[Exclusive] Twitter Q. & A. With Real Madrid Castilla's Alex Fernandez

Hola Madridistas, I apologize for our continued absence due to all of us having school or college, don't think that's going to change any time soon. But, we do have something for you, it's not the full thing that we were hoping for but something is better than nothing, right?

Pamela and I (mostly Pamela) run a fanpage of sorts of our academy's midfield genius—Alex Fernandez, the handle of that twitter account is @AlexFdez8Fans. Alex (@AlexFdez8) himself has been following that account since the first day. Hope you will too.

Anyways we decided to ask Alex a few questions about his Madridista memories, how it's been playing for Real Madrid, training with the first team etc etc.

Sadly he had to take permission from Real Madrid before answering our questions, and Real Madrid denied him permission, but he still agreed to answer to two of our questions because he had agreed to answer our questions before and he wanted to keep his word. He's such a nice guy, here's what he sent us:

"Hola, perdon por no haberte contestado pero tenia que pedirle permiso al club,me han dicho que no puedo responderte a tus preguntas. Te puedo contestar solo dos preguntas,eligelas y mandamelas.Un beso,gracias y lo siento."

We gave it a lot of thought and picked two questions out of fifteen where we thought he didn't need to be diplomatic and he could answer with his heart. Here's what Alex had to say:

Spanish [Original]:

Q.: ¿Cual es tu primera memoria del primer equipo cuando crecias? ¿Y quien era tu idolo en esos tiempos?

Alex Fernandez: Mi primera memoria era el Madrid campeon de champions en glasgow y el gol de Zidane es lo q mejor recuerdo de mi infancia como Madridista. Mi idolo siempre fue Fernando Redondo pero ahora Xabi alonso o Steven Gerrard.


Q.: De no haber escogido del futbol, que otra carrera le hubiera interesado? 

 Alex Fernandez: Algun otro deporte.




English [Translated]:

Q.  What is your best memory of the first team when you were growing up? Who did you look up to as a role model?

Alex Fernandez: My best memory as a Madridista is the one when Real Madrid won the Champions League in Glasgow and also Zidane's goal (against Bayer Leverkusen). Fernando Redondo has always been my idol, out of the players playing currently I admire Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard the most.


 Q. If you hadn't chosen football, what would you be doing?

Alex Fernandez: Playing some other sport.






Well there you have it, like I said before, it's not much, but it is something. We were expecting sort of a spicy answer from Alex regarding what he would be if not a footballer haha, but still we are extremely thankful of Alex for answering our questions. Hope this doesn't land him into any sort of trouble. 

Also we would like to thank @Galapago555 or Mr. Turtle or Señor Tortuga as we all call him for all the translations he has done for this post, all this could not have been possible without him. As they say in Spanish, Señor Tortuga eres un crack!
  
We wish Alex all the luck in the world may he have a bright, trophy laden career with Real Madrid. Hala Madrid!

Super Copa: Real Madrid-FC Barcelona: First Leg Preview

The Super Copa is very close at hand. League winners—Barcelona, will be facing current Copa Del Rey champions—Real Madrid, in a two-legged tie of the Spanish Super Cup. So far, both teams have completed rather contrasting pre-season tours/friendlies; with Real Madrid winning all seven of the matches as opposed to Barca's 3 wins out of six. The Catalans looked far from impressive during said pre-season friendlies, with most of their first team players, either out injured, or resting from the Copa America.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, had a perfect pre-season, and Mourinho's men looked all but ready to start off the new season. Playing time was properly distributed among the whole team that was called up for the pre-season tour, barring the injured Nuri Sahin, and a lot of goals were scored. Real Madrid scored 27 goals in 7 games, while conceding 5. Not bad.

However, the pre-season forms of both teams don't say too much of what to expect from both teams as the season commences, because as stated earlier, Barcelona were with most of their first team players, and Real Madrid didn't face the toughest of opponents during their voyage. So whatever game plan Mourinho has going into these games should be independent of what form the Catalans were in, during pre-season.

Without further ado, let's look at the starting lineup I think will be used come Sunday. Let me preface this by saying that I do not expect us to go all out in this game. I say this because, one of the many things we achieved last season was a good defensive structure against Barca. One that they found difficult to break down no matter how many passes they strung together. So I expect us to maintain that structure, but what has to change is the way we handle the ball when we are in possession.

The Champions league Semi-final 1st leg from last season was a typical example of what we should not do (when in possession) this time around. Last season we depended on kicking the ball up to the forwards without linking up play from the midfield. Needless to say it failed woefully.

What I expect this time around are build ups. Pep Guarliola's men press aggressively, so build ups must be quick, and direct. It's easier said than done, but we should at least try. But as always, don't expect us to win the possession battle. Enough said, now to the starting 11:

GK: Iker Casillas: I don't think I need to explain why I've chosen him. First choice goal keeper, captain, and best keeper in the world; these things speak for themselves.

RB: Alvaro Arbeloa: If recent reports, have been anything to go by, then Sergio Ramos will probably miss the first leg of this tie. In his absence, we have an able-bodied back up in Alvaro Arbeloa. The Spaniard is tactically astute, and has a very high concentration level on the pitch. Mourinho never shied away from singing his praises, and they were well deserved too. One of his drawbacks, however, is his reluctance to attack and we can be rest assured he won't be attacking a lot against Barcelona.

CBs: Pepe & Ricardo Carvalho: I think Pepe is going to be playing at centre back this time around, mostly because with Sergio out, we would have to throw Raul Albiol into the fray. Seeing as Albiol doesn't have the full confidence of the coach, Pepe will have to play in defense. His obvious partner would be Carvalho. The 33 year old centre back, is sure to start this game.

LB: Marcelo: The Brazilian full-back has matured (football-wise) a lot over the past one or two years. He went from the player most Madridistas didn't want to have on their team in the big games, to one of the most important players for team. He could easily be rated the best attacking left back in the world, now, and with good reason too. He scored our last goal against Barca, in the Camp Nou, and while it wasn't enough to see us through o the final of the Champions league, that goal must have given him some confidence, on an individual level, at least. He still has the tendency to lose concentration every now and them, but whatever he lacks defensively, he makes up for, going forward. A definite start for him. 

DMs: Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso: The best player on our team is Ronaldo, but our most important player, is Xabi Alonso, without a doubt. Barring some weird happenings, Alosno is sure to start this game. His calmness on the ball, coupled with his pin point passing, are enough to seal a spot for him in the starting 11, come Sunday. In fact, how well we play, will depend (to a certain extent) on how well the Spaniard plays.

Sami Khedira is going to be a lot more involved in our attacks this season. Judging from our pre-season friendlies, he's going to be playing higher up the pitch than Xabi Alonso, which means, he'd be more involved in goals; scoring, and assisting. I see him starting on Sunday, especially with Lass out of the team, and Nuri Sahin still injured. He will play a huge role in how well we pressure Barcelona high up the pitch. 

RW/DM: Fabio Coentrao: The big question is: Who will start, Di Maria, or Coentrao? In my opinion, Coentrao will be starting this game. Why? Because with the Portuguese, we kill two birds with one stone. Seeing as he can play in the middle and on the wings, he could slot into the middle and form a trivote with Sami and Alonso when we defend, switch to the wings, to provide some width when we defend. On paper, it's a brilliant idea, but whether it can be properly executed, is an answer that can only be made available to us, on the field. If this happens, then it's safe to say, Fabio Coentrao will be a very important part of this team, come Sunday; even more important that Alonso. His work ethic will be tested, and his tactical discipline too. Will he be caught out of position often? Can he keep up with the constant movements of the Pep Guardiola's men? It's a tough task, but the 30 million price tag would be a steal, if he can pull this off. 

CAM/CM: Mesut Ozil: I expect the German to start this match ahead of Kaka, for the obvious fact that he's currently the better of the two. He has had a strong pre-season, and thanks to the German National team coach, Joachim Loew, he was rested during the week, while most of his teammates were on international duty. He links up well with the attackers, and is very comfortable on the ball. I do not see why he shouldn't start this game.

