With Barcelona winning the first leg of their Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu, this match could be something of a dead fixture. It's hard to see Real winning at the Camp Nou by two goals, so one has to imagine that Pep Guardiola's side have a place locked up in the final at Wembley already. So, why watch this game?
Preview: Barcelona Vs. Real Madrid, 2011 UEFA Champions League Semifinal
Simple. Revenge. Madrid are fuming over the red card issued to midfielder Pepe in the second half of what was then a 0-0 draw as well as some rather pathetic behaviour by several Barcelona players in faking head injuries, and manager Jose Mourinho has fanned the flames by insisting that there is some sort of conspiracy for Barcelona to win everything, possibly related to Unicef.
While Mourinho’s delusions are a little bizarre, they’re about all that’s keeping Tuesday’s game interesting. Unless Real Madrid can somehow sneak an early goal whilst simultaneously keeping Barcelona off the scoresheet away from home with several key players and the manager suspended, the match will essentially involve Real Madrid charging about angrily while Barcelona fake injuries. So it’ll be like last week’s match with more real violence then. Yuck.
Injuries and Suspensions
For Real Madrid, the defence is a shambles thanks to suspension. Pepe is suspended following the straight red card issued for his challenge on fullback Dani Alves, and Sergio Ramos foolishly picked up a yellow card for a second-half foul on Lionel Messi. They're bolstered a little by the return of Ricardo Carvalho, who returns from a yellow card suspension of his own, but that will only make up for the absence of Ramos.Sami Khedira is not expected to be fit for the game, with Lassana Diarra again taking his place in the midfield.
Barcelona, on the other hand, are basically unchanged from the last leg, despite suffering major injuries to defenders Martin Montoya and Gabriel Milito last weekend. However, that shouldn't change the lineup that they deployed to great effect in Madrid, which featured captain Carles Puyol as a left back and a centre back pairing of Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique. They should have Andres Iniesta back from injury, but may not risk him in a game that's by and large already won.
Tactics
Will we see an all-out attack from Jose Mourinho's side? Well, I suppose we'll have to. They don't have much choice if they want to get to the final, and with Pepe gone we'll presumably see a 4-2-3-1 from Real with Angel di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo flanking a central striker. Although Emmanuel Adebayor was used for his holdup play in the second half of the reverse fixture, Mourinho might do well to consider more penetrative options such as the fit-again Gonzalo Higuain or Karim Benzema.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola presumably won’t change a thing. I mean, why would he?
Key Matchup
Angel di Maria vs. Dani Alves is probably the most interesting one on one battle, because it’s the most obvious route into the Barcelona defence. Alves has a bad habit of pushing far too high up the pitch when his side are in possession, and if di Maria is on his game he can exploit the space left behind by the marauding right back. Pep Guardiola would do well to curtain Alves’ instincts here, because they could easily result in an early goal for the visitors.
Recent Form
Although both teams lost over the weekend, it’s hard to read much into the defeats. The La Liga title has been won by Barcelona (more or less) and there were bigger fish to fry. So far in the four Clasicos this year, Madrid have been outscored by a combined total of 8-2 in 390 minutes of play, and coming off a 2-0 loss to Barcelona at home isn’t exactly going to give them oodles of confidence.
Time
7:45 PM GMT (2:45 PM EST), Tuesday May 3rd.
Projected Lineups
Barcelona (4-3-3): Victor Valdes; Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Dani Alves; Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andres Iniesta; David Villa, Lionel Messi, Pedro.
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Iker Casillas; Marcelo, Raul Albiol, Ricardo Carvalho, Alvaro Arbeloa; Xabi Alonso, Lassana Diarra; Angel di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo; Gonzalo Higuain.
Pick
I don’t think anyone really believes that Madrid actually have a chance of advancing. Unless a miracle happens, Barcelona will advance, and the reason we call them miracles is because they never happen. Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid; Barcelona win 4-1 on aggregate.
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