This article was originally published as Primera Preview Jornada 17 – January 7/8 2012 on Spain Football Community.

The New Year kicks off with Real Madrid currently 3 points clear at the top of the Liga BBVA, and the Blancos are likely to stay on top as they take on humble Granada at home in the Bernabéu.

Although also expected to bag the points, FC Barcelona have a much tougher game in the Barcelona Derby against their city rivals RCD Espanyol away at Cornellà-El Prat.

The two other interesting games this week are Málaga v Atlético Madrid and Villarreal v Valencia.

In normal circumstances Málaga ought to beat this season’s Atlético but the Colchoneros have just replaced coach Gregorio Manzano with ex-player Diego Simeone, and I’m sure the Atlético players will visit La Rosaleda with a motivation boost.

Villarreal have also changed coach but the new man in charge – Jose Molina – hasn’t caused quite as much excitement as Cholo Simeone at Atlético. However, the Valencian Derby is the Valencian Derby and although Villarreal are having a historically poor season, local pride is at stake.

 Saturday’s Games – January 7 2012

18:00 CET Levante UD v RCD Mallorca

Even though their boat has been rocked a little in December with defeats predictably against Barcelona and more surprisingly against Granada, Levante are still sailing along in fourth position in La Liga. Mallorca have picked up a little since Caparrós took over from Laudrup but are still only in an unconvincing 14th. I’d expect a home win for Levante but wouldn’t discount a draw – Caparrós’s sides always put up a fight and since he took over, Mallorca have scraped a lot of draws, including valuable ones against Valencia, Atlético and Sevilla.

Betfair Match Odds: Levante Mallorca Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Levante 3 Mallorca 3.75 Draw 3.3

Paddy Power Match Odds: Levante 10/11 Mallorca 13/5 Draw 23/10

18:00 CET Racing Santander v Real Zaragoza

This is quite a difficult one. It’s a bottom of the table clash between the 19th and 20th positioned teams in La Liga. As Racing are at home and aren’t quite as bad as the truly awful Zaragoza, I predict a home win for the Cantabrians – they’ve still got a chance of staying up and so have something to fight for.

Betfair Match Odds: Racing Zaragoza Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Racing 2.05 Zaragoza 3.6 Draw 3.3

Paddy Power Match Odds: Racing evens Zaragoza 12/5 Draw 9/4

18:00 CET Real Sociedad v CA Osasuna

Despite having been trounced by both Barça and Madrid this season – 8-0 and 7-1 respectively – Osasuna are one of the Liga BBVA 2011-12 dark horses and are currently placed fifth. They come out of the starting blocks to play football – and that’s the reason why they were so convingly beaten by the Big Two. I like their style very much and am convinced they should have no problems against a struggling Real Sociedad, who are currently 15th.

Betfair Match Odds: Real Sociedad Osasuna Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Real Sociedad 2.3 Osasuna 3.1 Draw 3.25

Paddy Power Match Odds: Real Sociedad 6/5 Osasuna 2/1 Draw 9/4

20:00 CET Real Madrid v Granada CF

What can I say? It’s almost impossible to imagine that lowly Granada – currently 13th can do anything to stop the mighty Madrid machine. Betting on this game is strictly reserved for the most nutty anti-madridistas!

Betfair Match Odds: Real Madrid Granada Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Real Madrid 1.06 Granada 29 Draw 11

Paddy Power Match Odds: Real Madrid 1/16 Granada 20/1 Draw 10/1

22:00 CET Málaga CF v Atlético Madrid

I must admit I fancy an Atlético Madrid away win for this match. They’ve been very disappointing so far this season under Gregorio Manzano’s soft touch leadership style. However, he’s just been replaced by club legend Diego Simeone – a natural-born winner if ever there was one. There’s depth and talent in this Atlético squad and even if ‘Cholo’ Simeone isn’t capable of making permanent changes to the Atlético dynamics, the side are going to come out with a lot to prove.

Málaga, on the other hand, are up there – currently 7th in La Liga  – but given the amount of money invested they are also a little disappointing. Given the odds, I think it’s definitely worth a flutter on Atlético.

Betfair Match Odds: Malaga Atlético Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Malaga 2.2 Atlético 3.3 Draw 3.25

Paddy Power Match Odds: Malaga 11/10 Atlético 11/5 Draw 9/4

Sunday’s Games – 8 Jan 2012

12:00 CET Rayo Vallecano v Sevilla FC

On current form, Sevilla – 5th – ought to beat Rayo quite easily, but I’m not so sure. The Sevillanos are a little inconsistent and come from a 6-2 thrashing by Real Madrid. Rayo – 16th – have been a little unlucky so far in my opinion. They come out quite aggressively and then defend very well. If they score in the early stages of the game, Sevilla are really going to have their work cut out to come away from Vallecas with a point, never mind three!