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo: The highest goal scorer in one season in la liga's entire history, looks set to start this game. Ronaldo had a good pre-season, scoring 7 goals in 7 games. He has continued with his scoring form from last season, and would probably be the first name on the team sheet, going into this game. 

ST: Karim Benzema: To be honest, I do not think Benzema should start against Barcelona. Yes he has been in good form as of late, but his style of play might not suit the game we would have to play against Barcelona. With him, we need a lot of possession; something we won't have too much of against Barca.

But how do you reward somebody who has worked so hard to make the starting 11 this season, and has done so well during the pre-season friendlies, so much that he is the the highest goal scorer with 8 goals in 7 games? You reward him by trusting him in games that count. His first real test this season will come in the form of a home match against Barcelona. I Hope he passes in flying colours, because if he does well, the whole team does well.

It could be argued that playing him will be a mistake, but (in my honest opinion) it is a mistake that must be made. I think he should start on Sunday, at least.

________________


Well that's it folks. This is the lineup that I think will work against Barcelona, but as cliched as this may sound, it is still the truth; "Nothing is for sure in football". I expect a cautious game from us regardless of who starts for Barca, because let's face, this is not a matter of "will power", it's about what has to be done. Like I said, we've established one thing against Barca, and that's our defense, so we cannot just throw all that away because we look like favorites after a more "impressive" run of pre-season friendlies. That's a misleading theory, to say the least. We must take one step at a time, if we're going to eventually supersede Barcelona.

Hala Madrid!

Pablo Sarabia Joins Getafe: The Complete Story

Pablo Sarabia is considered to be one of the most talented and promising players in Real Madrid's youth ranks. He is so highly-regarded that scouts from all over Europe attended several Castilla games this season to watch him play.

Clubs such as Arsenal, Benfica, Braga, Barcelona, Manchester United and many more were keeping a close eye on him. His agent had admitted that Arsenal, along with a couple of Italian outfits, had expressed an interest, and that Real Madrid were aware of that, but he later stated that Sarabia wants to triumph at Madrid.

Pablo joined La Fabrica as a 13-year-old in 2004, moving up through the youth ranks over the years, until he made his professional debut in the Segunda B against Alcorcon with Real Madrid Castilla in 2009. He improved immensely under Alberto Toril who was promoted from Juvenil A's coach to Castilla's in the second half of the 2010-2011 season.

With Castilla, Sarabia made 49 appearances and scored 15 goals. He made his first-team debut last season in a 4-0 win over Auxerre at the Bernabeu in the group stages of the Champions League after coming on for Cristiano Ronaldo. On his debut, he looked comfortable, didn't get lost chasing the ball or forget orders and also showed some great passing and dribbling abilities, all signs of his maturity despite only being a teenager with very little high-level experience.

On Sunday, July 3, Real Madrid officially announced the departure of Pablo Sarabia. In a brief statement, the official announcement reports that an agreement has been reached with Getafe, reserving the right to buy him back:

Real Madrid C. F. and Getafe C. F. have reached an agreement for the transfer of RM Castilla player Pablo Sarabia. Real Madrid CF reserves the right to repurchase the footballer.

Sarabia had a contract with Real Madrid until the summer of 2013; however Real Madrid cashed in on him for a reported €3 million, also inserting a buy-back clause in the deal. The buy-back clause can only be activated after he completes 2 years of his 5-year-contract with Getafe.

There's a lot that can be written on the complexity of the issue of non-usage of Real's cantera graduates, but most of the problem primarily lies at the doorstep of Florentino Perez and his over-the-top 'I know it all' tendency.

Also, Mourinho is under pressure to deliver and taking risks with youngsters is certainly not included in his plans. No matter how hard he tries to make fans think he cares about developing our youngsters, he doesn't, which is unfortunate because this generation of La Fabrica players is the best in years, and I, along with many other Madridistas, would hate to see what happened to Mata and Parejo happen to them.

However, I don’t think this will be the case with Sarabia. In recent years, we've had De La Red, Granero and Parejo leave to Getafe and come back at a later date, under similar circumstances to Sarabia's move. De La Red and Granero were able to make it back and Sarabia will be hoping to do the same.

