The swift counter attack could be Real Madrid's most effective weapon in Saturday's La Liga 'Clasico' at champions Barcelona as it will be hard to boss possession against their arch rivals, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
The shock appointment of Juande Ramos to replace Bernd Schuster as Real Madrid coach on Tuesday gives this year's first Primera Liga "Clasico" between the champions and leaders Barcelona an intriguing twist.
Barcelona head into Saturday's 'Clasico' against Real Madrid with a whopping 11-point gap over their bitter rivals in the Liga title race -- and they also have the advantage in financial terms, albeit by smaller margins.
Jose Mourinho attributed a large part of Barcelona's 3-1 'Clasico' victory at the Bernabeu on Saturday to luck and dismissed the idea that it would damage his side's morale in the La Liga title race.
Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos scored in the 90th minute to hold FC Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou on Saturday.
Busquets, who retired from international duty last year, has made more than 700 appearances for Barcelona and holds the record for playing in more El Clasicos than any other player with 48 appearances against Barcelona's rivals Real Madrid.
The millions of fans around the globe who will tune in to watch Sunday's 'Clasico' in Barcelona could witness the death throes of Real Madrid's La Liga title challenge in their seventh match of the season. Defeat at the Nou Camp for Jose Mourinho's side, who are chasing a second consecutive title after ending Barca's three-year run as champions, would stretch the Catalan club's lead over their bitter rivals to 11 points.
Real Madrid will have their combative Spain centre back Sergio Ramos available for Saturday's "clasico" against Barcelona but Wales winger Gareth Bale is out, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
La Liga leaders Barcelona won a tight and tense 'Clasico' 1-0 at Real Madrid on Saturday, beating their great rivals at their Bernabeu home for the second time in four days and moving a staggering 12 points clear of them in the standings.
Rediff.com brings you a roundup of soccer matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Spanish soccer's 'El Clasico' encounters between Barcelona and Real Madrid will happen in December and April, two of the most anticipated games of the 2016-17 Primera Division season whose fixtures were announced on Friday. Defending champions Barca host Real on Dec. 4 at the Camp Nou. The reverse fixture will take place on April 23, at the Bernabeu stadium, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed after the draw. As the La Liga season kicks off, Barca will begin their title defence at home to Real Betis on Aug. 21.
Barcelona will begin their Spanish league title defence away to Getafe on Aug. 13 while Real Madrid visit Athletic Bilbao the same weekend.
Jose Mourinho wants to prove there has been a shift in the balance of power towards his Real Madrid side when the La Liga leaders host bitter rivals Barcelona in the opening 'Clasico' of the campaign on Saturday.
Real Madrid's star striker Cristiano Ronaldo made up for his otherwise quiet night by scoring the winner to beat Barcelona 2-1 win at the CampNou in Barcelona on Saturday.
'We are on anti-terrorist alert four (with five a very high risk) and there will be extensive security so as to guarantee that the match takes place with complete normality'
Barcelona have Gerard Pique back for Sunday's La Liga 'Clasico' at leaders Real Madrid but captain and fellow centre back Carles Puyol has not managed to shake off a knee injury, the Spanish champions said on Saturday.
Real Madrid will carry their momentum from Saturday's 'Clasico' victory over rivals Barcelona into their Champions League quarter-final first leg at struggling VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said. Real scored their first league win at the Nou Camp since 2012, inflicting the first home defeat for Barcelona since February 2015. "It is very important to have got the win here for our confidence and for the remainder of the season and with it coming right before our Champions League game in Germany," said Zidane. "We know just how important the Champions League is and we want to advance, so winning here in Barcelona was very important." The Frenchman took over from Rafael Benitez at the start of the year and on Saturday came through his first big test with flying colours.
Key head-to-head battles in Saturday's "Clasico" between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Bernabeu stadium (1600 GMT)
Real Madrid have enviously looked on as Barcelona claimed six La Liga titles in the last eight years, but Zinedine Zidane's side can take a huge step towards a first crown since 2012 with victory over their bitter rivals at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Barcelona dealt a stinging blow to Real Madrid's title hopes when Luis Suarez and Neymar continued their scintillating form to fire the champions to a stunning 4-0 victory in the La Liga 'Clasico' on Saturday.
Real Madrid are comfortably perched on top of the La Liga standings with 66 points while Barca are now third on 54 points with a game in hand, three points behind second-placed Sevilla.
Luis Suarez is likely to play his first competitive game for Barcelona in La Liga's "Clasico" against Real Madrid later this month and he says it is no coincidence his four-month biting ban expires the day before one of biggest fixtures in world soccer.
Real Madrid thrashed arch-rivals and league leaders Barcelona 4-0 to reach the Copa del Rey final
Real Madrid trimmed Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga to one point when they recovered from conceding an early goal to secure a stirring 3-1 comeback win in the 'Clasico' on Saturday.
Chennai Super Kings' all-rounder Moeen Ali likened the intense battles between his team and Mumbai Indians to the storied footballing rivalry of Manchester United and Liverpool.
Neymar stole the show from the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale when the Brazilian's strike set Barcelona on the way to a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in Saturday's 'Clasico' at the Nou Camp.
Real are unbeaten since February, winning 10 of their last 12 games. In contrast, Barcelona have won just two of their previous five in all competitions and were dumped out of Europe in midweek.
That was also Messi's 500th goal for Barcelona.
The Welsh captain was called a "parasite" and accused of faking a back injury that kept him out of Real Madrid's humiliating loss to Barcelona
Barcelona will look to take a big step towards their first La Liga title in four years, when they take on Real Madrid this weekend.
A lethal finish from Luis Suarez gave Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in a typically frantic 'Clasico' on Sunday as they stretched their lead over their rivals at the top of La Liga to four points.
UEFA opens investigation into Barca payments to ex-refereeing official
Brazilian Malcom, who started in place of Lionel Messi, curled home in the 58th minute to pull Barcelona level after Lucas Vazquez had fired Real Madrid ahead early on.
"It is a story that I wanted to tell in my own words, about what happened. I feel it is the biggest story of my career and I thought that I held it for too long by myself and that I needed to share it with other people. The moment was now and (being in) Madrid, on the eve of El Clasico on Sunday, was the perfect occasion to make it happen," the former striker said.
Real and Barca have won the title in 15 of the last 16 seasons, with Atletico breaking the duopoly in 2014.
A dominant yet wasteful Real ravaged their rivals in the first half while spurning a string of clear chances at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as a rejuvenated Barcelona gave a football masterclass to inflict a humiliating 4-0 defeat on rivals Real Madrid on Sunday.
Barcelona bounced back from their painful Clasico loss in style as they cruised to a 3-0 home LaLiga win over Villarreal with a brace from Robert Lewandowski on Thursday.
It was always going to be a tough task for Rafa Benitez to replace his popular, Champions League winning predecessor Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid and Saturday's woeful 4-0 home defeat to Barcelona has turned the pressure up a notch.
Alaba strike on Clasico debut gives Real Madrid 2-1 win at Barcelona.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances