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On Saturday, essentially, we can find out the champion of this season in Spain - if Madrid defeats or at least does not lose to the club, the fate of the trophy will be practically clear.
"Barcelona" - Madrid "Real" Stadium: "Camp Nou", Barcelona (Spain) Referee: Raul Garcia de Loza Kick-off: 21.00 (Lithuanian time)
However, fans have seen this season with their own eyes how the safe 10-point lead of the capital team melted to just four - "Real" played to a draw several times, while "Barcelona" won even 11 matches in a row.
A victory for Pep Guardiola's players would mean that Jose Mourinho's team advantage would be reduced to just one point, which would have to be defended in tough matches against "Sevilla" and Bilbao "Athletic".
Now both teams are returning to the national front after setbacks in Europe: in the Champions League semi-finals, "Real" lost 1-2 to "Bayern" in Munich, while "Barcelona" recognized "Chelsea" superiority in London with a score of 0-1.
Guardiola told journalists that opponents will seek victory at the "Camp Nou" stadium: "They will come to win, press and try to find holes in defense - in this aspect, "Real" is a very strong team. I really don't think they will try to maintain a draw."
According to the specialist, even losing the title would not mean a tragedy: "I disagree with the thinking based on the terms of winners - losers. We beat "Man Utd" twice in the Champions League final, but I don't think this English club is a loser. I disagree with the statement that second place is first among the losers.
"Real" has also not been losers for the last three years. In this season we were even behind by 13 points before the match against Madrid "Atletico", so I am proud of my players who have achieved so much."
A few years ago, Bernd Schuster, who trained "Real", said that the capital's eleven would play for a draw, but Mourinho's assistant Aitor Karanka denied that.
"This match will reflect previous meetings at the "Camp Nou" stadium, where we scored goals and achieved draws. On Saturday, the same attitude should dominate. These three points are very important, but in any case, we will have to play four more matches," he said.
And he added: "No one feels tired before such a duel. We only think about it, not next week's Champions League battle."
As usual, before the clash between "Barcelona" and "Real", comparisons abound, with the main one being Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo. Both footballers in the Spanish championship have already scored 41 goals each, thus surpassing last season's C. Ronaldo record (40).
"Real" fans should be worried that Messi has scored 28 accurate shots specifically at the "Camp Nou" stadium, but on the other hand, C. Ronaldo has scored 20 times on opponents' fields.
Possible starting line-ups:
"Barcelona": Valdes; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Puyol; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi, Alexis Sanchez.
"Real": Casillas; Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; X.Alonso, Khedira, L. Diarra; Benzema, Ronaldo, Di Maria.