With Getafe, Sarabia will get plenty of playing time in the Primera. This will give him the opportunity and time to fully develop. He has all the raw talent and ability. Playing regularly at such a high level will aid him by providing him the confidence and experience he needs. Hopefully, he will impress Perez and Mourinho (or whoever is the manager when Sarabia starts dazzling), and we’ll see him wearing the white shirt again.

Good luck, Pablo!

Keeping It Real—Why Promoting a Canterano Might Backfire

Joselu: Scored on debut

"Ten youth teamers debut this season"—Just as the last match of the season in Liga BBVA had ended for Real Madrid with a 8-1 victory over Almeria; Real Madrid's official site ran a post with the above mentioned headline, to remind us all of the greatness of Jose Mourinho—the big risk taker who despite having the pressure of winning every trophy invested in not two or three but TEN youth teamers.

What Real Madrid's official site wanted to convey didn't sit well with me, this post of ten youth teamers debuting was a way to please the fans who have been wanting to see the youth teamers with the first team, wanting to see another Raul, another Casillas, another De La Red; this post reminded me of what these debuts meant for Jose Mourinho—another way to please the fans.

I won't deny it, never have, never will—I'm not the biggest Jose Mourinho fan (but still I'm glad he is continuing with the team because he marked an amazing season with the club.). So there, you can use this against me, say that my hate for Jose Mourinho is the reason I see this as a way to please the fans. But you can't change the facts, can you?

Juan Carlos, Mateos, Antonio Adan, Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata, Alex Fernandez, Nacho Fernandez, Tomas Mejias, Jesus and Joselu made their debuts for the first team this season according to the post, but lets not count Alex Fernandez because all he got was a little above 30 seconds at Racing and not single touch of the ball. So that means only nine canteranos properly debuted this season.

What makes me question Jose Mourinho's actions, and say that all these debuts were just to please the fans is because out of these nine, only two players have made more than one appearance—Adan and Nacho. Not counting Morata as despite the Levante tie in Copa del Rey being dead and buried, he only got a substitute appearance.

Sarabia: Impressive on debut

Had Mourinho been genuinely interested in using them, surely more canteranos would have gotten more than one appearance and Nacho wouldn't have been the only outfield player to get a start and play a full game; especially when Pablo Sarabia impressed in the 30 minutes he got to play against Auxerre and has been performing brilliantly for the Castilla week in and week out.

Many of these canteranos in the beginning got in the team because of Jose Mourinho's helplessness. Mateos was given a professional contract at the start of the season because, Pepe and Garay were out injured, and there was no back up in central defense.

Adan got a start because Casillas wasn't called up for the game and Dudek broke his jaw, then later Dudek's injury saw Adan make more appearances. I think you catch my drift, by the end of the season, Mourinho had realized what the impact a canterano appearance makes on the fans, still Nacho's start was more due to suspensions.

I'm not saying, I'm not thankful of Mourinho to start so many canteranos, but I'm not particularly thrilled about their future if they were used as a tool to make the fans happy. The last player to get promoted to the first team was Mateos, he was loaned out to AEK Athens in the January transfer window. I'm sure had he stayed here longer, he wouldn't have notched up 90 minutes in a season.

Talking about Mateos isn't fair, because surely there was no way he would have started over Carvalho, Pepe, Garay or Albiol. But we can definitely use Sergio Canales as an example; Canales was supposed to be going on loan this season before Jose Mourinho himself requested to keep him with the squad for the season.

We all saw what happened with him. If Sergio Canales—who had a decent season in La Liga before joining, wasn't trusted by Mourinho to get enough minutes, I don't see a way how the canteranos who play in Segunda B can gain his trust if they are promoted.

The way that Jose Mourinho has acted, promoting the canteranos is not an option that will be any good for the canteranos, because once they get promoted officially they are no longer eligible to play for Real Madrid Castilla, which will mean they're most likely to notch up 300 minutes a season at most, if they're lucky enough.

Will they be used like Higuain?

