Luis Enrique, whose side has a three point advantage over Madrid in the league table, welcomes back Lionel Messi and Ivan Rakitic, while Keylor Navas and Karim Benzema are both named in Los Blancos’ squad for the game.
But are they fit enough to make an impact? Goal take a look at five factors which could make the difference when the two sides meet at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Keylor Navas left the airport, drove back home and cried. He’d spent transfer deadline day waiting to see if his on-off move to Manchester United, with David de Gea coming the other way, was going to go through. It wasn’t.
Los Blancos may have been prepared to let him leave then but they certainly would not let him sneak out now. The Costa Rican has been the club’s most impressive performer this season - outshining even Cristiano Ronaldo.
In 13 games in all competitions with Navas in goal, Madrid have conceded just three times. For every goal he has conceded in La Liga, he’s made over eight saves. In the two games he missed, Rafa Benitez's side conceded four times.
A muscle strain kept the 28-year-old out of the loss to Sevilla and forced him to miss the recent international break - he was rated as a major doubt for the Clasico, too.
However, Benitez confirmed on Friday that he has trained all week and will take his place in the squad for Barcelona’s visit to the Bernabeu. If he recreates his performance from the Celta Vigo win, his fitness could be the difference.
Before the international break, Gerard Pique claimed he is motivated by Clasico. “These are the games we got involved with football for,” the Barcelona defender said.
Presumably he didn’t get involved with football to be booed everywhere he goes. Yet that is his current fate. He is jeered when he plays for Spain and he’s whistled when he travels to away games with Barca - largely because of throwaway comments aimed in Madrid’s direction.
Of course, that means the jeering could hit record levels when he first touches the ball at the Bernabeu. It will be up to Pique, therefore, to keep Madrid’s fans quiet and command an improving Barcelona defence.
The Blaugrana have conceded 12 goals in 11 league games this season and 23 in all competitions. Last season in La Liga, they leaked just 21 goals in all of their 38 games.
However, recent signs, despite the quality of their opposition, have been more promising. They have kept four clean sheets in a row and there has been the odd hint that Pique’s up-and-down form is close to levelling out at the impressive levels he displayed throughout last season.
Who is the most intelligent player Luis Enrique has ever coached? Sergio Busquets. That’s what the Barcelona boss said on Friday as he looked ahead to the Clasico. It’s a comment which came just weeks after he’d named Busquets “the world’s best midfielder”. He is obviously a fan.
Not everyone offers Busquets such rave reviews. But then, not everyone knows what he does. However, he’s certainly appreciated by regular followers of Barca - even if that adulation does not always extend beyond Catalan soil. His intelligence, as ever, will be required against Madrid.
Madrid, meanwhile, are looking for their own Busquets. Or, if you’d rather, their 'new Claude Makelele' or 'new Xabi Alonso'. Luka Modric and Toni Kross, wonderful footballers as they both are, do not necessarily work as a midfield duo.
For that reason, Benitez has opened the door to Brazilian midfielder Casemiro as he looks to add defensive grit to the middle of the pitch. The 23-year-old has made 12 appearances in all competitions this season, but Barca’s visit will be his biggest test yet.
Real Madrid’s treatment room has been operating on a one-in-one-out basis this season. If Gareth Bale was not in there, it was Karim Benzema; if it was not Benzema, it was James Rodriguez. For the majority of the last two months they have been sharing it - Dani Carvajal, Pepe and Sergio Ramos have also been fighting for space.
Between them, Bale, James and Benzema have made a grand total of 12 Liga starts this season. The French forward accounts for six of those - he also scored six goals as he raced out of the blocks at the start of the season - while the Welshman has played from the start five times.
However, all three are now ready for action. Benitez confirmed on Friday they will all be in the squad for the Barca game. For too long now, Madrid’s galacticos have been in the shadow of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez; it’s time for them to steal some of the spotlight back. The only worry is: just how fit are they?
Due to the birth of his second child, Lionel Messi missed training in the build up to Barcelona’s game against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon earlier this season. Luis Enrique, therefore, decided to start him on the bench. Messi, of course, came off that bench with a big smile on his face to score the winner in a 2-1 victory.
In the lead up to this week’s trip to the Spanish capital, the Argentine has been able to train. However, the difference this time is that he has not played since the end of September, when he injured ligaments in his knee against Las Palmas.
Luis Enrique says there is no chance of Messi being at 100 per cent for the clash with Madrid, but he did not rule out throwing him in from the start after his eight week lay-off. But would he be better off coming on as a substitute, like he did against Atletico?
0 comments :
Post a Comment