[size=14pt]Barcelona v Real Madrid: el Clasico preview [/size] written by Guillem Balague

Despite all the hype and furore surrounding the return of Florentino Perez to the Real Madrid presidency – a return that heralded a summer of unprecedented spending at the Bernabeu - I think that most level headed Madridistas would have been absolutely ecstatic if you`d suggested to them that their team would be sat at the top of the La Liga table – above FC Barcelona – when the bitter rivals clash at the Camp Nou -

After all, even the most die-hard would have recognised that this no ordinary Barcelona side that Madrid were attempting to challenge and that if they could even get to within touching distance of last season`s European and domestic treble winners, then Florentino`s newly assembled star studded line-up had done pretty well to find some consistency in such a short space of time. Throw in the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo has been missing for over half of Madrid`s league fixtures, combined with a few well worn clichés about Rome not being built in a day – and you`d think that everyone in Madrid would be absolutely delighted with the progress that Pellegrini has made so far. You might think that, but of course, Madrid being Madrid, or maybe we should say, football being football, you`d be wrong.


Pellegrini has led this Madrid side to, statistically, one their best-ever starts to a Spanish league season - not since three points were introduced for a win in the 1995/96 season have Madrid picked up 28 points from their opening 11 games - yet despite that, the former Villarreal coach has found himself dangerously close to the Bernabeu trap door on more than one occasion.


People inside the club had even suggested that he could be sacked if Madrid lost to Barcelona at the Camp Nou! However, they are now having doubts about that: which is symptomatic of a knee jerk school of strategic planning. The problem is, for Pellegrini`s detractors, it`s not the results that are the problem: it`s the manner in which they`ve been obtained. The home win over Racing Santander at the weekend sums up Madrid at the moment: it was uninspiring, maybe even a little fortunate if you count the visitor`s incorrectly disallowed goal, but they got there in the end.

This is not enough for those who believe that if you spend astronomical amounts on players, they ought to be producing out of this world performances the minute you put them in the same coloured kit. All of which helps explain why the Madrid sports daily Marca feels that it is necessary to attack the Madrid coach on a daily basis and ,even when Madrid win to go top of the table, as they did on Saturday, the front page on Sunday declares: VICTORY (DESPITE PELLEGRINI).


Yet this criticism of the coach is excessive, because the team has been improving and after an entirely forgivable initial settling in period he is getting closer to finding his ideal team, formation and system.

The Chilean has taken some bold decisions to resolve some of the problems that the team encountered in their earlier fixtures: for example, Guti and Raul have been marginalised to bring about greater cohesion both tactically (they are using a more direct style that suits Benzema, Kaka, Higuaín, Cristiano…) and psychologically: ever since the pair found themselves on the sidelines, Madrid have gone unbeaten and look like more of a team, putting in their best performances to date against Milan after that humiliating cup exit to lower league opposition. Higuaín has effectively come into the side as Raul`s replacement and – after finally getting the chance he so thoroughly deserves – is repaying his coach with 4 goals in 3 games (a goal every 58 minutes which is considerably better than Raul`s 194 minute strike rate).

Even the president should be happy with the selection, as Higuain is making Karim Benzema, Perez` €35 million striking investment, look a lot better than he did alongside Raul. On Saturday, they looked much more solid at the back and Pellegrini made the best use of his midfield yet: deploying Xabi Alonso as the only defensively minded player at the back of a diamond that included Drenthe and Granero on the left and right, with Kaka effective at the forward tip.


That is not to say that Madrid are not without there shortcomings, and their style of play and system at the moment still means that they do not have the players or the formation to control a game or dominate in possession: they are reliant upon a direct, counter attacking approach as soon as they win the ball back.

The return of Ronaldo, who should be fit for el Clasico, is vital. His absence has certainly been felt in as much that Madrid have won only four of their nine competitive matches since Ronaldo has been sidelined - compared to previously winning all seven with the former United man in the team. All of which underscores the fact that Madrid, despite their points tally, are still reliant upon individuals and still not the finished article as a cohesive unit – which bring us round to their opponents in this weekend`s massive fixture.