I won't complain about the canteranos getting 300 minutes if they are sent in crunch situations, like Gonzalo Higuain was when he was new at Real Madrid, during the time when the scores were level or when Real Madrid were behind; he was sent in to get a goal, get a result; that is positive reinforcement for a young player.

But how the things have gone so far, these 300 minutes will most likely come when the game's result is beyond doubt; which will hardly help build any character, they'll never be ready for the first team like this. It's better they stick with the Castilla or join another La Liga club with a buy-back clause, because that is a strategy that seems to be working.

I feel that I am being a little too harsh on Jose Mourinho, it's not exactly his complete fault that he doesn't trust the canteranos, it's a little too hard to put the blame on him when you know what kind of pressure to succeed is on him.

The man who has to be blamed for this is none other than Florentino Perez, had he not sacked Vicente Del Bosque, there wouldn't have been a period of instability at the club, and the managers would have taken the risk to give chances to canteranos.

Hala Madrid!

Wolfsgang Stark & FC Barcelona: Pre-Match Team Meeting

"Go! Get HIM!

 If you are following me on Twitter, you probably know that I ran a sting operation to get my hands on the "exclusive" Barcelona pre-match & post-match team talk, and am going to publish it as 2 part post. Our reporter was in Catalonia a few days before the match, and this is EXACTLY what he saw and heard.

Location: Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper

(Pep Guardiola is rejoining the team huddle after a phone call, Pep looks pleased with himself, and starts talking with the Barcelona players.)

Pep: Just got of the phone with Michel (Platini), he had called to say he was sorry about picking the Portuguese referee without asking us first, and he was saying he would do just about anything to make it up.

Puyol: *growling like a caveman in approval*

Valdes: Has he made arrangements so we can play our game?

Pep: Yes, he has, our "special player" would be arriving to train with us soon, jejeje. Pique what are you doing? Hang up the phone and come back, we are talking here.

Pique: I was just telling Shakira to get a nose job, a bigger nose would be so much more sexy, don't you think? It looked so good on Ibra.

Pep: Didn't I tell you we don't take his name here, he broke my heart. Anyways, all of you do your stretching, then we'll start the practice with a little diving followed by some face-clutching till our friend drops by. By the way where's Villa, I don't see him.

Xavi: He's with Ramos and Arbeloa, they sent me a text saying he got drunk last night and they had to pick him up, and he's with them, they even sent me a photo, look.

Pep: He isn't their teammate, it's your duty; did you go pick David up? What did you tell them?

Xavi: I told them we are the only team that wants to play football.

Pep: ..........

Xavi: I'll go pick him up.

[Xavi leaves to get Villa while the team continue their training, they take turns diving, clutching their face and ganging up on a person, who our reporter assumes is supposed to be the referee.]

[Some time passes, our reporter notices a grown German man wearing a Lionel Messi kit reach the gates of Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper and is stopped by the security and is being thrown out when Pep Gaurdiola notices the man and intercepts. Apparently the security guards were throwing him out because they had banned him from the premises for stalking Lionel Messi during training.]

Pep: Wow, you came a lot earlier than expected, were you close by? And why were the security people stopping you from entering.

Wolfsgang Stark: Yes, I was near Messi's hom.....I was close by. By the way where's Lionel Messi, he's like the best player EVER, I want to meet him. I don't know man, they did that the last time I was here too, I was just going to the player's shower after the training to meet Messi, that's all, I still don't get why they threw me out.  Now when am I getting to meet Messi?

Pep: Umm...........yeah, I can't figure it out either........you'll be meeting Messi soon enough, when we'll talk game strategy in a while.

Wolfsgang Stark: OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! REALLY?!

Pep: .............yeah.

[Pep and Wolfsgang Stark oversee the training (video), Xavi and Villa join the group, Pep and Stark wait for them to finish "practice" before they start the discussion.]

Pep: Okay, huddle up people, here's the "special player" I was talking about.

Puyol: *sniffs Wolfsgang Stark*

Wolfsgang Stark: Hi Leo! I am your biggest fan, can you sign my shirt, my shorts, anything?!

Pep: Can we focus?