Betfair Match Odds: Rayo Sevilla Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Rayo 3 Sevilla 2.37 Draw 3.25

Paddy Power Match Odds: Rayo 15/8 Sevilla 5/4 Draw 9/4

16:00 CET Getafe CF v Athletic Bilbao

This match between Getafe and Athletic – 12th and 9th respectively with only 4 points between them could go either way, particularly as it’s being played in the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. Both sides are very strong defensively and are extremely dangerous on the set pieces. With the likes of Llorente and Muniain in attack and Javi Martínez and Ander Herrera in midfield, Athletic are definitely the more talented of the two and so will approach the game with a winning mentality. But Getafe are a tough nut to crack – they managed to beat Barça 1-0 – so although I’d like to see a win for Athletic, it’s deifficult to predict a result with confidence.

Betfair Match Odds: Getafe Athletic Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Getafe 2.62 Athletic 2.62 Draw 3.25

Paddy Power Match Odds: Getafe 6/4 Athletic 8/5 Draw 9/4

18:00 CET Villarreal CF v Valencia CF

Even though Jose Molina has just taken over the coaching responsibilities from Garrido, I’m doubtful whether much can be done about this very disappointing sinking Yellow Submarine side. Valencia look very strong to me and are comfortably positioned in the third spot. There’s a great deal of talent in this Che side – I’m a particular fan of both Jordi Alba and Soldado. However, it’s the Valencia Derby, and if Villarreal are going to want to beat anyone in front of their fans in El Madrigal, it’s going to be Valencia. Having said that I’ll be very surprised if they pull it off.

Betfair Match Odds: Villarreal Valencia Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Villarreal 3.1 Valencia 2.3 Draw 3.25

Paddy Power Match Odds: Villarrea 15/8l Valencia 13/10 Draw 9/4

19:45 CET Real Betis v Sporting Gijón

Sporting are in the relegation zone and Betis are 11th, but only 4 points separate the two sides. This should be a comfortable home win for Betis, but although it may not be common knowledge, Sporting are my second side in La Liga. They’ve always got their backs to the wall but they generally manage to pull through. Although my logical brain tells that this will be a home win for Betis, I’ll probably be putting a few quid on Sporting just for the hell of it.

Betfair Match Odds: Betis Sporting Draw

William Hill Match Odds: Betis 1.95 Sporting 4 Draw 3.3

Paddy Power Match Odds: Betis 10/11 Sporting 13/5 Draw 23/10

21:30 CET RCD Espanyol v FC Barcelona

Ooooooh! This game gives me the willies. Fabulous Barcelona – best team in the world, best players in the history of football etc etc – against humble city rivals RCD Espanyol in Cornellà. Espanyol are currently 8th, Pochettino is a terrific coach, they’ve got some excellent players and despite being overshadowed historically by Barça, the Pericos are one of the most successful sides in the history of La Liga and … they’ve screwed things up for us so many times in the past that I trust about as far as I can throw them.

Obviously, as a committed culer, I shouldn’t be saying this but at these odds a few quid on Espanyol is probably worth the risk. I’m really looking forward to this game by the way and will be found drunk and in full song on the Rambla de Sant Andreu if Barça win – which, of course, is what we’re going to do!

Betfair Match Odds: Espanyol Barcelona Draw

William Hill Match Odds:  Espanyol 12 Barcelona 1.25 Draw 5.5

Paddy Power Match Odds: Espanyol 9/1 Barcelona 1/4 Draw 9/2

Anyway, those are my thoughts on Liga BBVA 2011-12 Jornada 17. Please feel free to make comments in agreement or disagreement (much more likely) below and registered Spain Football Community Members can join the Liga BBVA thread on the Forum.

This article was originsally published as Liga Team of the Week – Jornada 17 on the Spain Football Community.

The Spain Football Fantasy Betting site is now fully operational and it’s time to put together a Liga Team of the Week for Jornada 17. Remember that the system has to be 4-4-2 and you can only use two players from the same club.

Goalkeeper

Both Sevilla’s Javi Varas and FC Barcelona’s Victor Valdés have got better match stats so far this season than Iker Casillas, but I think there are going to be goals scored against them in the Rayo Vallecano v Sevilla game and in Espanyol v FC Barcelona. Real Madrid, however, are playing Granada at home and I think it’s very unlikely that the Granadinos will manage to score in the Bernabéu.

