UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW: REAL MADRID v BARCELONA

El Clasico. Champions League semi-final. Santiago Bernabeu. Do I need to say anymore? The whole football universe will watch with hypnotic fixation the action that is about to unfold over the two legs between these two giants of the game. Real Madrid and Barcelona have contested two Clasicos over the past ten days but neither can come close to the gravitas of the game on Wednesday night as the two sides fight for a place in the final at Wembley.

The La Liga game last weekend ended in a 1-1 draw while the Copa Del Rey final went Madrid's way after a dramatic extra-time goal by Cristiano Ronaldo. The last time these two sides contested a Champions League semi-final was in 2002, when Real Madrid beat Barca 3-1 on aggregate to make it to the final at Glasgow, where Zinedine Zidane scored an iconic goal to dispatch Bayer Leverkusen and help Madrid win their record 9th European Cup.

Real Madrid

A much changed Madrid side hammered Valencia 6-3 on Saturday as they geared up for the game on Wednesday in the grandest of manners. The bigger victory came a few days earlier, when they sealed a morale boosting win at the Mestalla to capture their first Copa Del Rey trophy since 1993. Mourinho deployed ultra-defensive tactics in a bid to stop Barca pillaging and it worked to perfection as they frustrated the Catalans for most of the game. The Special One is expected to change his tactics for the two-legged affair as he seeks to take a healthy advantage to the Nou Camp in a week's time.

The concerns for Madrid lie in the suspensions department where Ricardo Carvalho is suspended for the game after picking up his 3rd yellow card of the campaign while Ronaldo, Raul Albiol, Sergi Ramos and Angel Di Maria are all one booking away from a suspension. But Madrid will welcome Pepe back into the side after Brazilian served his one-match suspension in the last round against Tottenham Hotspur. The hero from the 1st leg against Spurs, Emmanuel Adebayor, is out with an abductor injury while Sami Khedira is also expected to miss the game with the same problem.

The one positive note for Madrid has been the return of Kaka and Gonzalo Higuain as the duo scored five of the six goals against Valencia on Saturday. The likes of Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil might keep them out of the starting line up for the two games, but their presence on the bench surely gives Madrid a huge advantage when things need to be turned around.

Barcelona

The Catalans responded to the Copa Del Rey loss in mid-week with a pedantic 2-0 victory over Osasuna on Saturday as Pep Guardiola rang in the changes. Unsurprisingly, the headlines were stolen by Lionel Messi as he became the first player in the history of Spanish football to score 50 goals in a season. In addition to being the top scorer in La Liga, the little magician is also at the top of the charts in the Champions League, where he has nine goals to his name so far. Guardiola was also relived to have his main centre forward back among the goals, David Villa ending his 11-game goal drought against Osasuna.

Barca have a few injury worries in defence, where Adriano is out for rest of the season while Diego Milito had to be substituted on Saturday after picking up a calf strain. Maxwell played the ninety minutes in spite of suffering with a groin strain while Carles Puyol is still struggling with a hamstring injury. But they will welcome Andres Iniesta back into the side after the midfielder served his one-match suspension against Shakhtar Donetsk in the last round.

Barca do not have too many options on the bench and that could pose a problem, especially when frustrated by Madrid. But as we all know the standard starting eleven of Barca can pulverise any side in the world on their day and if anybody feels that the loss in the Copa Del Rey has made them weaker going into the tie, they don't need to look any further than the 5-0 trouncing of Madrid at the Nou Camp back in November.

Head-to-Head:

20 April, 2011: Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (Copa Del Rey)
16 April, 2011: Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona

Form Guide:

Real Madrid: WWDWW

23 April, 2011: Valencia 3-6 Real Madrid
20 April, 2011: Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (Copa Del Rey)
16 April, 2011: Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona
13 April, 2011: Tottenham 0-1 Real Madrid (Champions League)
9 April, 2011: Athletic Bilbao 0-3 Real Madrid

Barcelona: WLDWW

23 April, 2011: Barcelona 2-0 Osasuna
20 April, 2011: Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (Copa Del Rey)
16 April, 2011: Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona
12 April, 2011: Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Barcelona (Champions League)
9 April, 2011: Barcelona 3-1 Almeria