Wolfsgang Stark: Alright. *whispers* I love you Leo.


Pep: Can I call you Wolf? Okay Wolf, as Platini might have already told you, to play our beautiful game of football, we have some special requirements that only you can provide. *winks* Aside from those we require shorter grass to play, but those bastards in Madrid just won't cut the grass, and that's why we only drew in the league, see:

Xavi: We were the only team that wanted to play football, but couldn't because of the jungle, you need to help us save people's lives, and also save the game of football Wolfgang!

Wolfsgang Stark: I'll be glad to help the team of  Leo, do you want to me get rid of Pepe? He got all over in the face of Leo, he needs to pay for his actions.

Pep: Good, good, you already know what to do, less work for me. Excellent.

Wolfsgang Stark: Can I get Messi's shirt right now?

Messi: *runs away*

[They are all sent to the showers, Wolfgang Stark follows Lionel Messi.]

Real Madrid-Barcelona: El Clasico (1/4): Points Worth Noting

Pepe to Messi: "Are you crazy?"

Last night Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid brought an end to the winning streak of Pep Gaurdiola's Borecelona....err....Barcelona in El Clasico as well as their streak away from home.

Jose Mourinho's men fought hard, were the better team, created the better chances despite being "outpassed" and "outpossessed," earned themselves a draw with 10 men on the field. It didn't help that the referee was, as usual against them. This draw as stated by Marca's headline, "feels like a win".

There are always many match reviews available on the internet of such games and it's always better to do something different, so that's why I have decided to discuss point by point the things that happened in the match which were worth discussing.


Barcelona's Football is as Negative as it Can Get

Barcelona had 76% possession of the ball according to ESPN Soccernet, and as far as I remember the commentator repeatedly reminding how Barcelona had completed more than twice the number of passes than Real Madrid while having an orgasm. The bias of Mediapro's commentator didn't enable him to watch the match properly as he was praising Barcelona for playing square balls and back passes while lined up at the half-line unable to create anything worthwhile except for a good showing for number of passes completed.


Keeping possession while attacking is 'good attacking football', but keeping possession for the sake of not giving it to the opposition should be considered as a negative tactic, just like taking the ball to the flag or rolling in defense is, people need to get rid of their bias towards FC Barcelona.


The Trivote Worked Wonders/Pepe is Amazing in Midfield

Bassam of Real Madrid Offside and I have had a discussion about using the trivote many time, we had Granero as our choice with Khedira and Xabi Alonso, but after Granero was suspended both of us had agreed on Pepe as the third man in the trivote over Lass; Lass got injured we got our wish, and it turns out what we wanted was the right thing all along. We wanted Real Madrid to close down spaces, press high up the field and not give time to Barcelona's midfielders time to pick out passes that can open up defenses. Pepe did just that; he hounded the Catalan midfielders down, won tackles in the middle of the park, and helped start many of Real Madrid's attack; hands down the best player on the field.

The trivote should be used again in the remaining Clasicos without any change or bringing in Lass, Lass just isn't the same as Pepe. Pepe's much more cleaner and disciplined than Lass.


Dani Alves & Adriano Were Kept Quiet


After watching a few Barcelona games, I had realized how important Dani Alves is for Barcelona. When going forward, Dani Alves always bombs up the field making dangerous runs, getting into good positions and getting involved in many attacking plays with quick one-two passing. Due to the compact shape of Real Madrid and breaking quickly on the counters, Dani Alves didn't venture forward in attack too much and that made it one less player to deal with while defending. Not only Alves, the left-back Adriano didn't make many attacking runs either.


 Full-Backs Can't Be Red Carded


Yes, that's right, according to the fourth-official in the game, full backs can't be red-carded. In the press-conference after the game, Jose was talking about how Alves should have been red-carded for a second bookable offense when he brought down Marcelo in the box conceding a penalty and that's when he said:

 "I asked the fourth official why there wasn't a second yellow and he told me it's because he's a full-back."

All these times, all these times when Sergio Ramos got red carded, all he had to say was, "I'm a full-back b****!" and he would have stayed on, I ask for the Spanish FA and the UEFA to apologize to Sergio Ramos for giving him red cards in La Liga, Copa del Ray and Champions League.