Defenders

Deciding on the Back Four is also a question of choosing players that will give very little away, so I’m going to go for Atlético’s Filipe Luis, Ballesteros from Levante, and Sevilla’s Fernando Navarro. I’m also fielding Barça’s Dani Alves because not only is the Barcelona defence likely to end with a clean sheet, but Alves`attacking role could well mean extra points for an assist or even a goal.

Midfield

In normal circumstances, I’d field a combination of the Barça and Madrid midfields but I can only use two players from each club and I’ve already picked Iker and Alves and I want to use Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in attack, so I’m going to have to use the ‘Best of the Rest’.

I’ve decided to play Sevilla’s Jesus Navas, Athletic Bilbao’s Herrera and Susaeta and Valencia’s Jordi Alba.

Forwards

Up front, there’s no doubt in my mind, it has to be Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, both of them score at least one almost every game and Ronaldo seems to be particpating more in attack, so both are capable of a couple of assists as well.

Substitutes

On the bench, I’ve got one defender – Osasuna’s Sergio – two midfielders – Santi Cazorla from Málaga and Michu from Rayo – and Radmael Falcao from Atlético as my only forward.

Come and Join the Fun!

I’ve only just started playing this game but I think it’s great combination of Fantasy Football and sensible betting. I tend to bet 5 Euro a game, which is not going to break the bank, and depending on how many players there are and how much money is in the pot, you can win much more than that.

Anyway, my UserName is LigaTeam and it would be great to see you on the Spain Fantasy Football Betting site.

Click Here to Visit the Spain Fantasy Football Betting website

You can also watch Liga Team of the Week on YouTube.

This post has absolutely nothing to do with football or Catalonia but it is about a very important sustainable food project being set up and promoted by a friend of mine called Tom Cooley.

It was originally published on his blog 99% Monkeys – http://99percentmonkeys.com/1/post/2011/12/spreading-aquaponics-globally.html – please check it out if you want to get in touch with him and find out more.

Enclosed aquaponics systems require little soil and only around 5% of the water used in more conventional agriculture. In warmer climates, greenhouses aren’t necessary, which allows for substantial reductions in the costs to set the projects up. 

The vision to start a non profit to support aquaponics projects using social media came to me over the past few months when I noticed that a few organizations which are doing great work in the sustainbility and/or aquaponics field have little to no social media presence – no Twitter or Youtube accounts, no Facebook page. Other organizations do have social media accounts, but my experience in learning about social media over the past year leads me to believe that they are either underutilizing their social media accounts or in some cases using them in ways which are not particularly effective. 

This is not just the case for aquaponics and sustainability in particular, but seems rather to be a common theme for many businesses, industries, individuals and topics. Since I feel that aquaponics has the potential to make a huge ecological difference to the planet, I’ve made the decision to help support and educate people who want to focus their energies in that particular realm. This is why I’m in the process of starting a non profit ( 99PercentMonkeys.com ) which has a vision of using social media to help fundraise for, promote and share knowledge for individuals and organizations who want to start aquaponics projects in their local area. The first project in each area is likely to be the most expensive one to start up; ones which follow it can learn from mistakes made in the original project and through a “pay it forward” network can reduce start up costs for fish, plants and other items. As more projects come online, there will be more models for people to learn from in climates similar to their own, which will help reduce costs and mistakes as well.

The non profit will aim to identify and support various fundraising models for aquaponics projects including kickstarter.com or indiegogo.com campaigns, microloans through kiva.org or other similar organizations, subscription model community supported agriculture, potential grant funding research, direct funding of projects through donations or income from the non profit, etc. The non profit will help support projects through promotion of their fundraising efforts, promotion of their videos, pictures, etc., sharing information, teaching the people involved in projects how to use social media more effectively, etc. Aquaponics projects which agree to help support the development of future projects in their area will receive first priority in financial and other assistance from the non profit.

The non profit will also seek to collaborate, network and find crowdsourcing solutions with other like minded groups, individuals and organizations. Time banks and sparked.com are just a few among many great sites which we intend to use to help build and support local and global aquaponics projects. Several of us are starting a new weekly chat on Twitter using the hashtag #sustainchat for people who are interested in connecting, networking and sharing information regarding sustainability. 

This article may be freely shared and republished without modification, for commercial or non commercial purposes, provided a link to the original posting at 99percentmonkeys.com is included.

