SPANISH SUPER CUP PRESENT EL CLASSICO

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 2^nd 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