Neither Ozil Nor Di Maria Should Start The Next Clasico


Both Di Maria and Mesut Ozil have been immense for Real Madrid this season but none of them are suitable to start the El Clasico just yet. Di Maria has got the nerves and Ozil is not someone who can keep up the same intensity over the 90 minutes.

Last night Di Maria's touch and control deserted him many a times, the same Di Maria would have latched on to those similar balls and would have tore up the defense of some other team but he just couldn't keep the ball close to him and always ran into trouble. Di Maria just isn't ready mentally.

Ozil was brilliant when he came on last night, dribbling past defenders, passing the ball well, getting involved in the play. The problem with Ozil starting is that in order to last the 90 minutes he will stop pressing in attack and will not track back, and the success we had in shutting out Barcelona's midfield was the fact that everyone put in their defensive shifts properly, even Cristiano Ronaldo was tracking back helping in defense many times. If Ozil switches off we have a problem.

Picking someone to start out of the two is a little difficult, so I'll just go ahead and put the weirdest idea in your head about starting Benzema and Higuain along with Cristiano Ronaldo

But as far as Jose Mourinho goes, I know he'll start Ozil. Won't be a bad idea if Ozil does a complete job and puts in 60-70 minutes and then Di Maria comes on in his place as an impact substitute.

 I nearly predicted the correct line-up (The mistake I made was picking Higuain over Benzema) nearly 12 hours before the game on Twitter, let's wait and see if I predicted the correct line-up this time as well. Best of luck to the players for the remaining Clasicos! Hala Madrid!

Should Real Madrid Give Any Priority To La Liga? [Guest Post]

Note: The following post was supposed to be done as a debate post but Saheli (@riverscollide) did such a wonderful job writing this I decided it was better to publish it as her post, keep in mind this was supposed to published on Sunday April 3, I screwed up and delayed the post.

---------------------

Last night I observed the difference between my mentality of a Madridista and the mentality of a Cricket Fan. With Real Madrid, I've always adopted an 'it ain't over till the fat lady sings' attitude and with the latter, it has always been 'oh crap, India is going to lose' even before the start of the second innings. The way things unfolded last night, I’m beginning to think a swap of mentalities is in order.

Needless to say, Real Madrid's performance was quite dreadful, with Adebayor being the biggest flop of the day as he missed countless chances. Subsequently, Barcelona’s 1-0 win away at El Madrigal means that they're now eight before ahead of us with eight games left to play in the league. Mathematically Barcelona are still not champions, but a conversation with Deepak made me think, is it time to give up on the league and focus instead on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey final instead?

For Madrid, April is a make-it or break-it month with six extremely crucial games left to play. We will first host Tottenham on 5 April for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter finals. Next, we will travel to San Mames to play Athletic Bilbao in the league, followed by the return leg of the UCL at White Hart Lane. Following that, there will be two intense encounters with Barcelona – once at the Bernabeu, and once at the Mestalla for the Copa del Rey final. The month then rounds off with an away trip to the Mestalla to face Valencia.

Out of the three competitions, realistically we have a chance of winning two. At this juncture, it is safe to assume the outcome of La Liga is out of our hands: it is Barcelona's title to lose. Based on last night's display, we realise exactly how much we miss Xabi Alonso's creative spark in the midfield. We have played and won without Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, but last night was a testament to our lack of creativity in the midfield. Perhaps creativity is a wrong choice of word; rather we lacked a midfielder who could control the game, like a conductor conducting an orchestra.

Real Madrid have already confirmed that Ronaldo, Marcelo and Benzema will be available for the clash against Tottenham. Gonzalo Higuain clocked in more than twenty minutes last night after being out for more than four months. So it is safe to say we will have a relatively full squad with the exception of Kaka and Gago. Now the question that arose in my conversation with Deepak is this: is it time to let go of the league and focus solely on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey?

My short answer is yes. Let me elaborate with a long one.

