FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are set to renew their La Liga rivalry this afternoon at Nou Camp. Any day, a game involving the two Spanish giants remains a cracker. But there is huge doubt if this one would be so, as football has time and again, defiles calculus. This evening’s outing may be a one-sided one, with Barca clearly favoured to win.
Defending champions, Real Madrid, from the beginning of the season have served notice that they are in no mood to keep their trophy. At the moment, they are fifth on the La Liga table with 24 points and have allowed table-toppers, Barcelona to open a nine-point lead after 14 league games, allowing Villarred, Valencia and Sevilla to go in front.
Last weekend, their fans at Santiago Bernabeu booed them, because despite their superb comeback, they still slumped 4–3 to visiting Sevilla. They are suffering their worst injury plague, which has knocked out defender Mohamadu Diarra, Pepe, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Weshey Sneijder and Gebriel Heinze. Even Miguel Torres has joined them in the treatment room.
Right now, moral at the team is at its lowest ebb. Early in the week, Real board rose to announce manager Bernd Schuster’s sack, replacing him with former Tottenham Hotspor’s reject, Jaunde Ramos. Hours before Schuster’s sack, the coach had expressed doubt over Real’s resolve to mount a Bercelona challenge, an outburst that may have fueled the board’s anger. Even choice goalkeeper, Iker Casillas had before now expressed similar sentiment, admitting:
“We are going through a bad run. At the moment, it seems our opponents will have three chances and score three goals. I have been 10 seasons in Premiera Liga and this, for now, is the worsted start I have had.”
As they trudge out at Nou Camp, it seems only Fernando Gago, Javier Sariola, Gonzala Gago and a few others are left. Their efforts will be complimented by quit a number of fringe players in the team. With rusty Ramos just days in the squad, only a miracle will save them from a routing, as they seem to be engaged in a reverse gear.
Meanwhile, Barcelona is in blistering form and have waxed stronger with every game. On Sunday, they walloped Valencia 4–0 with Arsenal’s former skippers, Thierry Henry taking a hat trick. Samuel Eto’o Fil’s is back in sensational scoring form. Lionel Messi too is firing in lots of goals. They have lost just once to Numancia on August 31 and after that, draw 1–1 to Racing Santander. Since then, they have been hitting La Liga teams real hard with a minimum of 2–0 defeats.
Manager Joseph Gaudiola has caused massive revival at Nou Camp, bringing in the long awaited new dawn.
Victory over Real this afternoon remains a clear sign that their title hunt is for real. There is little doubt that this season is theirs, as the future for them is becoming as clear as daylight.
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