Xavi vs Xabi Alonso: Ah, the beauty of this battle. The two Spaniards, who fight for a common cause when playing for their nation, will come up against each other — not for the first time. Xavi’s probing passes, Alonso’s drilled lobs, Xavi’s pressing, Alonso’s tackling, Xavi’s creativity, Alonso’s the game-breaker… this is too well matched.

Andres Iniesta vs Sami Khedira: Khedira is the man who hardly garners any attention when Real are doing well. But his importance was highlighted when he stopped Shinji Kagawa expertly in the Champions League tie with Manchester United — forcing the Japanese to be substituted. He has to play a similar game against Iniesta, but the Spaniard is in great form and it won’t be that easy.

Dani Alves vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Madrid should learn from Milan’s win against Barca. Stephan El Shaarawy held his ground on the left-wing, ready to pounce every time Alves drifted forward like he loves to. If Ronaldo can contain the frustration of being left out of the game for some time, and be patient enough for an Alves mistake, he will certainly punish the hosts.

Lionel Messi vs Fabio Coentrao/Raphael Varane: Messi got back to scoring ways against Sevilla in the La Liga and will look to drift in from the left to a floating central position. If he gets the sort of support you expect from Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas, he could cause havoc. But Coentrao and Varane have been brilliant in defence recently and it won’t be that easy to dissect the two.

Sergio Busquets vs Mesut Ozil: The German, tremendous against United in the Champions League, will force Busquets to lie very deep. But the young defensive midfielder is pretty solid in that position. He will win the battle of strength, but Ozil’s agility will get the better of him.

DID YOU KNOW?

- Cristiano Ronaldo has scored seven goals in as many Clasicos.

- Messi has 17 in 23 Clasicos.

- This match will be the 224th meeting between the great rivals in all competitions. Barca have won 87 to Real’s 88.

- Barcelona have not lost in 22 matches at the Camp Nou in all competitions.

- Madrid have only won three of their last 10 away matches across all competitions.

Sauce: I don't care source it yaself

Rules:
None- chat, insult (make it PG please), discuss MessiVRonaldo until the cows come home etc....