Probable Line Ups:

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Casillas (Gk), Ramos, Pepe, Albiol, Marcelo, Alonso, Diarra, Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo, Benzema

The back four picks itself as centre-backs Pepe and Albiol will be protected by the full backs Ramos and Marcelo. Iker Casillas will be a huge presence in goal as Madrid will be keen to keep a clean sheet. With Khedira out injured, Lassana Diarra, who played the 90 minutes against Valencia, should slot into the defensive midfield position alongside Xabi Alonso. Ozil will be a vital link in the attacking third with Di Maria and Ronaldo bombing down the wings. Up front, Benzema is likely to be the lone striker.

Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes (Gk), Alves, Pique, Puyol, Milito, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Pedro

Guardiola doesn't have too many tough decisions to make in his team selection as the Messi, Villa and Pedro will occupy the front line with Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets covering the midfield positions. while Milito covers at left back. Alternatively, Dani Alves might move to left back with Puyol starting at right back.

Guru's Prediction: "REAL MADRID"

Real Madrid Vs Barcelona Match Preview

Some Facts :-

• Real Madrid have only ever won when they've taken the lead in La Liga action this term.

• The Bernabeu club tend to be quick starters when they play home Clasicos; registering in the opening 15 minutes of four of the last six.

• This season, Madrid have proven the best team offensively in the league in the early stages of games, striking 11 times in the opening quarter of an hour.

• Spanish players account for only two goals scored by Jose Mourinho’s men in league action this season (Sergio Ramos vs. Athletic Bilbao and Esteban Granero vs. Almeria).

• The 31-time Spanish kings have conceded the fewest left-footed goals in the Primera Division this season (three), and also the fewest goals from set pieces (three).

• Barcelona have won their last five matches against Madrid, representing their best sequence of results against the nine-time European champions.

• Pedro is the only player to have scored in each of the last two fixtures between the sides, while Lionel Messi has registered in his last two matches at the Bernabeu.

• Pep Guardiola’s side have scored fewer headed goals in the Primera Division than all of their rivals, barring Espanyol and Getafe, but they have scored more than any other team from outside the box (14).

• The opening 15 minutes of matches has proven kind to the visitors this season; they’ve yet to concede during that time-frame.

Four games; 18 days; three competitions. Those are the specs for Real Madrid and Barcelona, two of soccer's fiercest rivals, who will be going head-to-head again and again and again between now and the end of the season, with everything at stake.

Forget the histrionics; forget Lluís Companys versus Generalísimo Franco; forget Catalan nationalism versus the Spanish state. Between now and May 3, these two sides will be getting enough hate on for each other without going through the layers of politics that inevitably define the Clasico. Three trophies are up for grabs, and where they end up will be determined by which team wins the upcoming four-part mini-series.

It all begins today at Madrid's Bernebau stadium. Their La Liga rivals long left in their collective dust, Real Madrid and Barcelona were always going to finish the season in first and second place, as they have in each of the past two campaigns. And while the Catalan side holds an eight-point lead atop the standings coming into the match, a victory for the hosts would cut the gap to five points.

Still, the six league games remaining are likely not enough for Madrid to make up the ground. This championship is Barcelona's to lose, and it would take a collapse of epic proportions for that to happen. As a result, Madrid will be more concerned with the next three matches against their archrivals -- the final of the Copa del Rey, and the two-legged semifinal of the Champions League.

They'll be desperate to win the latter competition, in particular. After a string of exits at the first hurdle in the knockout stage, Madrid shellacked historical banana skin Olympique Lyon in the Round of 16 before easing past Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals. All the while, they continued what would have been a record-breaking two-year run in La Liga were it not for Barcelona's exceptional form.

In any other league, in any other era, 24 wins from 31 matches and 72 goals scored to only 22 conceded would have you comfortably atop the table. Not so in La Liga, however, where Barcelona have lost only once, notched 85 goals and allowed just 16. It's mind-bending, really, thinking about what the Blaugrana have done this season.

That Madrid have so much as kept within reach of their rivals is an achievement in and of itself, but second place doesn't cut it in the Spanish capital, and manager Jose Mourinho has surely been planning his strategy for the pair of Champions League semifinal matches, which will be played on April 27 and May 3.