This article was originally published as Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho – Just A Difference in Style in the Clásico Section of the Spain Football Community

If there’s one thing that stands out when you look at FC Barcelona and Real Madrid over the last couple of seasons, it’s the radically different personal styles of their respective coaches – Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.

Guardiola is calm, collected and despite the team’s enormous success, very self-effacing. In the press conferences, he tends to praise his players rather than taking the accolades for himself and is always very respectful of opposing teams and coaches.

He’s known for his love poetry and art and in Catalonia, is seen as the epitomy of ‘seny’ – a Catalan word meaning something between common sense and fair play.

Jose Mourinho, however, is the complete opposite and in many respects plays Mr Hyde to Guardiola’s Dr Jeckyll. He’s deliberately provacative and loves to be in the limelight. Since he’s been at Madrid, he’s complained so much that referees and the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Board tend to end up giving him what he wants.

In their own different ways, though, both men are the perfect leaders for their respective sides.

Guardiola uses a softly softly approach to a group of players, most of whom have known each other since their teens when they played together in the Barcelona youth teams. It’s pretty obviuos that the team spirit is already there so Pep can apply his philosophy of co-operation and collaboration on very fertile ground.

Mourinho, on the other hand, since his days at Chelsea has always had to deal with groups of superstar players, many of whom have cost the earth and consequently, are under a great deal of pressure from the media, the fans and quite probably their team mates. By taking so much of the limelight, Mourinho successfully diverts much of the attention from his players, and it’s interesting that wherever he’s coached, his ex-players – John Terry at Chelsea is a good example – have always spoken very highly of him.

A Long-Standing Relationship

It’s important to remember that the Guardiola-Mourinho relationship goes back a very long way.

As the picture shows, the two men worked together at Barcelona under Bobby Robson and Louis Van Gaal – Pep was team captain and a club legend while Mourinho was a young coach just starting to make a name for himself by learning the ropes at a big club as second-in-command.

Guardiola left Barça to finish his playing career in Italy, Qatar and Mexico, whilst Mourinho went on to greater things first with Benfica and then with Chelsea.

In 2008, with the departure of Frank Rijkaard from the Barcelona bench, both men applied for the vacant position. At the time, Mourinho seemed to be the clear favourite – he had top level experience whilst Pep only had a year’s managerial experience coaching the Barcelona B team in the Spanish fourth tier Tercera División.

Apparently, at the interview, Mourinho even suggested Guardiola as his assistant, but when the Board asked if he was prepared to change his provocative managerial style, he refused and Guardiola ended up getting the job.

The First Encounter

It seems thar Mourinho’s pride was injured. Even though he went on to win Serie A with Inter Milan in 2009, Guardiola went one better and led Barcelona to Liga and Champions League.

Guardiola remained as prudent as ever, but when Barça faced Inter in the Champions League semi-finals in 2010, the Catalan press began to bad mouth Mourinho. They referred to him as the ‘translator’ harking back to his time at Barcelona when, due to Bobby Robson’s poor Spanish, Mourinho ended up helping him out with the language.

Inter won the game in San Siro 3-1 and Mourinho started crowing loudly. Barça beat them 1-0 in Camp Nou, but as Inter were through to the final, Mourinho strutted like a peacock.

Even after winning the Champions League final, it still seemed that he was even more pleased about having knocked Barça out in the semis. And the what did he do? He took the Madrid job.

Here in Spain, we all rubbed our hands in glee at the prospect of first class managerial entertainment.

Mourinho’s First Season at Madrid

Let’s face it, Jose Mourinho is great value for money. He whinges, moans and provokes and that’s exactly what he did on arriving to the Real Madrid bench. He did go a little quiet, though, when Barça thrashed his superstar team 5-0 in the Santiago Bernabéu in December 2010.

The rest of the Liga season was a two horse race as usual, with Guardiola’s Barcelona a nose in front, but when we heard at the start of April that the two sides were going to play each other 4 times in 18 days sparks were bound to fly.

Barcelona scraped a 1-1 draw in the Liga game against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu and Mourinho managed to keep his calm. However, when his Madrid side won the Copa del Rey in Mestalla four days later, he crowed and hooted so loudly that we could hear him here in Barcelona.

Unfortunately, though there were still two matches to go. The coveted Champions League semi-finals were to be played on April 27 in the Bernabéu and on May 3 in Camp Nou.

And that’s when the shit hit the proverbial fan.

Guardiola Explodes

In an article entitlted ‘José Mourinho’s mind games finally provoke response from Pep Guardiola’, The Guardian described what happened.

