Real Madrid travel this weekend to the Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez stadium to face relegation threatened Tenerife seeking nothing but a win while Barcelona host Malaga at the Camp Nou. iSporter Karan Shah previews Los Blancos’ match as they look to maintain pressure on League leaders Barca.
Two points separate the Spanish Heavyweights as Barca are looking more and more vulnerable in Spain and Europe this year. Madrid travel to Tenerife with a confident 6 -2 thrashing of Villareal last weekend and are looking well on course to reaching the Champions League level that will be certainly required if they are to eliminate Lyon. Madrid and especially Ronaldo showed their class and superiority against the Yellow Submarine and Manuel Pellegrini knows well that this match should be treated as another confident booster in preparation for next week’s Champions League fixture.
Guti seems to have recovered from a pubalgia but will not travel with the team as he lacks match fitness. Others who will not be travelling are Drenthe, Benzema due to injuries and obviously the Portuguese Pepe who it seems is ruled out for the season due to a broken ligament in his knee. Tenerife on the other hand are enduring a terrible form with only one win in the last eight games and as striker Nino puts it, Madrid is the bull that can bring them back on track if they are to stay in the first division.
Real have an upper hand in this clash and Manuel Pellegrini has Lass back on his squad so he could feature in the starting eleven. Garay, Ramos, Arbeloa, Albiol will slot into defence with Lass and Xabi playing double pivot. Kaka and Vdv could play on either flanks with Ronaldo and Higuain playing upfront.
Tenerife have a complete Spanish look to their team and have been playing good football however its their back four that has been amongst the worst this season and with Ronaldo on the prowl the Manager has a bit of thinking to do. Overall, Madrid do look stronger on paper however its against the smaller teams that Madrid sometimes fail to put up a show and they will look to bury that once and for all.
PREDICTIONS: Real will definitely come on top with something on the lines of a 3 goal victory as Barcelona will falter against a spirited Malaga to turn the tables at the top of the league this weekend.
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