El Clásico Sunday 23rd December

gimmick · 17-12-2007 5:51pm #1

Its the biggest game in world football, and it is this Sunday. Rarely have both teams been is such form approaching the game, and this is a classic 6 pointer to boot. Real are 4 points better off than Barca, so the latter can ill afford to allow their bitter enemies to get 7 points ahead at the halfway stage, especially given Reals form over the last 8-9 months.

The fact Barca will be missing Messi is a massive blow, and i cannot stress that enough. The guy has been in amazing form for some time now, eclipsing Ronaldinho as the darling of the fans, and as worlds best player (cue Kaka' fans anger!). However, Eto'o is back and looking sharp, plus he loves scoring against Real, the club who absolutely shafted him as a young kid. Barca have a dearth of talent up front though with Henry, Giovanni, Bojan, Gudjohnsen, and that other fella - Ronaldinho.

Real for their part have a clean bill of health, though Im not sure of suspensions. Sneijder, RVN and Rauls form must worry the perennially shakey Barca defense. They are playing extraordinarily well, not conceding many, scoring plenty and top by 4 points, so they will be confident heading to the Camp Nou.

Cant wait. Hopefully we will see a humdinger like we did in March, but it unlikely it will be quite this good. It is a huge test for Barca, as 3 points heading into xmas, and the gap at just 1 would be huge psychologically. A point and Real would be happy, but I suspect they will not go looking for just 1.

Prediction : Barca 2 - 3 Real

Eto'o 2.....................RVN 2, Raul

Enjoy gentlemen.

eZe^ · 17-12-2007 5:57pm

Ill be heading over for this game... Cannot wait... I cant see Madrid winning in the Camp Nou, I reckon a draw... Although barca have never lost when Ive went to see them... That has to count for something!!!

2-2... Etoo and Milito, RVN and Sergio Ramos...

gimmick · 17-12-2007 6:19pm

Great game to go to, but delete that line immediately. I was flying to Liverpool last year the weekend Liverpool were to play Man u and loads of Irish Liverpool fans were telling me how they never seen Liverpool lose at home. They lost that weekend. they jinxed it for themselves!

Green Giant · 19-12-2007 3:30pm

If it's anywhere near as good as the 3-3 at Camp Nou last season, it will be some game.

Kick-off at what time?

leninbenjamin · 19-12-2007 3:35pm

Is this on Sky? from their site it seems that they are going to show an hour of it? huh?

PHB · 19-12-2007 3:59pm

My money is on Ruud creating or scoring the winning goals.

cruiserweight · 19-12-2007 4:15pm

gimmick wrote: »

Great game to go to

Yeah I was at it last year, not going this year though

I am going to juinx the game by saying that it won't be a 0-0

Mossy Monk · 19-12-2007 5:03pm

Are Sky showing the game live or as live?

jameshayes · 19-12-2007 5:30pm

Gonna be a christmas cracker! I'll have to record it though

An Citeog · 19-12-2007 5:33pm

I wont be around for it either.

It's going to be tough without Messi but I really think Barça will win, either 2-1 or 3-2. Hopefully Ronaldinho will start this game but Rijkaard still hasn't forgiven him for screwing his wife!* That should mean Iniesta and Eto'o complete the front 3, with Toure Yaya, Xavi and Deco in midfield. Rijkaard may choose to go with Giovanni instead of Ronaldinho but I'm not sure he'll be able to make much of an impact.

Btw, Henry is back training in isolation with the fitness coach but there are no signs as to whether or not he'll be available for Sunday. Oh, and eZe^, bring a jacket with you. It's freezing over here!

*May not actually be true.

KdjaCL · 19-12-2007 5:35pm

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Are Sky showing the game live or as live?

Sun 23 Barcelona v Real Madrid (first half) Sky Sports 3 6pm La Liga
Sun 23 Barcelona v Real Madrid (second half) Sky Sports 1 7pm La Liga

Live i tink, barca to win i reckon Realpoor away but should be up for it.

kdjac

eZe^ · 19-12-2007 6:10pm

God I love iniesta... Im going to put this out there... I dont think we'll miss Messi too much as I can see Iniesta playing brilliantly in his position... Wait and see... Ill bring my jacket, cheers for the advice buddy!!

bohsman · 19-12-2007 6:10pm

Anyone know any way of getting tickets for this? How much would it cost me outside the stadium? Ill be in Barcelona anyway, where would be the best place to watch it over there?

KdjaCL · 19-12-2007 6:33pm

bohsman wrote: »

Anyone know any way of getting tickets for this? How much would it cost me outside the stadium? Ill be in Barcelona anyway, where would be the best place to watch it over there?

An Citeog live there maybe he could get you tickets

kdjac

An Citeog · 19-12-2007 7:14pm

bohsman wrote: »

Anyone know any way of getting tickets for this? How much would it cost me outside the stadium? Ill be in Barcelona anyway, where would be the best place to watch it over there?

KdjaCL wrote: »

An Citeog live there maybe he could get you tickets

kdjac

Flying home tomorrow morning for Christmas, so unfortunately I can't help you out there. That and the fact that I haven't heard a word about tickets. I'm only here a few months so I'm not sure how hard it is to get tickets for this match. I can usually just buy them at the ATM which is fairly handy.

Bohsman, I'd say it'd be fairly hit or miss whether you'd get a ticket or not. Depends how much you'd be willing to pay aswell and how many spar tickets the touts have. I'm sure it's worth a shot and you'll find a few bars around in that area. If you don't want the hassle, your best bet is to find a bar around La Rambla. There are a good few Irish pubs there and I reckon Flahertys (down near the bottom, in a little square just behind Burger King) is probably the best atmosphere-wise. It's big enough and they've got a couple of big screens aswell. The Temple Stone is a decent enough spot aswell. There's another sports bar a little bit further up La Rambla on the other side of the road and they've got a good few big screens. Never been there for a match though, so I can't tell you what the atmosphere's like.

Tbh, the best place to watch the match would be in any little Spanish bar. Find some place with a decent sized TV (around La Rambla if you like or slightly further away if you don't want to pay tourist prices) and just enjoy yourself. There are a lot of bars to the south of La Rambla and you're bound to find something there. If you want any more info pm me or post it here.

cruiserweight · 19-12-2007 9:45pm

bohsman wrote: »

Anyone know any way of getting tickets for this? How much would it cost me outside the stadium? Ill be in Barcelona anyway, where would be the best place to watch it over there?

Like I said I went last year, but had tickets before I went. I met a few people who just turned up outside the stadium and picked up tickets before the game. I think one guy said he spent €200 per ticket

PHB · 20-12-2007 11:35am

The thing is, Barca have a tourist allocation, that they only sell on the mornings of the game. Ask your hotel reception about them, most of them know about it.

eZe^ · 20-12-2007 1:02pm

I hope to see;

Valdes

Marquez

Milito

---Puyol

Abidal

Toure

Deco

Xavi

---Iniesta

Ronaldinho

Eto'o

Both teams are in form, have great players in their ranks and in a long time, we're not only seeing two even teams, but two teams full of stars ready to burst. If the midfield can control the game, then we will have plenty of chances for the attack which, even though it is missing Messi, is still very, very explosive.

El Clásico Sunday 23rd December

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