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Real Madrid vs Barcelona live Stream online free 10-12-2011
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Real Madrid will play FC Barcelona for the infiniti-eth time in the last year on Saturday (22:00 CET, 4:00 PM EST) at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid; the world will come to a standstill as the two best teams on the planet go head to head in football's greatest rivalry. For Real Madrid, this match will be all about building: on the results from the season to date, on the confidence gained from last year's "clásico rally" and the Supercopa, and on the positive sensations that have emanated from the club all year. For Barcelona, this match is all about confidence: wrecking Madrid's confidence with a brutal win, rebuilding their fan's confidence after going down by six points, proving that they have the heart and the confidence in their own system and skills to win this type of game.
ReplyDeleteBecause that's what this clásico has become for FC Barcelona: "that type of game." A possible season-ender. A moment of reflection, inflection. For the first time in a very, very long time they will come in to a match without that vaunted mantle of "prohibitive favorites" that has stuck with them since the beginning of the Pep Guardiola era; in fact many commentators--and betting houses--have them as slight underdogs (the line is currently 2.35 to 2.89 to Real Madrid, though if I were a gambling man I'd consider betting on a draw at 3.5-1). But maybe this is exactly what this incarnation of FC Barcelona needs--a big game.
For José Mourinho's Real Madrid, this game couldn't really come at a better time: they're in the best form of any side in the world (except Lyon, whose ridiculous 1-7 Champions League win really should be investigated by UEFA), most of their important star players/benchwarmers are recovered from nagging injuries (Kaká, Arbeloa), and they're leading Barcelona by a whopping six points (which is a lot in la Liga). But hey, everyone remembers what happened last year in this early Winter fixture.
ReplyDeleteStar-divide
So here we are. Everyone knows the plot lines by now--"will Pep start a three-man defense?" "if Madrid wins is la Liga over?" "will David Villa start?!?!" "OMG Messi/Cristiano is SO MUCH BETTER than Cristiano/Messi"--and we're all saturated with articles about formations, tactics, and more tactics. If you're not, then check out Managing Madrid's tactical preview (courtesy of Lucas), and my brief piece on formations (also, Laila's article on team mentalities is fantastic, as is Timm's recollection of the 1943 General's Cup clásico). But if you'll humor me, I'd like to talk a little about the match here.
Instead of doing a classically-organized preview, where I talk briefly about both sides then give a prediction, I'm going to go ahead and try something new: I present to you "An Idiot's Guide to El Clásico 2011-2012".
They move the ball with incredible finesse around the field with a series of rapid, precise, and most importantly short passes. It will be Madrid's job to break this tactic up as much as possible through a hyper-intense press that Mourinho debuted on the big stage in the 2011 Supercopa to great aplomb. At the center of this press is the idea that Barcelona's possession can be turned against them: Mourinho's theory (and really, it's my theory that I'm extrapolating on to Mourinho) is that there are two types of possession (I call them "positive" and "negative" possession). While Barcelona is undeniably the best team in the world at keeping possession, this does not mean that they are the best at creating "positive" possession, or possession that directly leads to scoring chances (or at least carries the very real threat of creating a scoring chance). Mourinho's strategy has, in the past, centered on turning Barcelona's possession into "negative" possession, or possession where a side lacks scoring chances either because of a lack of clear offensive ideas, a strong defensive scheme, or both. So, noticing that Barcelona is dominating possession of the ball does not imply that Barcelona will win, or are even likely to win; the key for Real Madrid will be to ensure that Barcelona's possession does not result in scoring chances, that is, that it remains as negative as possible. (Note: I'm not saying that Barça won't score, or have scoring chances. This is a feel and vision argument: what I'm saying is that Madrid need to make Barça seem as non-threatening as possible).
ReplyDeleteHello friends,
ReplyDeleteI came to your blog and have been reading along your posts. I decided I will leave my first comment.
Barcelona will win
ReplyDeletemessy 2 goals,,,,,,,,,,, expectations