Today's match, and Wednesday's Copa del Rey final, will effectively be trial runs for Mourinho and his players--glorified training sessions for battle to come 11 days from now. They'll be studying their opponents, observing their tendencies and learning how to handle them. They might try different formations.

Mourinho, of course, knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League as manager of Inter Milan exactly a year ago. Then, like now, his side played the first leg at home before traveling to Camp Nou. And now, like then, he'll want to take an advantage into hostile territory.

After beating the Catalans 3-1 at the San Siro last April, his side successfully absorbed the inevitable Barcelona pressure in the second leg and escaped with a 3-2 win on aggregate. Mourinho is an expert as these two-legged affairs, and the two chances he has to examine his foe in the next few days will only aid his preparations.

Guru's Prediction:  "The Draw"

REAL EASY

Real Madrid set up a Champions League semi-final date with Clasico rivals Barcelona, professionally seeing off the challenge of Tottenham Hotspur by defeating the English side 1-0 on the night, completing a comfortable 5-0 aggregate success.

Cristiano Ronaldo sealed Spurs’ fate soon after the game restarted following a goalless first half. Taking aim from 25 yards, the Portuguese hit a sweet shot goal-wards that was horribly fumbled into the net by Heurelho Gomes, leaving his side requiring six to go through.

If a comeback was to be made possible, the hosts appreciated that they would need to make ground back in the first half, but despite a largely up-tempo and positive period from the London club, they failed to make any headway into the nine-time champions’ advantage.

Wingers Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale offered the main sources of optimism for the Premier League team as an attacking threat, with the Welshman’s low drive on five minutes forcing Iker Casillas into a smart save low to his left. From the rebound, Luka Modric gathered the ball and hit the turf under a clumsy challenge, optimistically claiming for a penalty, but it would be Roman Pavlyuchenko’s failed appeal later in the period that gave the home side most cause for frustration.

Moments before the Russian was denied a spot kick, he only had himself to blame for failing to open the scoring as he lofted a shot well over from the edge of the box, rendering Lennon’s burst down the right wasted.

In general, Jose Mourinho’s side were containing their hosts well, preventing any regular danger to their goalkeeper. Tom Huddlestone squeezed a shot from a tight angle wide of the near post before the break, and Pavlyuchenko would draw a block from Casillas, but the Spaniards rarely looked like buckling.

Indeed, they had started the match in good form themselves, creating the best chance after three minutes, only for Ozil to side-foot tamely at Gomes.

Ten minutes before the interval, the Brazilian goalkeeper was stretched to a much greater degree, using every inch of his not inconsiderable frame to touch away a header from Sergio Ramos that appeared to be looping into the net. Emmanuel Adebayor was quickest onto the rebound, but the difficult follow-up was shot wide.

There was an air of satisfaction from Spurs at half-time, but the crowd were certainly quietened by Ronaldo’s strike some four minutes after the restart.

A measure of pride could have been restored just before the hour mark, though Pavlyuchenko’s header was a foot too high, with Casillas appearing to have the effort covered in any case.

Much of the first half’s intensity was lost with the opening goal, but chances remained frequent – at least initially. Substitute Jermain Defoe struck a stinging shot from 25 yards that Casillas got a strong wrist to parry clear, and Spain’s No.1 would later get across his goal well to deny William Gallas at the back post.

Four minutes from time, Rafael van der Vaart, who cut a quiet figure for much of this game, found space at the corner of the box but bent his shot too high.

At the other end of the field, Gomes nearly allowed a curling effort from Kaka to sneak under his hand and into the net. Thankfully for the shot-stopper, an already forgettable night wouldn’t get any worse as he got just enough on his countryman’s attempt to divert it wide.

A second goal would have flattered the Primera Division side on an evening in which they were never seriously pushed. Though there will undoubtedly be joy in the Spanish capital over their side’s progress to the semi-finals, the real test awaits in the semi-finals against fierce rivals Barca, whom they will soon meet four times in less than three weeks.

If the Catalans are overcome in Europe, Mourinho’s side will be hot favorites to finally lift their 10th European crown.