Barcelona v Real Madrid
Camp Nou
Sunday 29th December 2009

The first “El Clasico” showdown of the season arrives with Barcelona and Real Madrid occupying their customary top two positions in La Liga and Real experiencing their equally-customary mid-season crisis.

Barca have lost only one of their last five home clashes with their bitter rivals and received a major confidence boost in midweek when, even without the services of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi, they cruised to an impressive Champions League victory over Inter Milan. Both the Swede and the Argentinean are set to return to the side on Sunday as Pep Guardiola’s men aim to overcome the disappointment of last week’s draw at Athletic Bilbao.

Their cause has not been helped by an outbreak of swine flu that claimed Eric Abidal, Yaya Toure and Rafael Marquez amongst its victims and it remains unclear as to whether the infected trio will be permitted to feature against Real.
The visitors, meanwhile, may be a point clear of their Catalan nemesis at the top of the table, but the rumblings of discontent continue to grow ever louder. Having seen his side humiliated in the Spanish Cup by part-timers Alcoron, boss Manuel Pellegrini continues to cling to his position by his fingernails amidst claims that he has lost both the dressing room and the support of the directors and that legendary striker Raul is the cause of bitter divisions among the playing group.

At least the beleaguered boss got his way as far as Cristiano Ronaldo was concerned, with Portugal reluctantly accepting that he was not fit enough to feature in their World Cup qualifying play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina. It now looks as if the world’s most expensive player will be available for the Camp Nou clash after returning to action in Real’s midweek victory over FC Zurich. Ronaldo has not featured for nearly two months, but his form prior to his ankle injury was outstanding, in sharp contrast to that of fellow big-money signings Kaka and Karim Benzema.
Sevilla may be playing the best football in La Liga at the moment, but Spain will still grind to a halt on Sunday as these two heavyweights go toe to toe in a battle that will again go a long way to determining the ultimate destination of the league title.

Both Barca and Real are as much soap operas as football clubs and therefore it’s not easy to predict how Sunday’s plot will unfold. A draw looks a decent bet and would keep the title race bubbling along nicely.
Prediction: Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid