by Anton Johan
After their convincing 2-0 victory against Racing Santander on Sunday, Real
Madrid may be forgiven for being confident going into what will arguably be
their most important game this season, Saturday's 'El Clasico' match
against long-time and bitter rivals for the La Liga title, Barcelona.
With Real Madrid and Barcelona currently tied at the top of La Liga standings
with 77 points, while third place team Valencia is adrift with only 56 points,
this year La Liga has turned into a 'two horse race' as the two biggest teams in
Spain prepare for the showdown that could yield the ultimate winner.
Come Saturday, Real Madrid will host Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu in what will
undoubtedly be a electric game, where tensions will run high and even the
smallest mistakes could prove costly. Fans of both teams lucky enough to have
tickets to watch the El Clasico are thanking their lucky stars.
Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini seems confident that his side is in top form
and ready to take down Barcelona this weekend, and gain an unassailable lead in
the La Liga standings. 'It's important to win and we did,' he explained after
Sunday's victory. 'We had left our strength and a clean sheet.'
'We were not brilliant on the offensive, but we had more chances. Overall I am
satisfied with our strength,' he said. 'Now we must concentrate on our match
against Barcelona. Both sides arrive at the right time, having recorded many
victories. We need to recover the points we lost at the Camp Nou.'
However, bear in mind that Barcelona also had a confidence boosting weekend by
dispatching Athletic Bilbao 4-1, a stronger team than Racing Santander. And
while Real Madrid might be a force this season, don't discount Barcelona's
burning desire to win the La Liga title for the third straight year.
Interestingly, when polled about who they think will win Saturday's El Clasico,
55 percent of Real Madrid fans said they thought Barcelona will travel to
Santiago Bernabeu as the favourites for Saturday's game, compared to 45 percent
who believe that Real Madrid will win the game and the La Liga title.
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