The soccer world will be frozen in front of their TVs this Sunday as the FC Barcelona host Real Madrid at 1 PM ET at Camp Nou in most anticipated Spanish football derby in the last years.
These two teams are arguably the two most famous squads on the planet filled with playmakers that can change the course of game with a single kick.
Both teams are coming off wins in the Champions League, however the victory of the “Azulgranas” 2-0 over the Italian Champion Inter Milan said more than the “Merengues” win 1-0 over Zurich; especially since Barcelona played without their best striker Lionel Messi and Swede striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic; both of whom remain questionable for this Sunday.
The big news for Real Madrid this week is that world class winger Cristiano Ronaldo played for the first time in 2 months last Wednesday after recovering from a nagging ankle injury suffered in a World Cup qualifier with Portugal.
Ronaldo still has some bad blood with Barcelona as the “Azulgranas” defeated him and their former squad Manchester United 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League final on May. “I’m definitely ready to play in Barcelona. I’m feeling good and I want to play. Now it’s down to the coach whether I start”, said CR9.
This game will be a battle of styles. Despite Real Madrid’s Golden Ball trophy winners Ronaldo and Kaka, Barcelona is a better prepared team with more playing time together and that could end up being a defining factor.
“They are top of the table for a reason; they’ve won almost all of their games this season and we know they can hurt us if we allow them to,” the Barcelona defender Charles Puyol explained. “The most important thing for us is that we keep possession and play as we know how to. I think it will be an evenly balanced game.”
At this point the “Merengues” lead the Spanish league standings with 28 points, just one more than Barcelona. “Is time put distance between ourselves and Barcelona in terms of points on the board”, said RM goalkeeper Iker Casillas. “We know that Barça play good football but we’re not going there with any kind of fear. We’re first in the Liga and top of our UEFA Champions League group. We’ll do our talking on the pitch and we won’t be out there waiting to see what they do. It’s going to be a beautiful and emotional game.”
Real Madrid hasn’t forgotten the last time these two teams met, when Barcelona was unstoppable and ended up crushing the “Merengues” 6-2 in Madrid with outstanding performances from Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi.
The last time when these 2 met in Barcelona the home team also won 2-0.
Consider these soccer betting trends: on the last 10 derbies played at Camp Nou Barcelona have won 3, Real Madrid 2 and have tied 5 times. On totals goals overall Barcelona have scored 153 and Real Madrid 93 in a classic played at Barcelona.
Sourced via betus.com
Popularity: 2% [?]
