Watching El Classico it’s always a treat to many soccer
loving fans around the world.
Tonight the best of La Liga, Barcelona and Real Madrid
clash in the 2nd leg of the Spanish Super Cup at the Camp Nou and
someone has to go down. The first leg on Sunday ended in a 2 all draw at the
Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid.
The winner of today’s game will definitely go into the
new season with a better edge. Going into today’s game Madrid will be chasing
the game by virtue of goal difference; it will be interesting to see how Madrid
will chase the game after their manager Jose Mourinho was criticised for
deploying anti football tactics last season.
On Sunday, the Galacticos looked different and lively
because they were attacking Barca like never before, they were pressing high
and couldn’t let Barca settle into the game, forcing them to play long balls.
At one point of time the commentator went as far as saying “this is un-
Barcelona.” Interestingly, Madrid was pressing and they were going hard on
tackles. They didn’t allow Barca to knock the ball as usual but Barca managed
to capitalise on the two chances they got in the first half of the game.
As the game progressed some of the Real’s players got
booked and they started backing off on hard tackling and this changed the game
into Barca’s favour, the pressing in the second half wasn’t the same anymore
and it allowed Pep Guardiola’s men to be true to themselves. Key to Mourinho
getting better of Barca on the day was going hard on tackles and pressing
Barcelona.
After the game Pep admitted that they didn’t have a good
outing "Absolutely everything about Madrid worries me," Barcelona
coach Pep Guardiola said from the Camp Nou. "If we play the same way we
did it will be very difficult." The big question now will be, is time for
Pep Gurdiola to re-evaluate their style of play?
But some will say “one swallow
doesn’t make a summer,” because some of the key players were not present.
Barcelona’s make shift defence will be under deepest scrutiny again; with Puyol
still missing they might find themselves wanting.
Using the same token of presence, tonight Barcelona will
probably throw their new signee into the mix. What a great time to make a
debut! With the likes of Sergio Busquets still recovering, Cesc might get a
chance to play.
By Terence Mthembu