‘This time it’s personal. Barcelona’s coach, Josep Guardiola, finally exploded, sending a year of pent-up anger and frustration gushing forth as he responded to José Mourinho on the eve of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.’

Mourinho had provoked Guardiola by referring to comments made after Madrid’s victory in the Copa del Rey final. Guardiola had noted that his side had been close to winning: had a Pedro goal not been ruled out for a very close but correct offside, described by the coach as “the linesman’s good eyesight”. Hardly a complaint about bad refereeing, but rather a regret spoken out load about how close Barcelona had come to winning.

And this is how Mourinho responded. “A new era has begun. Until now there were two groups of coaches. One very, very small group of coaches that don’t speak about refs and then a big group of coaches, of which I am part, who criticise the refs when they have mistakes – people like me who don’t control their frustration but also people who are happy to value a great job from a ref.

“Now there is a third group, which is only [Guardiola], that criticises referees when they get decisions right! There is a new meaning to [football] now. In his first season [Guardiola] lived the scandal of Stamford Bridge [in the semi-final], last year he played against a 10-man Inter. Now he is not happy with refs getting it right. I am not asking the referee to help my team. If the referee is good everyone will be happy – except Guardiola. He wants them to get it wrong.”

The normally reserved Guardiola finally let out a season’s worth of pent-up frustration.

“Tomorrow at 8.45 we will play a match on the field,” Guardiola said. ” Outside of the field, he has won the entire year, the entire season and in the future [it will be the same]. He can have his personal Champions League outside the field. Fine. Let him enjoy it, I’ll give him that. But this is a game. When it comes to sport we will play and sometimes we will win, sometimes we will lose. We are happy with smaller victories, trying to get the world to admire us and we are very proud of this.

“I can give you an immense list of things [that we could complain about]: 300,000 things. We could remember Stamford Bridge and another thousand things but I do not have that many people working for me. Secretaries and referees and people writing stuff. So tomorrow, 8.45pm, we will take to the field and we will try to play football as best as possible.

“In this room [Real Madrid's press room], he is the chief, the fucking man. In here he is the fucking man and I can’t compete with him. If Barcelona want someone who competes with that, then they should look for another manager. But we, as a person and an institution, don’t do that. I could talk about [Olegario] Bequerença [the referee from last season's Barcelona-Inter semi-final first leg], about the offside goal from Diego Milito or the penalty of [Dani] Alves, but I don’t. Well, until tonight!

“If you think after three years, that I always moan, always make excuses and always complain, then there is nothing I can do about that.”

The team’s response was even more convincing though. FC Barcelona knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League by beating them 2-0 in the Bernabéu and drawing 1-1 in Camp Nou. Incidentally, Barça went on to win the Champions League and La Liga.

Mourinho’s Attack On Tito Vilanova

The 2011-12 Liga season began with two fantastic Clásicos in the Spanish Super Cup. And Barça had the upper hand again – 2-2 in Madrid and 3-2 in Barcelona. Judging from the way he reacted, Jose Mourinho must have been feeling a little frustrated.

If one moment has marked the Barça-Madrid rivalry at the start of this Liga season, it’s the incident at the end of the second Spanish Super Cup game where, in the middle of a players’ brawl, Jose Mourinho went over to Pep Guardiola’s assistant Tito Vilanova and poked him in the eye.

Watch this video of what happened and judge for yourself.

Mourinho’s cockiness over the next few days was even more pathetic than his original attack, and isn’t even worthy of comment.

To add insult to injury, he got away with a two-match suspension to be served if, and only if, he’s managing Madrid the next time they qualify for the Super Cup and Vilanova got a one-match suspension for pushing Mourinho in the back in what looks to me like a reflex reaction.

Calm Before The Storm

What’s been very strange over the last month or so is that, despite Madrid’s excellent form – they’re three points clear of Barça at the top of La Liga with a game in hand – Mourinho’s been extremely docile and quiet. No complaining. No moaning. No shouting. No jeering. Perhaps he’s turned over a new leaf.

Whether he has or not, I’m looking forward to the press conference after next Saturday’s Clásico, whatever the result!

This article was originally published as 4-3-3 or 3-4-3? That is the Question Guardiola Faces in the Clásico Section of the Spain Football Community

Like the Prince of Norway, Guardiola is faced with an important question in the run-up to Saturday’s game against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu.

With The Blancos comfortably clear at the top of La Liga table, the Madrid press are suggesting that it’s a question of ‘To Be or Not To Be’ for Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona, but no, no, no … the Barça manager’s philosophical problem runs much deeper than that.

