SPANISH LA LIGA BETTING PICK - BARCELONA V REAL MADRID

Spanish La Liga

2010-11-29 - Barcelona vs Real Madrid

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Analysis:

Monday Night Football comes from the Nou Camp as the top two sides in the La Liga goes head to head with each other where Real Madrid are one point ahead of title holders Barcelona and this will be the theatre where in form superstars Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid and Lionel Messi from the home side Barcelona show what they are capable of.

This will be the first classico match for Real Madrid's coach Jose Mourinho and he will renew his rivalry with Barcelona after his side Inter Milan were eliminated by Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals last season.

Interestingly enough, Jose Mourinho worked as a translator Bobby Robson, and the Portuguese will hope to fare better than his predecessors Juande Ramos and Manuel Pellegrini, who both lost on two occasions to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side.

Jose Mourinho was quick to point out that returning to the Nou Camp with sides such as Chelsea and Inter Milan and beat them there before was sweet but now returning as coach of Real Madrid and beating them there will be the sweetest revenge of all. And the special one knows he will get a hostile reception after he came in the past and walked away victorious with the English, and Italian sides he coached before.

For the record, Real Madrid have not beaten Barcelona at Camp Nou since December 2007 when a Julio Baptista goal secured a 1-0 win and their last victory was the infamous guard of honour in May 2008 when Barcelona had to pay tribute to Real as champions at the Santiago Bernabeu and were demolished by a 4-1 margin.

And after that, Barcelona have since won four in a row under Guardiola who hopes to maintain his 100 percent record in the fixture once again.

The person Real Madrid needs to look out for will be none other than the World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi who has scored in his last 10 games in all competitions. That also included a hat-trick in last weekend's 8-0 thrashing of Almeria, and already has 13 league goals this season.

Mourinho must devise a plan to stop the Argentine as he has an impressive record against Real scoring in three out of the last four victories over Madrid including a brace in the infamous 6-2 win at the Bernabeu two seasons ago.

Messie was quoted as saying that Real Madrid will be coming to the Nou Camp with a score to settle. "Since the 6-2 at the Bernabeu I guess they have a real desire to beat us and this season they have strengthened with the new signings and (Jose) Mourinho."

Then for Real Madrid they have former Manchester United player in Cristiano Ronaldo who has been in red hot scoring form recently scoring a hat-trick in Real's 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in their last league match and has 15 league goals to top the goalscoring charts ahead of Messi.

Ronaldo has stated that he is not in a duel with Messi and he is not obsessed with scoring against Barcelona but his aim is to help the team to get the win here.

But he is sure to get a hostile reception from the home crowd after he infuriated Barca's Spanish World Cup winner Andres Iniesta last season by accusing him of diving and recently had a spat with Barca's Spanish midfielder Sergi Busquets in Portugal's recent 4-0 friendly win over world champions Spain.

There will be a number of players who are seasoned players such as Real duo Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos are as are Barcelona trio Carles Puyol, Xavi and Victor Valdes.

But for the other players in the side it is their first taste of the classico meeting.

Real's new signings Angel di Maria and Ricardo Carvalho along with German internationals Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil are set to experience it for the first time and especially for Jose Mourinho.

For Barcelona, Spain's World Cup winning striker David Villa, a 40-million-euro signing from Valencia, is set for his first clash with Real in Barca's colours and arrives after scoring four goals in his last four league games.

It is interesting to note that the winners of the first classico has proved a good omen in the past and in the last six seasons the victor has gone on to be crowned champions at the end of the season.

The team that gains the early edge in the head-to-head record can be crucial as it can decide the league if the two teams finish level on points as happened in 2007 when Real won the title due to their superior record in the Clasicos.

Take Real Madrid and accept the 1/4 ball here with Jose Mourinho the special one to weave his magic.

Cheers and good luck,
Cruiser

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Real Madrid to win here.