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D-Day In La Liga

Tonight Real Madrid take on Barcelona at the Nou Camp and Mourinho will be keen on ending Los Blancos poor record against the Catalans. Statistics do not lie. Since 2008, Madrid has consistently lost to Barcelona with their most humiliating defeat coming in May of 2009 where they lost 6-2 at home.

One man who has built up a reputation of scoring against Madrid is wonder boy Lionel Messi. At only 23, Messi is sure to be remembered as one of the club’s all time great players.

The Argentine striker has scored in all meetings dating back to 2008 save for their 1-0 victory on this same day a year ago. A look at both sides reveals that tonight’s match is evenly balanced.

Madrid top La Liga table and are unbeaten under coach Jose Mourinho. The Blaugrana are just a point under Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi lead the top scorer list with 18 and 19 goals respectively. So as you can see there is nothing to separate the two sides.

AS match as this is a tussle against two of La Liga’s biggest teams, the main battle will be between Messi and Ronaldo. Both stand a good chance to win the World Player of the year award and this match could just be the deciding factor.

Previous Matches

In their last 8 matches, Barcelona have won 7 and drawn 1 while Madrid have won 6 and drawn 2. Barcelona’s home record has been superb this season and Madrid should not expect the Catalans to start losing tonight.

Never the one to shy away from the media spotlight, Mourinho has already stated that his side is not going for anything other than a win at Barcelona.

“It was nice going back to Barcelona with Chelsea and Inter but going back with Real will be even sweeter,”

“I beat Barcelona with Chelsea and Inter Milan and now I am in charge of their biggest rival in Real Madrid so all this combined means I will get a hostile reception.”
Barcelona forward Messi also acknowledged that Madrid will be a different team this time round.
“Real will come to Camp Nou with revenge in mind,”

“Since the 6-2 at the Bernabeu I guess they have a real desire to beat us and this season they have strengthened with the new signings and (Jose) Mourinho.”
Prediction
Considering the current form of these two sides, i predict a 2-2 draw, however, either side is capable of bagging all 3 points on offer.
Photo credit: from Gretish