’4-3-3 or 3-4-3? THAT is the question!’

Who Will Guardiola Choose To Play?

After the Levante game, it seemed that starting line-up on Saturday would come from the thirteen players that Guardiola rested against BATE plus Gerard Piqué who, as he missed the match against Levante for the notorious yellow card accumulation, was in need of a competitive game.

However, Piqué stayed on the bench in the 4-0 thrashing of BATE by Barça B, and Pedro and Cuenca put in such fine performances that it’s hard to see how Pep can risk not taking them to Madrid.

4-3-3 – The Obvious Choice?

Let’s face it! However many variations Guardiola has played with so far this season, most Barcelona fans have a Basic 11 First Team in mind.

This would be made up of Valdés in goals, Alves, Mascherano or Puyol, Piqué and Abidal as the Back Four, Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta in Midfield with an attack formed by Messi in the middle flanked by Villa on the left and either Alexis, Pedro or even Cuenca on the right.

But even if he plays 4-3-3, Guardiola just loves to surprise, and given his spectacular recent form it’s hard to see Cesc Fàbregas being left out of the team.

Cesc is becoming increasingly lethal in attack, so in the case of a 4-3-3, Pep will play him in the centre and move Messi out to his old position on the right, sacrificing Alexis, Pedro and Cuenca!

Given his obvious devotion for Keita, he might even play the African in midfield and move Iniesta up to occupy Villa’s position on the left wing.

But I don’t like either of these options!

Despite the Barça attack’s freedom of movement, playing Messi on the right is just a waste of talent, so in the end, I’m convinced that Guardiola will go for a 3-4-3!

It Has To Be 3-4-3

I know Guardiola comes across as calm and collected, but in actual fact he’s a cocky little so-and-so.

In much the same way as Jesus did, his turning the cheek to Madrid and Mourinho’s petty slaps, just shows how confident he is to be not only Catalan but also that he’s the best coach in modern football!

He tried and tested it against lesser Liga sides, he proved it worked against Milan and he’s going to want wipe the floor of Bernabéu with his Cruyff School 3-4-3.

I basically agree with the system shown in the the accompanying picture, with one difference …

Valdés in goals – brave and prepared to come out to close down Cristiano Ronaldo or Di María when he has to.

Puyol – spirit, fight, leadership and Catalan pride at right back.

Mascherano – capable of moving forward to accompany Busquets when necessary in the centre of the defence.

Abidal – an insurance policy if things go apeshit at left back.

Busquets – and there only is one Busquets to close down, provoke and make the Madrid fans raise their hands in horror at the back of the midfield.

Xavi – to create and channel the play on the left side of the midfield.

Iniesta – because Don Andrés is the Pale Knight and strike fear into the hearts of ye of little faith!

Cesc – at front of the midfield constantly changing the False 9 position with Messi.

Villa – on the left of the attack because despite being an unsung hero, give him an inch and he’ll take a mile.

Messi – Pep, please put Messi in the middle! That’s where he does most damage!

…. and last but not least …

Alves on the right wing … Guardiola’s been playing him in different positions recently, has experimented with Adriano in that position and a Madrid-Barça just can’t start without him!

*

I may be completely wrong of course but I think these are the eleven most in-form players at the time of writing and, of course, if everything starts to go arse over tit, Pep Guardiola and his faithful companion Tito Vilanova will have some tasty substitutes on the bench!

This article was originally posted as Possible Madrid Side for Saturday’s Clásico on Spain Football Community.

Real Madrid come to Saturday’s Clásico (10/12/11) with a three point advantage at the top of La Liga, which would be six if FC Barcelona hadn’t brought forward their Week 17 match against Rayo due to their commitments in the FIFA Clubs World Cup in Japan.

So The Blancos will be going into this Clásico with effectively a six-point lead. Consequently, even though they might not want to admit it this means that a draw in Santiago Bernabéu wouldn’t be such a bad result, as they would still be left with a very clear advantage at the top of the table.

It’s quite possible then that Jose Mourinho might make some subtle changes to the starting line-up that we’ve become so familiar with throughout the season.

The picture below (scanned from Monday’s Mundo Deportivo) shows two possible variations – the ‘Anti-Barça’ team is shown first with a more typical eleven at the bottom of the picture.

The Anti-Barça Team

Whilst maintaining the basic 4-2-3-1 system, I would hazard a guess that Khedira could well move forward to play in Ozil’s position – the Germano-Turk has been a little inconsistent this season, and is hardly necessary in the middle if the magnificently mobile Di María is on form.

