It’s hard to think of a time in recent history when El Classico was so hard to predict. Real Madrid are on fire this season in the league and finally look like a side that can compete with the magical Barcelona.
Mourinho has focused his troops and they now look an altogether more robust and solid side, whilst maintaining the flair that their fans demand. Ronaldo is in his pomp, Di Maria is improving, Higuain and Benzema both look more accomplished than ever and Real have an abundance of top quality midfielders. In defence, Sergio Ramos’ move into the middle has worked well and, overall, this is now a team to fear.
Mr. Mourinho has always maintained that we should judge him on his second season at Madrid, not his first. Before his arrival, Real had great flair but lacked steel – they were easy to play through. Now, we can begin to consider them as close to complete.
Whilst Barcelona continue to dazzle, it could be argued that they haven’t maintained the impossibly high standards that they set last season and for the first time in a few years it is they, not Real, who will feel the pressure going into the game. A defeat would leave them 9 points behind Real in a league where the top two don’t drop many points in a season. You would imagine that this gap would be almost insurmountable.
But any team with Lionel Messi in their ranks must always be optimistic of a positive result. He may end up scoring less goals than Ronaldo this term but has there ever been a more beautiful site in football than Messi running with the ball as if it is glued to his foot? What a true honour to be around to see his best years. Will there ever be another Messi?
A draw would probably suit both sides at this stage of the season so we might not witness the sort of end to end football that we all crave. But, despite this, I know what I’ll be doing at 9pm on Saturday.