It is true that once we stop pursuing the league, Barcelona will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. But if the last three years have taught us anything, it is this: Pep Guardiola is a pragmatist. He will not stop pursuing the league until Barcelona have won mathematically. This will not happen in April – since Barcelona will play only three games. Right now Barcelona have 81 points, compared to Real Madrid’s 73 points. There are still 24 points up for grabs for both sides in the league.

Assuming Barcelona wins all three of their April league games, and Real Madrid lose all three, they will extend their lead by 17 points. Only then will it make them champions by the end of April – based on the assumption that Madrid has to lose all three of their league encounters. However, if Madrid doesn’t drop all nine points in April, Barcelona still have to play two more games to win the league title. Confusing? Yes. Bizarre? Ditto. Bottom line is this: it’s highly unlikely that Barcelona will be able to win the league by the end of April.

So technically, Barcelona will still be fighting on all three fronts. Whereas if Real Madrid decides to forfeit the aggressive pursuit of the League and instead focus on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, it would mean resting key players like Ozil and Di Maria during league games.

I am not saying that we should throw away the remaining games; more on that later. Mourinho did say before the Gijon match that he can’t rest the key players because the La Liga hinged on the outcome against Sporting. Now that it is over, I think Mourinho should shift his focus onto the other two competitions. This way, our starters would have played less minutes prior to meeting Barcelona than their starters.

The counter argument is that if we lax our pursuit of the league title, Barcelona can also do the same. And yes, we know that Barcelona reserves are more than capable of winning games by themselves, like they did last night, without either Xavi or Iniesta in the squad. Compared to their second string team, I think it is safe to say, based on last night's display, our second string team sucked. We still do not have the cohesiveness that Barcelona have built up over the season.

However, we should not concern ourselves with what Barcelona will or won't do. We should focus on ensuring that our starters are in their top forms for the two (or maybe four) crucial encounters against the Catalans. Barcelona are not unbeatable and neither are they invincible. Their players tire as much as any other La Liga players. Right now, our aim should be to field a fully fit team for the games against Tottenham and the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.

I am not suggesting that we throw away the league and let Barcelona wrap it up before April. Instead, I think this will be a perfect time to bring on the canteranos and expose them to the first team. Morata, Alex, Juan Carlos, Juanfran, Sarabia have all tasted first team action this season – and they've been on top notch form with Castilla. With Castilla's playoff position more or less secured, I’d love to see them get some playing time.

This will be a win-win situation for us: it will take the pressure off our regulars and it will also give us a glimpse of what our future is like, since it is my earnest desire that one day we will build a team around our Cantera. Apart from the Canteranos, this will be a good time see which of our reserves should stay and which of them should go: Canales, Pedro Leon, Garay etc; by playing them against Bilbao and Valencia. As for El Clasico, I expect Real to field a fully fit team since it is a matter of pride and we want to ensure a repeat of 6-2 does not happen again.

However, given that we'll be facing them again in three days, it is time to prioritise. Do we want to defend our honour at the Bernabeu or do we want to win the Copa del Rey to ensure we do not finish trophyless this season? For Barcelona it is a win-win situation – they either get to humiliate us at our own turf or they win the Copa del Rey. For us, it’s time to sort out our priorities.

To wrap it up, we can pursue the league but it might backfire terribly on us and leave us trophyless at the end of the day. Because pursuing the league means devoting resources away from Champions league and Copa del Rey to focus on something that is almost a lost cause. It is a simple division of labour – pursuing the league means Ozil, Di Maria et al will be playing more minutes, thus risking them to either fatigue or injury.

Of course this doesn’t mean that we're going to easily win our Copa del Rey and the potential Champions League Semi-final ties against Barcelona – at least we will go into the respective games with a fully fit squad.

Mourinho has beaten Barcelona before with Inter and that victory came after two group stage defeats against the Catalans. We should also keep in mind that this is the first season that these new signings and Mourinho are working together. While expectations are sky high at the Bernabeu (and sometimes quite unrealistic to be honest) and among Madridistas, as long as we put up a good fight, losing to them won't be the end of the world. My only wish is that we do not throw away the encounters like we did in November: now that was just plain embarrassing.