FC BARCELONA vs REAL MADRID
from the Camp Nou
EL CLÁSICO – MONDAY 29TH NOVEMBER 2010
Well it is the final day before the big match and Jose Mourinho has been remarkably quiet leaving Cristiano Ronaldo to do most of the pre-match talking so far for Madrid. Carlos Puyol went in front of the cameras yesterday after his team’s training session and told the press “We will go for the win from the first minute”. The Barca captain wouldn’t be drawn on predicting any score line or commenting on the Madrid manager. “We aren’t playing against Mourinho, we are playing Real Madrid ” he said.
With the Catalan elections taking place today, the game is not commanding the usual focus of attention in Catalonia only 24 hours out, although nearly all the sports channels have got blanket coverage planned for tomorrow and the papers will have some good final headlines up their sleeves.
State of play . . . . .
Real Madrid will be catching a plane at 18.30 today for the short hop to the Catalan capital. They will be staying at the hotel Juan Carlos I, which is owned by ex- Barcelona president Joan Gaspat. Jose Mourinho has no injury worries and should be able to field his regular starting eleven tomorrow. FC Barcelona had a couple of chilly training sessions yesterday, with the temperature a cold 5 degrees centigrade at 11.00 am at their training ground. Pep Guardiola will have his full first team squad, apart from Milito, to choose from on Monday. The local players are expected to vote in the elections before today’s training.
What the papers say . . . . .
from BARCELONA |
from MADRID |
from BARCELONA |
from MADRID |
sport webpage | as webpage | mundo webpage | marca webpage |
Sport leads with the amount of records that will be set in the first meeting between Barcelona and Madrid this season.
As shouts “let’s get them!” with a serious looking Cristiano Ronaldo pointing at the reader.
Mundo plays on today’s Catalan elections with a ‘vote Barca’ plea.
Marca oddly leads with Fernado Alonso claiming next season will be easier for him. He is a Madrid fan and so the paper also quotes him saying “I hope Madrid win the match”
The teams . . . . .
FC BARCELONA Bojan Krkic Attacker |
REAL MADRID Cristiano Ronaldo Attacker |
FC BARCELONA David Villa Attacker |
player info | player info | player info |
REAL MADRID Karim Benzema Attacker |
FC BARCELONA Lionel Messi Attacker |
REAL MADRID Gonzalo Higuaín Attacker |
player info | player info | player info |
Did you know . . . . .
Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola has never been beaten by the same manager twice since taking charge of the Catalan giants.
Quote of the day . . . . .
“He’s used to winning, but he’ll lose. He who spits in the air, spits on himself.” – Manuel Preciado, manager of Sporting Gijon has some kind words about Jose Mourinho ahead of Monday’s clash.
Blog of the day . . . . .
From BBC sport Article by Phil Minshull
One final thought . . . . .
When a player signs a contract, the purchasing club inserts a release fee. The amount of money that would need to be on the table if another team wanted that player before the end of the contract they have just signed. Real Madrid placed a 1000 million price tag on Cristiano Ronaldo and FC Barcelona have a 250 million asking price for Lionel Messi. If you look at the probable starting elevens for the match on Monday you would need to have 4000 million euro of loose change to buy the 22 players in question.
According to the I.M.F. using 2009 figures, this amount is larger than the G.D.P. of 31 countries on the world list, including Barbados, Sierra Leone and Guyana and equates to over 1% of the G.D.P. of South Africa.
Let us hope that the sporting figures on the pitch live up to their financial figures on paper and give us a priceless encounter!
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