Spanish SuperCopa Second Leg: Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona

Date: Wednesday, 08/29/2012 22:30

Competition: Spanish Supercup

Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu

City: Madrid

Capacity: 80000

Referee: Mateu Lahoz

After the first leg in which Madrid did not press us at all and let us play the passing game, we can all expect them to press and try to attack us. As Free said earlier is that if Madrid play open and we are on our day, we will crush them through the middle of the park and thats one thing you don't do against Barcelona. Play open!
My hopes
1. Fabregas does not start. We clearly see that with Xaviniesta in the middle of the park, we are literally unstoppable and our passing is more fluid. We dominate the midfield without Fabregas in there and its essential that he does not start in any way this upcoming match. I don't mind if he comes off the bench as he is known for changing the game when coming off the bench and in important games like the SuperCopa last year, he could well make an impact when he does come on.
2. Pedro is placed on the right hand side of the field. If Sanchez does start (which Im aganist...) then I prefer he if attacks Arbeloa's side than Coentrao's side. We saw all the trouble Pedro caused Coentrao in the first leg after half time and hopefully in this game, he will continue to do the same
3. Valdes does not make a horrible mistake. Please don't VV. No more silly mistakes. We just want you to put in a classy performance like you did against Osusana. Play it safe, not risky and we are all good.
4. Villa plays in this game. We have seen the impact he has already shown in the three games he has played thus far this season and his movement both on and off the ball have simply been . He has was rested against Osasuna so hopefully he will be fresh to play some part in this game. We want goals and through Villa we can get them!
5. Messi plays a masterclasss performance. Wasn't as dominant as usual in the first leg though hopefully he will on Wednesday.

Predicting Lineups:

-------------Valdes---------------
Alves--Mascherano--Pique--Adriano
----Xavi---Busquests---Iniesta---
Pedro-----Messi------Sanchez----

Predicition: 3-2 Barca's way. Messi to score two and Villa the other!

Visca el Barca!

Curious to see if this will be Song's intro game. We used Sanchez in a similar situation as his intro game so I wouldn't be surprised if he was brought on later in the match as extra defensive help. If Madrid play the way they have lately we should be able to lift the cup in there stadium, which would be a nice way to start the season

Also want to take this time to say I am SO happy that Tito is using the 4-3-3 and keeping the Xaviesta partnership strong. Was not happy at all last year when Pep started using the 3-4-3, using Iniesta on the wing in order to try to also start Cex. It obviously didn't work, and Xaviesta is the best midfield combo in the world...so why would anybody not use that? Thanks Tito

Prediction:

-----------Valdes
--Alves-Masch-Pique-Adriano
-------------Busi
------Xavi--------Iniesta
-Pedro----Messi----Tello

Bench:
Pinto
Puyol
Afellay
Song
Sanchez
Cex
Alba

I reckon if we are in the lead. Song will come on and will form a double pivote with Busquests. Its about time, he has a bit of game time.

yea, similar to what Spain uses. Look at how well it works for them and not conceding

Weren't you a Cesc fan Paxtonpale (The Sanchez)?

windkick wrote:yea, similar to what Spain uses. Look at how well it works for them and not conceding

tbh. I would not like to use this tactic on a regular starting basis. Rather use it to sustain our lead. I think bringing in Song, helps us achieve this in a double pivote role.
Your lineup of Tello is interesting. I love Tello though I really do hope if he does start, then he doesn't flop like last Clasico. Attacking Arbeloa's end would be great to watch imo.
Adriano is a key at left back. Alba struggled defensively and well Adriano played quite well defensively and well in this game especially we need a 10/10 performance in the back. He is decent going forward as well though in a game like this, its best if we don't have two of our fullbacks going forward as it would exposure of defense and with Madrid needing at least a goal, its not the greatest of strategies.

free_cat wrote:Weren't you a Cesc fan Paxtonpale (The Sanchez)?

I was and still am though Free even you have to admit it, he still needs to develop and Xaviniesta in the middle of the park is so much better than a Cesc-Iniesta or Xavi-Cesc partnership. He needs to pick up his game as at this point Thiago can easily be starting more games than him and I don't want a 35 or so player consistently on the bench. He would be great as a supersub.
btw: Just call me Pax, Paxton, or Palé. My real name is Palé with the accent not pale (as in the adjective desribing something like pale yellow etc.) I just needed to change my username because of easy accessing.

In other news, Thiago could be clear and get a green medical light by Friday and Real Madrid have agreed terms on Luka Modric. The price was around 33m to 40m. Nothing yet has been confirmed though Modric will be flying if not already flying to Spain to sign his contract. He probably won't start though could come off the bench and make an impact

The Sanchez wrote:I reckon if we are in the lead. Song will come on and will form a double pivote with Busquests. Its about time, he has a bit of game time.

I think it will be the same starting lineup from last week and if we are leading, alexis is going to come off for Song who will be instructed to do the dirty work;

-------------------------messi-------
---------iniesta--------------xavi-------------pedro--
------------------busquets----------song----
adriano-------mascherano----------pique--------alves

I'm expecting another close encounter (thought the last one wouldn't have been so close if we put away everything we had). We need to be more ruthless and if we just play our game, we will comfortably win the trophy at the end. I'm sure we can avoid a loss

Even though Modrić will most likely not play in the Supercopa, what does his arrival mean to Madrid and their future confrontations with Barcelona?