Because, despite a recent dip in form, FC Barcelona are one of the finest teams around and when it comes down to controlling possession and dominating a game, there is nobody better than Guardiola`s side: which is why I make them favourites to beat Pellegrini`s team at the weekend.

Madrid can hurt Barcelona on the break, they do have the individuals who can inflict damage upon any team – but unless they are able to control the game for any length of time, they will be punished. We`ve already seen this on previous occasions this season when Madrid were beaten by quality sides (Sevilla and AC Milan) and it is fine surrendering possession to weaker opponents – as they did in the home game against Tenerife, for example – but if they do that at the Camp Nou, they will spend ninety minutes chasing shadows.


Barcelona aren`t without their faults either at the moment and they are not playing at the same level that enthralled us last season. It`s all relative, but we might even say that they are going through a mini-crisis: drawing their last three away fixtures and we`re hearing criticism of Guardiola for the first time in the Catalan press.

These are challenging times for the Spanish and European Champions and they face a daunting run of fixtures in the coming weeks: by the time you read this they will have hosted Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday - knowing anything other than a victory could create serious problems - followed by the visit of Madrid to the Nou Camp for `El Clasico` next weekend. Before the Christmas break, Barcelona face a tough trip to Deportivo la Coruna and a derby against Espanyol in La Liga, as well as a freezing winter trip to Dynamo Kiev in a match that could decide whether they progress in the Champions League. Plus they travel to Abu Dhabi for the World Club Cup. All of which add concern to the fact that the team have appeared mentally and physically tired in recent weeks. On top of that, they have injury worries over Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and, although both could be cleared to feature in midweek, the fitness of Barca`s two leading scorers ahead of el Clasico has got people worried behind the scenes at the Camp Nou.

I had a private chat with Pep Guardiola last week and there are worries about Ibra who has been unlucky with injuries and was in the same situation at Inter. The former Inter striker has been pivotal for Barcelona until now and one of the keys to his success is that more than 50 per cent of the goals he scores have been the first goal for his team – which partially explains why the team are drawing games in his absence.


However, that is jot the complete picture: Barcelona have been making far too many individual mistakes that are proving costly and they have been struggling against physical teams. Since Valencia showed everyone else the way, teams have been pressuring the Barcelona midfield, smothering Xavi and breaking up the endless triangles the Barcelona midfield pass the ball around to mesmerise the opposition. In the draw with Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, Barcelona even resorted to long balls: a horrendous mistake when you are playing without a recognised centre forward and the entire front line are dwarfed by the opposition.


Yet, despite the fact that teams have come up with a way to make life difficult for Barcelona, I don`t think that Real Madrid are the kind of team that will play in a way that has caused them to struggle. They have neither the personnel nor the inclination to play that way at the moment and their style could pay right into Barcelona`s hands. This game reminds me of the circumstances surrounding the build-up to last season`s reverse fixture at the Bernabeu: Real Madrid had closed the gap on Barcelona, the team in white had won an astonishing 17 of their last 18 league games and the pressure on Guardiola`s side was supposed to be unbearable. Yet we knew then – just as we suspect now – that Barcelona were, and still are, the better team.

Guardiola`s side may have dipped recently, but we know that they can - and will respond to pressure – that they can raise their game when the time comes and that they have the system to beat Madrid. Pellegrini`s side, on the other hand, are still a work in progress and despite my defence of them earlier, if Barcelona produce a performance even close to anything like their best, they still have a long way to go to be at the level of their Catalan rivals as a collective unit.

That doesn`t mean we will see a repeat of last season`s humiliating 2-6 defeat at the Bernabeu, but it does leave me suspecting that Madrid fans will need to be patient for a little longer before we can truly say that they are ahead of FC Barcelona.
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