Barcelona and Real Madrid meet on Tuesday with a spot in the Copa del Rey Final on the line, in the first of two El Clasico matches this week.
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Get ready for the Clasico that really matters
There are two El Clasico matches this week but it’s pretty clear that the first one on Tuesday, which is for a place in the Copa del Rey Final, is the one that matters.
Jasper Juinen
With Barcelona holding a 16 point lead in La Liga, the second El Clasico match is likely to be the less important of the two meetings. Even Barcelona's assistant coach Jordi Roura echoed that opinion in his post-match press conference on Saturday.
“The Clasicos are always important. The one on Tuesday is decisive in the cup competition. The one on Saturday is not as decisive, so the game on Tuesday is more significant.”
So what does that mean? Buckle up! Both teams want to win this match.
More from our team blogs: Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes
Jose Mourinho tried to rest some key players against Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday, but three of those players were forced into action in order to salvage a victory. Cristiano Ronaldo, Sami Khedira and Mesut Özil all logged some minutes, but they should be in good shape for Tuesday. One player who won't be in available is Ángel di María who picked up a red card late in the Depor match and will miss the semifinal second leg.
Jordi Roura chose not to start a few players of well, including Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Pedro. Xavi and Busquets both subbed in the second half. Somewhat surprisingly, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta both started but considering how bad they played against AC Milan, it makes sense that both players maybe wanted to get right back on the pitch and try to work through some the passing issues that haunted them in their Champions League loss.
Neither side will be dealing with any major issues (unless someone gets hurt in training) so with the exception of di Maria, it looks like we'll get two teams with full strength lineups. Tito Vilanova could be back to coach Barca in their Champions League second leg match but he'll not be on the sideline for this one unfortunately.
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