Real Madrid will be able to play 4-3-3, meaning:

• More possession. The trio of Alonso, Modrić and Özil in midfield will be fantastic at keeping possession and will surely make Barcelona chase the ball for longer than they currently do. It also means more presence in midfield and less directness in Madrid's attack.
  
  
• Not as much an aerial threat as before, and knowing more than half of the goals Madrid have scored against Barcelona have been long balls, Barcelona will be happy.
  
  
• Not as good defensively. Sacrificing a real workhouse such as Khedira for the weaker Modrić will mean Madrid will be having more trouble when they don't have the ball.
  
  
• Unlike Özil, Modrić is not a type of player with good final balls, vision, shooting or crossing. But he more than makes up for it by getting the ball from deep and dictating the play from midfield with his excellent passing, control and composure.
  
  
• All in all, the Croat's arrival will mean that Madrid can play another style of football, which albeit less direct, was needed as we saw against Bayern or Barcelona last season. All in all, a good signing and for the right reason. Let's see how he will adapt.

i'll be happy with alonso having to do all the dirty work alone in the midfield

Khedria for me provides backup help in defense. Alonso would be crap and has shown he is crap as a lone DM. Modric does not help him at as with a 4-3-3, Alonso will be on his own. It will definately cost Madrid especially against us if they want to win the ball. Best if Modric is not starting against us at all. Saying that he does bring more ball possession and if Madrid want to win, they mostly have to rely on having most of the ball and Modric helps that!

Not something thats important though are we gonna use the home kit, away kit or alternate kit for this match? White usually hasn't clashed with our red and blue so we should be using our home kits.

danyjr wrote:Even though Modrić will most likely not play in the Supercopa, what does his arrival mean to Madrid and their future confrontations with Barcelona?

A midfield completely ill-equipped to handle ours. Thats what it means lol.

They already lack the right players in midfield to combat us, taking Khedira out would be even more stupid.

Anytime I see Alonso in a holding midfield role alone, I'm sure the opposition midfield will be smiling. Against Xaviestquets? We will dominate that. You say they will hold the ball better? How will they hold the ball when the Barcelona midfield has the ball all the time?

Having a double pivot to defend a lead is an interesting idea, but I don't really agree with it. I think through possession, a 4-3-3 can be just as good defensively as a double pivot. If anything you can just tell Alves to play farther back and tell the team to play even more possession. I don't like this though, I would prefer we always are playing possession with a purpose to attack, unlike Spain does with their double pivot, when defending a lead.

Especially regarding the double pivot, it pushes both Iniesta and Xavi out of position. Pushing both out of position is something I would never like to see Barca do. Just because you have two defending midfielders as opposed to one does not necessarily make the double pivot better for holding a lead.

CBarca wrote:Anytime I see Alonso in a holding midfield role alone, I'm sure the opposition midfield will be smiling. Against Xaviestquets? We will dominate that. You say they will hold the ball better? How will they hold the ball when the Barcelona midfield has the ball all the time?

Having a double pivot to defend a lead is an interesting idea, but I don't really agree with it. I think through possession, a 4-3-3 can be just as good defensively as a double pivot. If anything you can just tell Alves to play farther back and tell the team to play even more possession. I don't like this though, I would prefer we always are playing possession with a purpose to attack, unlike Spain does with their double pivot, when defending a lead.

Especially regarding the double pivot, it pushes both Iniesta and Xavi out of position. Pushing both out of position is something I would never like to see Barca do. Just because you have two defending midfielders as opposed to one does not necessarily make the double pivot better for holding a lead.

Thats true. We have all see the trouble Xavi has when there is two holding midfielders already in the side and we don't want the same with Barca. Saying that, I would only want to use this defending a lead in the very later stages (around 5-8 minutes to go). Not a great plan though it could happen especially if we are in the lead.

The Sanchez wrote:Not something thats important though are we gonna use the home kit, away kit or alternate kit for this match? White usually hasn't clashed with our red and blue so we should be using our home kits.

Always the home kits in Clasico's for both teams

madrid's starting line up!! If only Tito had access to this site


-------------higuain--------
----cr7-------kaka------dimaria-
--------khedira---Alonso----
caentrao--pepe-ramos---arbeloa


He is going to start Kaka because he knows Kaka may want to prove Mou wrong and he also knows if Kaka flops and real lose, kaka will be the focus of the media and his output from the club.

I highly doubt Kaka will start. Other than that it looks about right with Ozil in the CAM position.

Hopefully they play like this so we can completely dominate them and win a non-complicated 3-0

Or atleast I can hope

Its obvious Ozil flops against us when he starts. He makes an impact when he comes on. Since Modric hasn't got much preseason training or match time then its obvious that Kaka would have to start. Saying that I rather Ozil than Kaka in terms of quality.

BarcaKizz wrote:A midfield completely ill-equipped to handle ours. Thats what it means lol.

They already lack the right players in midfield to combat us, taking Khedira out would be even more stupid.

I completely disagree. Madrid will change style completely if Modrić is to play in 4-3-3 alongside Alonso and Özil. First and foremost, unlike now, possession will be key to Madrid. They'll pressure like mad high up the pitch and we saw how Madrid pressured Barça last year (Copa del Rey second leg) - leaving them a staggering record low possession of 55% and that was in Camp Nou! Keeping Alonso as holding midfielder is risky but less so if they can deny Barcelona the superior possession they often have.

I don't fear any midfield with Alonso as the lone DM, I don't think Mou would ever risk that.

modricmost probably won't play.
I hope wee score first