HERE WE GO AGAIN!
For the second time in one week, Real Madrid host Barcelona at the Bernabeu for the 2nd leg of the Spanish La Liga fixture.
The last fixture between these teams three days ago fell in favour of Barcelona as they ran riot in the second half against a Real Madrid team that outplayed them for the majority of the 90 minutes but couldn't register a single goal.
Real Madrid
Los blancos would sought to avenge the 3-0 loss suffered at the hands of Barcelona few days ago but with doing that, they have to correct the one mistake that prevented them from securing a win or a draw against Barcelona last time out, lack of finishing.
Real Madrid attacked Barcelona with more fluidity in the encounter few days ago, were more solid in defence, covered each section of their half well and pressed impressively, restricting the Barcelona team to 0 shot on target in the first half. They utilized the pace and experience of the front men especially speedster Vinicius Junior who was a constant threat to Nelson Semedo for most part of the match. They did the nice works mostly but were let down in front of goal either by terrible finishing from the forward men or the keeper's brilliance.
Team News
Marcos Llorente is the only reported absentee as other players, including Raphael Varane who bruised his knee in the last El Clasico was marked fit to start.
Barcelona
The Blaguarana would be seeking to earn another win against their main rival in football in front of their own fans and solidify their stay atop the league and increase their chances of lifting the league title once again.
The Copa Del Rey match against Real Madrid was not an easy one for the Barca team and the scoreline would have been different had the Real Madrid front men being clinical in front of goal. However, the typical Valverde's Barcelona are known to be the patient dogs who eat the fattest bone. They could do nothing about Real Madrid's speedy Vinicius or the surprising experience of Marcelo's replacement Sergio Reguilon and the movement and link up of Karim Benzema but they were patient enough to wait for a mistake or miscalculation from the Real Madrid defense for them to pounce on the opportunity.
The opportunity came by 5 minutes into the second half and they took it through striker Luie Suarez and went on to add two more with the latter being a penalty. Happy about getting the win over playing fun football, Barcelona would follow the same principle provided that would get them this most deserved win to increase/solidify their chances of winning the league.
Team News
Rafinha, Thomas Vermalean and Jasper Cilessen are the only absentees from the team.
Conclusion
This would be another exciting encounter, both teams have reasons to come all out and chase the win. Real Madrid needs to make a statement and retain their prestige after it was painfully dashed in front of their own fans few days ago and Barcelona has this urge to always put Real Madrid in a difficult situation coupled with they want to extend their lead over the whites. It would be quite entertaining to watch.
The decision and tactics of both coaches would play a major part in deciding this match. Barcelona's best player Lionel Messi decided to sit back and dictate play for the other forwards last time out, probably due to just returning from injury but this time out, he might just be the punished and finisher considering the amount of talent lodged inside the Argentine.
It remains to be seen which players would rest and which would make the starting line ups but one thing is certain, both teams would be going for the win again.
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