El Clasico!

The big one tonight and I 'm looking forward to it.

If Real can avoid defeat then you'd have to fancy them to go on to win La Liga. That said I fancy a Barca win. 3-1 for me.

What do you guys think?

Cheers guys.

2-1 Barca. Guardiola gets uner Mourinho's skin and I can't see anything else but a Barca win. Also, Marcelo or Ramos to get sent off.

I can see Mourinho being banished to the stands again! Good call on the red card. I'd be shocked if it finishes 11 v 11.

Mourinho is a tactical genius and I wouldnt bet against him playing for a draw. There four pts clear of Barca and they've got a huge game against Bayern coming up midweek. A draw would be celebrated as if they've won the title.

Ah, El Clasico. The home of diving, awful tackles, awful atmospheres, imaginary cards, conning the ref and maybe, just maybe, there will be some football. I'll say 2-1 Madrid with two red cards.

True John. Yes a 0-0 would suit him down to the ground no matter how ugly it looks.

3-2 to Madrid or Barca.

2 red cards.

Ronaldo and Ozil to score as well as Messi and Inestia.
no idea who gets the winner.

Duty281 wrote:Ah, El Clasico. The home of diving, awful tackles, awful atmospheres, imaginary cards, conning the ref and maybe, just maybe, there will be some football. I'll say 2-1 Madrid with two red cards.

Since when were Man Utd in El Clasico?

What time is KO tonight?

It's 7pm UK time but 1am in the morning here, but worth it.

Thanks Lorus

Looking forward to it, both teams feeling the effects of long seasons imo.

Would like a Madrid win, unfortunately can see Barca winning in another messy, ill disciplined game.

I think the Barca line up looks surprisingly weak, obviously one eye on the Chelsea tie.

Fabregas and Sanchez replaced with Tello and Thiago.

1-0 to Real Madrid after 17 minutes. Sami Khedira scores a scrappy goal from a corner.

Game has lived up to expectations I think, Real Madrid happy to let Barcelona have the possession and play to their own strengths which are counter-attacking at pace. Barcelona do look stretched at the back but if Madrid aren't careful Barca will score and back into the game, they have already broken through once.

Pathetic keeping and defending for the goal.

Chelsea will take note of that and try and get a couple of corners.

Crimey wrote:Chelsea will take note of that and try and get a couple of corners.

They'll need more than 1 man up front on the bigger camp nou pitch to attempt that.

Interesting game,

Can't help but feel guardiola is showing some niavity here - having no centre half in the centre of defense and Puyol against Ronaldo with Alves on the right wing just seems counter productive.

Barca have looked really flat and insipid in the first half.

I think most would agree that Real are better than Chelsea.

Rafa Benitez has been on British TV alot lately. I'm half expecting him to walk into the Queen Vic on Monday night.

Ronaldo: Pure class.

Thoroughly deserved victory for Real.

Not sure how he missed that one at the end though, think it just hit him.

Pleased for Madrid, they've worked so hard to try and over come Barcelona.

Cracking winner from Ronaldo, the difference between Real's defensive performance tonight and against Bayern was unreal. Granted I was mainly focuse on the rugby tonight, but Real were solid defensively but abysmal last week.

Why Tello?

Showed the perfect way to beat Barcelona tonight, tried it before, but the players got too tired with the high-pace, pressing play, but tonight they kept it up for 90 minutes. Barcelona like to dictate the pace but the speed of Real and their pressing forced Barca into mistakes.

Real were helped with Guardiola seemingly concentrating on the Champions League game dropping Sanchez and Fabregas. Tello was a really odd selection, only one start in the league before this game, if he wanted to rest Alexis Sanchez, Pedro would have been a better pick, even if he is out of form.

Cristiano Ronaldo once again coming good, proving the doubters wrong. Messi just isn't the same player when Barca aren't on form, probably why he can't carry Argentina.

Simple Reasoning:

Take Ronaldo out of Real and they will suffer but continue.

Take Messi out of Barca and they will falter greatly. That tippy tappy nonsense was useless tonight and I think, after a long, long time, they have been sussed. Mind you, I still expect Chelsea to get the backlash on Tuesday.

Duty281 wrote:Ah, El Clasico. The home of diving, awful tackles, awful atmospheres, imaginary cards, conning the ref and maybe, just maybe, there will be some football. I'll say 2-1 Madrid with two red cards.

*Cough* *Cough*

If that was David Villa instead of Tello then the result would of been different without doubt, shocking misses.

I agree Barcelona are not the same side, I don't think they've been found out but there tempo and slickness has gone. I think, sadly, that Xavi's achilles injury is starting to effect him, never have I seen him play so poorly or be so least effective in back to back games. Barcelona's defence is woeful, they need a new centre back and I'm fully expecting them to complete the move for Javi Martinez in the summer.

Madrid's depth of squad is what has won them the title this season. I fully expect Barcelona to come back all guns blazing next season. Will be a truly magnificent encounter if they both reach the champions league final. I do think that this season's tough schedule of game ending in the champions league really will be a disadvantage for Spain in the Euro's.

When is Villa expected to return?

End of the season I think, possibly in time for Euro 2012.