Wounded Barcelona braced for latest Real duel
With the Kings Cup final loss fresh in their minds, Barcelona are out for revenge when they face bitter rivals Real Madrid in today’s eagerly-anticipated Champions League semi-final first-leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It is the third meeting between the two Spanish powerhouses in just 12 days and Barcelona hope to continue their impressive recent record at the Bernabeu as they look to bounce back from the 1-0 Kings Cup extra-time final defeat to Real five days ago.
It was Jose Mourinho’s first trophy as Madrid manager and now the Portuguese coach has his eye on delivering a 10th European Cup to Madrid as he bids to become the first coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs.
“We can take them on over two games, we have just done that,” said Mourinho. “There is no reason we can’t beat them in the Champions League because we have just drawn once against them and then beaten them.”
History is on Madrid’s side with Real getting the better of Barcelona in their two previous semi-final meetings in the 1960 European Cup and most recently the last four of the 2002 Champions League with Madrid going on to be crowned champions on both occasions.
Barcelona have reached the Champions League semi-finals for four successive seasons and coach Pep Guardiola will hope to fare better than last season when he was outfoxed by Mourinho’s Inter Milan side at this stage.
“We won’t be going to Madrid in the best physical shape, but we’ll go there with a lot of enthusiasm and we have a lot of belief in ourselves,” said Guardiola. “We accept that Madrid may be favourites, but we will go to the Bernabeu to attack, score goals and try to win the game.”
Octopus predicts Real Madrid win
An octopus named Iker, which correctly predicted the result of the last two El Clasicos, has foreseen Real will reach the final of the Champions League.
Iker predicted Real would reach the final at London’s Wembley arena on May 28 by choosing to eat a sardine from a glass cylinder decorated with the club’s badge instead of one from a cylinder with Barcelona’s badge on Tuesday at the Sea Life Aquarium in the southern city of Benalmadena.
The 16-kilogramme octupus, named after Real keeper Iker Casillas, has already predicted Real’s 1-1 draw against Barcelona in La Liga and the club’s 1-0 win over the Catalan club in the King’s Cup final four days later.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2011.
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