Nigeria Content Online

By now, Barcelona’s Josep ‘Pep’
Guardiola will have assimilated the fact that he is at war with Jose
Mourinho. With the first leg of the Champions League semifinal between
two teams that have created over the years one of the greatest
rivalries – a win for the Mourinho and his team will further put a dent
on the confidence of the Azulgranas that was apparent after last
Wednesday’s Copa del Rey loss to Madrid.

Neutral observers – but can any
football fan be neutral to Mourinho? The ‘Special One’ has a persona
that breeds adulation and hate in equal measures and Barcelona fans
will like nothing more than a victory today, especially considering the
fact that Mourinho had truncated a successful cup defence last season
with Inter Milan.

Mourinho showed last Wednesday that the
tactics that frustrated Barcelona over two legs last season, can still
be as effective on the passing game of the acclaimed best football side
in the world.

The other two ties in the last eight
days have been about the emergence of Pepe as the Real Madrid watchdog,
and the Portuguese midfielder has put in wonderful performances
snapping at the heels of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta. In all,
Mourinho has set up his team to deny space to Barcelona forwards at the
last third of the pitch. In the Copa final, Real restricted Barcelona
to four shots on target and that will be the same strategy that will be
applied today.

But a good team cannot overnight have
diminished so much, that they will not stand a chance against Madrid
and Barcelona legend, Johan Cryuff has said, “There’s no reason to be
worried for the Barcelona fans. The draw in Bernabeu secured the league
title, while Barca came close to winning the Copa. It’s impossible to
be brilliant in every game and Barcelona haven’t turned into a weak
team all of a sudden.” Yes, but the mind games and the Mourinho factor
have definitely given Los Blancos the advantage.

Barca alternative

Guardiola must find
a way to get Messi, David Villa, who scored against Osasuna on Saturday
after 11 barren games and Pedro Rodriguez into more dangerous
positions. But the option is to play Iniesta on the left to face up
against either Sergio Ramos or Alvaro Arbeloa. The impish forward must
be told to commit the defenders to one-on-one positions to attract
fouls or drive into the box.

Messi must be
advised not to drop too deep into midfield. He must wait around the box
to create his runs into the box and also interchange passes with
Iniesta and Pedro. Though the Catalans are known not to favour long
range shooting, they will need to do more of that so that the air of
predictability will be diminished.

Mourinho perspective

He has a pack of
forwards that are simply world class. Gonzalo Higuain scored three
goals against Valencia on Saturday. The Argentine forward was joined by
Kaka, with two goals and Karim Benzema. Added to these three are
Cristiano Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor. So right now, the only
possible starter as a forward will be Ronaldo.

There is also Angel
di Maria, who provided the cross for Ronaldo’s goal on Wednesday. If
Mourinho decides to pick pacy players, then di Maria, Ronaldo and
Higuain are likely to start but if he wants to go long, then Adebayor
will start at the centre of Maria and Ronaldo. Unfortunately, Ricardo
Carvalho is suspended so either Raul Albiol or Ezequiel Garay is
expected to come into the centre of defence. Barcelona will be all too
aware that Madrid will continue to play on the break.

But whatever
formation or players that are devolved today on both sides, it promises
to be a cracker with the stakes much higher than it was last week. Also
expect Madrid to finish with 10 players!

Mourinho’s rule is
espoused most vividly by Marcelo, who said: “I would prefer to win not
playing well than to lose while doing so,” he added. “”If we can win
playing well, then that’s great but the most important thing is to get
the victory.”

Quotes

‘For me there are
no favourites. It’s the Champions League semifinals – two rival teams
who know each other very well. Two teams with long traditions, two
teams whose players know what it is to be successful, who know how to
win things and play big matches. For me there aren’t any favourites
here.” – Jose Mourinho

“We believe in ourselves and we feel
more comfortable going in search of opportunities as opposed to
defending what we have. At the Bernabéu, you must always take the game
extremely seriously while going in search of goals so that you don’t
get swamped by the occasion”. We’ll obviously be going there looking to
get a good result.” – Pep Guardiola