It did not look good, but it is still #1 in Spain. It is big improvement from last season, despite all things said about them. I did not think samual was the reason. So the old same team simply played better. Last season at the peak of Real Madrid's season, I did not think they can stand a chance against the tight defensive teams from Italy in the CL. This year, I am getting more confident.
RM has offensive players to spare, but the loss of Helguerra is a real (pun intended) blow. Does GR play Samuel & Pavon in the middle? Is Samuel & Mejia an option since Pavon is healthy? Samuel seemed to get fired up after his goal, but he is a long way short of his 25 million Euro price tag. Samuel & Pavon give away a lot of free kicks & I doubt we want to give Ronaldino so many opportunities. And we know Eto'o is going to have a big game. In a strange way, I feel more confident with Guti taking up the D mid role. Guti's passing & vision are first class, but it has been his more intelligent tackling & work rate that has made him a starter.
IT will come down to how Madrid defend in their third of the park. With Beckham and Guti playing the midfield for Madrid I am confident that Xavi,Deco can win the middle of the park battle for us. If Xavi play like he played for Spain last night I'm chalking up a 3-0 Barca victory.
Don't you have your own Barcelona forum to present your fantasies in? A lot of things might happen Saturday, but 3-0 for Barcelona just isn't one of them. By the way, is it true that Guilly & Puyol aren't playing?
i think if he can control his emotion for the whole game, then he'll have a great game. seriously, i fear that in the game full of intensity like this he'll get a red card. no problem if he get it in 90" and real is leading -say- 2-0..