El Clasico: It's that time of the year again

[drago88]

Saturday, 10.12.2011. 22h CET Real Madrid CF vs. FC Barcelona El clasico time again, biggest fixture in spanish football. who would you like to come out victorious, what's your prediction, or are you watching the game at all?? your thoughts in this thread

[Havocc]

I probably will watch it as I can not deny the quality of football that is played, but it is completed ruin by the actions of the players. I remember the last game, the play acting and moaning at the ref was atrocious, especially by the Barca players....they seem to think its their god given right to win, and will complain about everything not going their way.


Still entertaining, but there are better all-round games available around Europe

[THFCWill]

I can't wait for this one! I'm pretty sure a lot of people on here hate Barca but i want them to win xD! For the first time since Mourinho arrived at Madrid i actually think he might do Guardiola up the arse. Madrid are on fire this year and it's at the Bernabeu so... who knows. The only thing i will say is, this is the final chance for Ronaldo to prove his case in the 'Messi vs Ronaldo' argument. Ronaldo has done f*ck all vs big teams and it annoys me because i love seeing him play. If Messi shows up, Barca will win !

EDIT: Busquets is a filthy diving twit but...... The True Real Madrid: Cheaters and Actors - YouTube <-- That's correct imo, it ruins the game but Messi revived it with brilliance!!!

[drago88]

yes, I agree some of the scenes in previous games were pretty disgusting but IMO it was because of Mourinho. he adapted an anti-football approach and focused solely on breaking up Barcas play instead of his own team's game so Barca responded ugly by play acting and diving but I think they pretty much had no choice cuz Real was pretty much beating them up completely lol.

I would like Barca to win just because I think they got the more healzhy philosophy of bringing up domestic young talent whereas Real has no tough time spending several hundreds of millions on players which is in a way to easy. I mean, it's not like Barca don't buy players, but they buy one or two in the position where they are lacking. plus I just love the guys Xavi and Iniesta.

Real are in very good form at the moment and this promises to be a very interesting game. we can expect drama

[THFCWill]

yes, I agree some of the scenes in previous games were pretty disgusting but IMO it was because of Mourinho. he adapted an anti-football approach and focused solely on breaking up Barcas play instead of his own team's game so Barca responded ugly by play acting and diving but I think they pretty much had no choice cuz Real was pretty much beating them up completely lol.

I would like Barca to win just because I think they got the more healzhy philosophy of bringing up domestic young talent whereas Real has no tough time spending several hundreds of millions on players which is in a way to easy. I mean, it's not like Barca don't buy players, but they buy one or two in the position where they are lacking. plus I just love the guys Xavi and Iniesta.

Real are in very good form at the moment and this promises to be a very interesting game. we can expect drama

I completely agree mate. I don't like divers but Madrid are just as bad as Barcelona. Mourinho has some of the best players in the world and he treats it like he's playing with Accrington vs Barcelona. Barca do not have a solid, injury-free back 4 and you can get at them if you try. Having players like Benzema, Higuain, Ronaldo, Di Maria and Ozil... how can you not attack?! I don't understand what he tried to achieve in the previous games. Let's see if he's any different this year, as a neutral, i certainly hope so.

[drago88]

I completely agree mate. I don't like divers but Madrid are just as bad as Barcelona. Mourinho has some of the best players in the world and he treats it like he's playing with Accrington vs Barcelona. Barca do not have a solid, injury-free back 4 and you can get at them if you try. Having players like Benzema, Higuain, Ronaldo, Di Maria and Ozil... how can you not attack?! I don't understand what he tried to achieve in the previous games. Let's see if he's any different this year, as a neutral, i certainly hope so.

I think it will most likely come down to whether Madrid will be able to stop Messi. I mean the little man just seems to be born to play against Madrid. he always shows up with a moment of complete and utter brilliance. so if Real handles Messi I think they have a pretty good chance to win.

my only fear is that Mourinho could put more emphasis on not-losing rather than winning because Real has 3 more points and a game in hand so he would be satisfied with a point whereas for Barca it's a must-win game if they want to defend their title

[Eighteen82]

It annoys me how people are blinded to Madrid's thuggish play and diving, just because Mourinho comes out in the press crying about something that didn't go his way and brings all the focus onto 'what Barca did' . I hate seeing the Barca players dive and don't defend it at all, but please don't ignore that Madrid are just as bad if not worse.

[spursman18]

expect diving and a bunch of men acting like a bunch of divas.

[BlueCrew LA]

Every team dives, We'd be naive to think otherwise. Admittedly the diving in the El Clasico has been pretty bad of late, but what do you expect with Busquets on the pitch. He's a disgrace of a human being, diving is just part of it.

Hopefully we see a good match though, I think at the moment Madrid have a case for being the best side in the world. Sign of the times but this match can be real critical in where the title goes. People have been saying for years during the current Barca dominance, Madrid really just have to be patient. Even though Barca are a big club nobody is on Madrid's level and they have an ability to build a strong squad with marquee talent. Even though Barca throughout it's history has been able to attract big players it's a club that relies on it's youth system to a certain extent. In most years that's just fine but when you have young players making up the depth of a squad it's risky. Even though they're quality you always run the risk of poor form or lack of focus due to inexperience at a very high level. I think to a certain extent while Barca is still strong a bit of this is taking effect at the moment. When Madrid build a team and look to build depth they don't really use players that came through their system, they use Galacticos-lite. That's something that Barca can't do and it's always been the difference between Madrid and everyone else.

So Mourinho and the powers that be at Madrid just need to be patient, eventually they'll be back to normal. Personally I've always preferred Madrid to Barca, evil empire or not. Most of my life Spurs have been up and down in the level of play, more commonly down. Madrid even though they can be bullies had some of my favorite players Zidane, The Real Ronaldo, Figo, Raul, Beckham, Guti, Roberto Carlos. Then further back with players like Hugo Sanchez, Laudrup and Zamorano.

[Javi]

All hype which usually leads to a boring match. Ill have it on while I am on the computer.

[Audere est Facere]

cant wait for this

[BlueCrew LA]

I hope the OP doesn't mind but I changed the name of the thread so everyone knows where to discuss the match.

I'm getting pumped, ESPN Deportes is showing the Spanish Cup from last season.

[Bryce_Williams]

Yeah there will be diving, but you can also expect to see the best football you'll see all year. Can't wait! Hala Madrid!

[Javi]

Take a shot every time someone dives make the game more interesting.

[BlueCrew LA]

Take a shot every time someone dives make the game more interesting.

The game comes on at 12pm here, I'd be toast for the whole day.