A Crucial Match for Barca

I was talking in my previous post about the crucial eight days that will define Real’sseason and perhaps Jose Mourinho’s fate as Real Madrid’s manager. A lot of rumors coming out and of all sorts there is that have something to do with the erratic games of Los Blancos in the past six months. They either draw or win in big games but were the exact opposite against mid-table and struggling teams, in general.

Real is highly spirited after thrashing Sevilla (4-1) at the Bernabeu on 9 February but can only manage to a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the same pitch four days later. Then they barely managed a 2-0 win against Rayo Vallecano on 17 February and almost lost to bottom club Deportivo six days later as Mourinho rested several key players in preparation for another “El Clasico” matchup in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semis at Camp Nou.

While Barca just came from a stunning 0-2 loss at San Siro in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie against AC Milan. Milan, on the other hand, was able to find ways on how to tame Barca’s highly structured tactical framework of attacking and created an almost impenetrable defense. More so that Milan hasn’t conceded an away goal and today’s “El Clasico” will be a crucial match for Barcelona if they want to progress in the Champions League quarterfinals.

NB: Image from wikipedia.