Real and Barca braced for another 'clasico'
Reuters - Thursday 11 August 2011, 14:39
MADRID - Real Madrid and Barcelona can get
a handle on how their pre-season preparations are going when the
sides clash in the Spanish Super Cup this weekend.
The traditional curtain raiser for the league campaign is
going ahead despite the players' union calling a strike for the
first two weekends of the new campaign in the top two divisions.
Real and Barca, the world's two richest clubs by revenue,
slugged it out an unprecedented five times last season in three
different competitions.
Barcelona came out on top in the league and Champions League
semi-final while Real won the King's Cup in a series of matches
notable more for the increasingly acrimonious atmosphere between
the clubs than for the quality of their football.
Hostilities resume again at the Bernabeu on Sunday with the second leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday. La
Liga is scheduled to kick off the following weekend.
Super Cup holders Barca have eclipsed their arch-rivals over
the last three years by winning two European Cups and a treble
of league titles, which means this showdown is important more as
a psychological indicator of the clubs' strengths.
Real coach Jose Mourinho ran Barca close in his first
campaign in Spain and has often stated that his teams usually do
better in his second year in charge.
They have won all seven pre-season warm-up matches with
ease, though only Portuguese defender Fabio Coentrao has had the
chance to make an impression out of the new arrivals.
Turkish midfielders Hamit Altintop and Nuri Sahin have been
sidelined with injuries. Mourinho also has a doubt over Sergio
Ramos, who pulled out of Spain's squad for the midweek friendly
against Italy with a recurrence of a back problem.
On the positive side, France striker Karim Benzema has been
in fine form scoring eight goals in pre-season to date.
SLOW STARTERS
Barca boss Pep Guardiola, who has three wins and one draw
from his four visits to the Bernabeu as coach, has yet to give
his only new recruit so far his debut.
Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, along with Argentine Lionel
Messi, have only just returned to training after July's Copa
America tournament.
Many Barca fans will be hoping the drawn out transfer saga
surrounding Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will have been
concluded by the weekend and that the club's former youth team
player will at least be in attendance in the stands.
Barca's pre-season form has been patchy and they often take
a while to get into their stride in a season.
"They are always very difficult games and very tense when we
play against Real Madrid," Barca forward Pedro told reporters.
"We are starting the season with a difficult test but I'm
sure the team will respond."
Guardiola has a number of injury doubts including
first-choice defensive partnership Carles Puyol and Gerard
Pique, along with Xavi, Maxwell and Ibrahim Afellay.