Obviously, it’s not just the points that are at stake – it’s also a question of institutional pride. Real Madrid will want to win, but Jose Mourinho is a canny enough tactician to know that the way to beat Barça is to suffocate their creative midfield players, Xavi in particular! So a slightly (very slightly) more defensive seems quite reasonable to me.

If I were Mourinho, I’d put the hard-working but not particularly creative Lass on Xavi, leaving the midfield play to Xabi ‘the brain’ Alonso and Khedira.

Other Options In Attack

Obviously, (and I bet Jose Mourinho is losing some sleep over this) everything depends on whether Guardiola decides on 4-3-3 or 3-4-3. If it’s the former, we’re going to see a midfield war of attrition. If it’s the latter, and Alves is the sacrificed defender, Real Madrid will be able to do a lot of damage on the break

It’s also important to remember that there’ll be some real class on the bench. Depending on the state of play, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kaká or Ozil coming before the break. And if Real Madrid are down in the second half, the player most capable of turning the game around is the lethal ‘Pipita’ Higuain!

What’s more the set pieces are going to be crucial, and Barça are going to have to be very careful about giving away corners and free kicks on the edge of the box.

*

I’m really looking forward to this Clásico. The two best teams in the world are shooting it out for an incredible seventh time this year! Two completely different styles of football, two diametrically opposed coaches, two historically antagonistic clubs.

Whatever happens this Clásico is going to be Classic!

This article was first published on the Spain Football Community

With the Clásico Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the Bernabéu just a week away, it’s a good time time to remind ourselves that this is the third time FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have played each other this season.

The first two games were played in the Spanish Super Cup betweem the Liga Champions and the Copa del Rey Champions on August 14 in the Santiago Bernabéu and August 17 in Camp Nou.

The results were Real Madrid 2 FC Barcelona 2 and FC Barcelona 3 Real Madrid 2.

Over two excellent games both Barça and Madrid showed their cards – exciting physical play from Los Blancos and without ever really dominating the matches, Los Blaugrana showed that irritating touch of class that makes them so dangerous.

The Super cup ended in a brawl and some childish behaviour from Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho – he poked Pep Guardiola’s assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye and the Madrid players were called off unsportingly before Barça’s victory celebrations.

Anyway, here are the match reports (as I remember them) and I’ve added videos so you can see the goals.

Real Madrid 2 FC Barcelona 2 – 14/8/2011

The Real Madrid starting line-up was Casillas, Carvalho, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Marcelo, Di Maria, Ózil, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema – interestingly exactly the same team that had lost 5-0 to Barça the previous season.

FC Barcelona put out a side made up of Valdés, Abidal, Mascherano, Alves, Adriano, Thiago, Keita, Iniesta, Alexis Sánchez, Messi and Villa. This was new signing Alexis’s debut for Barça and young Thiago Alcántara’s first game against Real Madrid.

0zil got the first goal for Real Madrid in a nice combination with Benzema in the 13th minute. Following the goal, Real Madrid seemed to take control of the game, but when Barça were at their weakest, Villa beat Casillas with a great shot from the edge of the box to make it 1-1 in minute 35.

Following a free kick against Marcelo, in a trademark individual effort, Messi made it 1-2 just before the ref blew the half-time whistle.

Just after the start of the second half, Coentrao came on for Di Maria in min 53 and a minute later Xabi Alonso knocked another one in from just outside the box to make it 2-2.

Madrid got the best of the rest of the second half but Barça managed to hold out, and although the result was even stevens, were able to catch the plane back home aware that they held a slight advantage over their eternal rivals.

Here’s the video of the goals!

FC Barcelona 3 Real Madrid 2 – 17/8/11

There was obviously a lot riding on the second leg – with away goals counting double, Barça had the upper hand. The match certainly didn’t disappoint. Tensions were high and, as the photos shows, ended in a players brawl and much more!

Barça started with Valdes, Alves, Mascherano, Pique, Abidal, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi and Villa. This was exactly the same tieam that had beaten Manchester United 3-1 in the Champions League Final the previous May. I personally was a little surprised to see Cesc Fàbragas start on the bench.

The Real Madrid starting line-up was Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Coentrao, Alonso, Khedira, Di María, Ozil, Ronaldo and Benzema.

Real Madrid came out of the blocks at a furious pace and definitely got the better of the first 15 minutes – a couple of stellar shots from Cristiano Ronaldo and Di Maria looked particularly dangerous.

But in the 15th minute, against the run of play, a glorious ball from Messi found Iniesta streaking through and Don Andrés chipped the ball over Casillas to give Barca a 3-2 aggregate lead.

