The battle of battles. The most watched match on the

Blue Planet. We are only hours away from the clash

between the 2 bitter eternal rivals. The last time they

met in La Liga, they gave us a six-star football match

and we should wait nothing short of that this Saturday.

Despite all the details, all the predictions, all the talks

and tactics. But there is always one Ultimate Question :

Who will Emerge Victorious ?

Top Form

Both teams enter this game in their best form, especially

on the offensive side. They are scoring for fun winning

a match after the other. Their excellent form reflects in

their star players. Both Ronaldo and Messi are on the

top of their game. One is outscoring most of Europe

clubs all by himself while the other is wreaking havoc in

his “False 10” position. This is a promising signal of yet

another top-class football match.

Tactical Shape

Barcelona doesn’t seem to change their tactical shape.

The 4-3-3 (or 4-3-1-2) is probably the formation they

are going to play with, simply because there is no

reason to change it. Mascherano and Busquets will

play in their usual positions. I can’t see Xavi starting

(Though I think he should ) the game but rather being

used as an effective sub when things get complicated.

We should not forget that Barcelona have to build Ivan

Rakitic big-games personality since Xavi is on the verge

of retiring. Real Madrid, on the other hand, won’t play in

their normal shape due to Bale’s injury. They will play in

4-4-2 instead. It worked magically against the Reds in

champions league but, Liverpool aren’t on level with Barca.

The problem is Madrid has no other choice to go with.

Suarez

A lot of talk preceding the match was about

EL Clasico new star : Luis Suarez. Is he fit ?

Is He ready ? Will he play ?. To me, it is

insensible not to play the Uruguayan,

1- It is not his first match since the ban.

2- Players of his type can be decisive in

their poorest nights.

3- Looking at the player in his spot, 50%

Suarez is better than the current Pedro.

I expect to see the Golden Boot winner play

in the most advanced position in the squad.

Bale Absence

Let’s simply balance the changes which the

Welshman absence will cause in the team.

What the team will win :

More defensive contribution from the

offensive line. Isco defensive performance

is better than any other offensive midfielder

in Real Madrid. Was it not for Bale’s injury,

Isco would have no chance to show that.

What the team will lose :

The perfect weapons. Bale has a high pace

and a good crossing ability that neither Isco

nor James posses. These are probably the

two most effective weapons to harm Enrique’s

side. (See : Barcelona vs PSG).

So, it’s hard to say that the Welshman loss is

devastating. It is even harder to ignore it.

Where Barca Have The Edge

The Catalans beat their rivals in an extremely

important factor in such games. While Los

Merengues have Ronaldo as their sole decisive

player, Barca have Messi, Neymar and the

likely to be in Luis Suarez. Real Madrid have

many high-quality players but other than the

Portuguese, none is expected to be a game

changer. Their other decisive player is injured.

This will make holding Barcelona and “paralyzing”

them much harder than Madrid who has one

main man to worry about. He is undoubtedly a

human beast but, he is still one.

Key Players

Just to clarify, I don’t believe in the theory which

says that a couple of players can decide the

match totally on their own.In such matches,

There is no player with zero or even near-zero

importance. However, some players are surly

have more weight. That being said, Ronaldo,

Messi and Iniesta are the givens of this section.

You don’t expect anything less from the best 3

players of the generation.In his current form,

Neymar can also turn the match. While Real

are too busy marking the former two, he may

slip into the penalty area and then, you should

expect a ball hitting the back of the net. Modric

is Madrid Unsung hero. He is the brain of the

team and its 2nd most important player. In a

match where his team will not probably have

the most possession, they will need him to make

the most of their time on the ball. Busquets was

never less than a key player. His under-dilevery

against PSG proved catastrophic to Blaugrana.

Let that happen again against the better-quality

Madrid team, we may see the worse. Isco is the

last on the list simply for the significant roles he

has at both offensive and defensive areas.

The Unstoppable Force Meets

The Easily Removable Object

Both teams are surely more than happy with

their offensive product. At the same time, they

have to be more than worried about the other

end. Barcelona didn’t concede any goal in La

Liga so far (Record). However, they conceded

three against the only really challenging attack

they faced. Similarly, Real Madrid seem to still

have issues with crosses and set-pieces. Also,

nobody can be sure if Casillas sloppy mistakes,

like the one against ATM, is now from the past.

Hard Call, Very Hard Call

From everything said above, we can conclude

that this Clasico is the toughest to predict in a

very long time. In most of recent memory cases,

one could see that one team has an advantage,

no matter how small, over the other based on

form or circumstances. This one is different. It’s

both teams’ second test after failing in the first.

In other words, this is their first real chance to test

their apparent recovery. However, there are some

general clues. Everything about the two rivals this

season shouts : goals carnival. The teams’ quality

level and performances are very close meaning

the result is very likely to be a draw or a one goal

difference win. So here is my prediction :

Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona

I’m anything but super confident about this prediction.

I think Ronaldo and Neymar will register their

names in the scoresheet. And, for some reason,

I feel that Kroos will score his 1st of the season.

What is your prediction of the match result ?

Who do you think will be the man of the match ?

From the Blogosphere :

Real Madrid VS Barcelona: El Clasico Preview l RMadrid37

El Clásico – Preview l JenFCB

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