After having broken the Riazor jinx, Los Blancos are well on their way to prove their detractors that they are not a one man team, or a team with individual talent. Up next is Espanyol, and it seems that Madrid have an easy task at hand this weekend at least in spite being without the suspended Ronaldo, iSporter Karan Shah brings the preview.
After humiliating Depor at Riazor with a master class of a performance by Blancos’ playmaker Guti, Manuel Pellegrini seems to have found the right combination in midfield with Alonso and Granero playing pivots and Guti and Kaka attacking ahead of them. Benzema seems to have buried his goal shyness and is looking more confident with two well taken goals in the last game. At the same time Barcelona face Getafe and the competition for the La Liga crown seems to be only between the two top teams with Sevilla and Valencia both falling behind in the title race.
Madrid will be without Ronaldo as he serves his last of the two match ban and would be counting on Kaka and Guti to weave their magic again. Madrid have Higuain, Van der Vaart and M. Diarra back on the squad, while Espanyol have a rash of injuries and are still playing without club captain Raul Tamudo.
Real won with an impressive 3-0 margin the first time the two clubs met this season and Espanyol have since then been more or less inconsistent and are just 6 points above relegation. Their central midfield has been dogged with injuries and it seems that they are facing a strong Madrid side that is determined to get ahead of Barca at the top. Gago returns to the first team after a failed transfer to Manchester City in the dying minutes of the transfer window. It seems that Pellegrini will play the same squad that beat Coruna so Pipita, Vdv and Diarra could start on the bench along with the Castilla players.
Getafe will provide stiff resistance to Barca’s misfiring squad and it seems that Madrid could be cutting Barca’s lead to 2 points this weekend if they play with similar passion like last weekend. Score predictions: Real Madrid 3 – 0 Espanyol.
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