Madrid or Barca, Who will come up with answers?
Looking to overturn the tie Real Madrid will travel to Barcelona to face Xavi’s men at Camp Nou. The Catalans have won 3 out of the 4 El Clasico this season and will be confident coming into the game with a 1-0 lead that came at the Bernabeu last month.
After losing the recent Clasico in La Liga, Ancelotti’s men will be looking to overturn the tie and book their place in the final, which can possibly be their only domestic silverware this season, Xavi’s men can already smell their league title as they lead the league with 12 points over Real Madrid.
Real Madrid beat Valladolid 6-0 at the weekend to find their form back after a few lackluster performances, Ancelotti’s men will be ready to compete and overturn the deficit.
The hosts will miss the likes of Pedri and De Jong in the midfield and Andreas Christensen at the back, while Dembele is still recovering from an injury that he caught against Girona in January. With Pedri and De Jong out injured, Xavi may opt for a 4-4-2 line up potentially bringing in Roberto to form the double pivot with Busquets. Xavi may well deploy Raphinha onto the flanks alongside Lewandowski to create a threat to Madrid’s defense or start with 4-3-3 with Ferran/Fati on the left. The rivalry between individual players only adds to the intensity of the fixture, with battles between Vinicius and Araujo on the Right side of Barca’s defense.
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On the other hand, Real Madrid knows to soak pressure and it is in games like these they come alive. With the unavailability of Ferland Mendy, Ancelotti will go with club veteran Nacho in the LB position, Blancos will be looking to start with a more dynamic approach and may well place Rodrygo in the center as no 10 to link with the French striker Karim Benzema who netted a first half hat-trick against Valladolid, with the experience in Madrid’s squad it won’t be surprising to see Ancelotti shifting formations from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 depending upon the situation.
Ahead of the semi final clash Ancelotti spoke to the media and said: “We’re feeling good and motivated and confident after the good performance against Real Valladolid. We believe we’ll have a good game tomorrow. They obviously have a goal advantage. We can’t go crazy in search of the goal. You could score in the fifth minute but then concede two. Or you could score in the 90th minute. Our approach is to have a complete performance, not to score goals. If you have a complete performance, the goals will come. This is an important competition and we’ll give us all to make it to the final.”
As El Clasico never falls short of magical moments, will it be a classic Madrid comeback, or will Barcelona will hold onto their lead?
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