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Real Madrid vs Espanyol Preview
Real Madrid vs Espanyol Preview
Real Madrid vs Espanyol | La Liga | 05-10-2008 21:00 CET | Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
Real Madrid had less than convincing victory against Zenit in the Champions League and will need to give out a solid performance against Espanyol because first, its in Bernabeu and second, Sneijder is back in the squad not necessarily the first team.
Sources say that Wesley Sneijder, will make the squad but Guti and Gago will not be present. I would have liked guti and Gago to play this game before the important derby against Atletico Madrid comes in La liga. The game against atletico Madrid would be an away match so I think Real Madrid need all their experienced players performing well in that match.
Anyway, we are talking about this match. I think we are going to see the same old "10 men behind the ball " strategy in the second half. Now quite a number of teams have figured out that they cannot just come to Bernabeu and defend. Now teams usually attack first 15 minutes, at best the first half. Then hang on to whatever comes their way for the remainder of the match.
One thing is for sure and that is, Real Madrid will not be short of confidence as Real Madrid performed great in their last match in La liga away from home against Real Betis with ten men.
Lineup
Schuster's rotation system will probably mean that this time either Ruud or Higuain will give his place to Rau'l who didn't feature against Zenit. We could also see Pepe and Cannavaro on the bench giving their places to Metzelder and Heinze. I think Schuster will play Van Nistelrooy but not for the whole match as he must have his eyes on the match against Juventus in the Champions League a week after the match against Espanyol.
However, in the midfield, I'm pretty confident that De La Red, Diarra and Van Der Vaart will play. As for Robben, I do think he will start as well.
Espanyol played Barcelona the other day and the later were very lucky to win as Henry and Messi scored really late in the game . Espanyol are a formidable team with talented players and they proved that last season when we were very very lucky to beat them (Thanks to Higuain!).
I think it is going to be an entertaining match. We are going to be playing in our own stadium, in front of our own fans and so this is a must-win game. I understand that Schuster's rotation system might have an effect on the result, nevertheless, I think we and Calderon, all are demanding a win because most of our key players (Casillas, Ramos, VDV, Ruud, Robben) will be there.
Predicition
2-0 in our favor. Higuain and Van Der Vaart