Undeterred Real Madrid kept their foot on the accelerator and in the middle of some confusion due to an uncalled penalty, Benzema took a snipe from the edge of Barça’s box, which Ronaldo just needed to push home to make the score 1-1. Barça still had the advantage, but Madrid looked lethal and with speed and skill, were managing to suffocate Barça’s midfield game.

The rest of the first half was a combination of Madrid pressure that included a crossbar for Cristiano Ronaldo and a couple of saves from Valdés and spurts of genius from Barça. And in the 45th minute, Barça turned on the genius once again. In the middle of a scramble in the Real Madrid box, Pique back-heeled to Messi, who clipped the ball over Casillas to give Barça the advantage once again. FC Barcelona went into the half-time break winning the game 2-1 and leading 4-3 on aggregate. It was difficult to imagine that the second half could top the first but Madrid still had everything to play for.

The second half began slowly but after five minutes it was end to end thrills and spills again, with both sides having scoring chances – both goalkeepers were on great form! Bookings for Ronaldo, Marcelo and axeman Pepe. Higuain, Adriano and Kaka came on for Di Maria, Villa and Ozil, but Cesc kept warming up.

Then in the 82nd Madrid got a corner, which Benzema managed to knock home after a goal mouth scramble. 2-2 with ten minutes to go. Everything was even and it looked like the game would go into extra time.

Cesc Fàbregas came on in the 84th and the substition proved provident. In a great move in minute 88, he combined with Messi, who knocked it out to Adriano. The Argentinian ran into space and volleyed home Adriano’s cross to make it 3-2. The crowd went wild and Barça kept up the pressure as the ref added 4 minutes.

In the very last minute of the game, Marcelo got a red card for an awful tackle on Cesc … and then the fun began.

Obviously, tempers were high and the Madrid players starting pushing and brawling. Some of the Barça players got involved, but the brawl would have been forgotten were it not for Jose Mourinho poking Barcelona’s assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye, but I’ll deal with that in another post.

Here’s the video of the highlights!

The important thing was that Barça had got the better of their eternal rivals. They’d won the Spanish Super Cup and the scene was set for a thrilling start to the 2011-12 Liga season!

Champions League

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UEFA Europa League 2011-12

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Click on the button to receive live SMS text alerts for that game Uefa Europa League – Group A – Group stage 30 Nov 2011 18:00 CET Rubin ? : ? Shamrock 21:05 CET Tottenham ? : ? PAOK Uefa Europa League – Group B – Group stage 30 Nov 2011 21:05 CET Standard ? : ? Hannover 21:05 CET Vorskla ? : ? FC Kobenhavn Uefa Europa League – Group C – Group stage 30 Nov 2011 21:05 CET Legia ? : ? PSV 21:05 CET Rapid B ? : ? Hapoel Tel Aviv Uefa Europa League – Group D – Group stage 01 Dec 2011 21:05 CET Sporting ? : ? Zurich 21:05 CET Vaslui ? : ? Lazio Uefa Europa League – Group E – Group stage 01 Dec 2011 21:05 CET Maccabi T-A ? : ? Besiktas 21:05 CET Stoke City ? : ? Dynamo K. Uefa Europa League – Group F – Group stage 01 Dec 2011 21:05 CET Athletic ? : ? Slovan 21:05 CET Salzburg ? : ? Paris Saint Germain Uefa Europa League – Group G – Group stage 30 Nov 2011 19:00 CET Malmo FF ? : ? AZ 19:00 CET Metallist ? : ? Austria V Uefa Europa League – Group H – Group stage 30 Nov 2011 19:00 CET Braga ? : ? Birmingham 19:00 CET Maribor ? : ? Club Brugge Uefa Europa League – Group I – Group stage 30 Nov 2011 19:00 CET Celtic ? : ? Atletico Madrid 19:00 CET Rennes ? : ? Udinese Uefa Europa League – Group J – Group stage 01 Dec 2011 19:00 CET AEK Larnaca ? : ? Maccabi Haifa 19:00 CET Schalke 04 ? : ? Steaua Uefa Europa League – Group K – Group stage 01 Dec 2011 19:00 CET OB Odense ? : ? Wisla Krakow 19:00 CET Twente ? : ? Fulham Uefa Europa League – Group L – Group stage 01 Dec 2011 18:00 CET Lokomotiv ? : ? Sturm 19:00 CET AEK ? : ? Anderlecht Loading… Scores To SMS – Live scores to your mobile phone

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