Spain’s war of the words

Andy Mitten, Spanish Football Correspondent

• Last Updated: November 20. 2009 10:11PM UAE / November 20. 2009 6:11PM GMT

BARCELONA // The verbal sparring has started ahead of Spain’s El Clasico. It matters not that both Barcelona and Real Madrid have two important games to play before they meet at Camp Nou on Sunday November 29, the media are only obsessed with the big one.

The Madrid-based Marca is happily speculating that Barca’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the game through injury, while sneering at Gerard Pique’s opinion that Barca’s vital Champions League game against Inter Milan next week is a more important game – despite Pique being correct.

In Barcelona, the Catalan press magnify any perceived cracks in Real’s make up. Thus Guti is not happy and wants to leave, and Real are a one-man team, which has been shown by the injury to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is expected to return for the El Clasico from the ankle injury which has kept him out since September 30 and said: “I’m very close to coming back and the support of fans has helped me get through a difficult time.”

Ronaldo has trained alone all week, but yesterday joined the rest of the squad for a full workout and has an outside chance of playing tonight when the Primera Liga returns after a two-week absence caused by international fixtures.

Leaders Barca visit eighth-placed Athletic Bilbao and will be without defender Eric Abidal, who has swine flu, and teammate Yaya Toure, who may also have contracted the virus. Real, who are a point behind Barca, host a Racing Santander side with just one win from their 10 league games so far.

Real’s Estaban Ganero is rightly confident, saying: “We need the three points and we’ll be aiming to score an early goal. The international break has affected us more then Racing, but they have been on a bad run and they have changed their coach, and he will be hoping to lift them.”

Racing this week disposed of coach Francisco Pernia, who had led the Cantabrian side from Spain’s northern coast to their first Uefa Cup place in 2008. The form which gave them a satisfactory 12th-place finish last season did not continue and he was replaced on Thursday by Miguel Angel Portugal, who returns for his second spell at Racing. Portugal played for Real so he will not be intimidated by the Bernabeu, while one of his players, Luis Garcia, will not be phased by the big stage either.

The former Liverpool man, who won the Champions League in 2005, said: “Madrid have other footballers of the same high level so regardless of whether he [Ronaldo] plays or not we must do our job as best as possible to try to get the three points at stake.”

Over in Bilbao, Athletic coach Joaquin Caparros, who has lost all five times in which he has gone head-to-head with Pep Guardiola, including last season’s Copa del Rey final and this season’s Spanish Super Cup, was not spared. “Only the Spanish national side are capable of playing the type of football Barca play,” opined Caparros. “Madrid have aspirations to win the league, but they are simply not at the same level as Barca. Madrid buy players, while Barca develop them – 70 per cent of their first team came through the youth ranks.”

Athletic started the season with three straight wins before a six game winless streak was halted by two consecutive wins over Atletico Madrid and Racing Santander. They will face a Barca without the injured Ibrahimovic, though the Swede is hoping that his thigh strain will have recovered sufficiently to play against his former club Inter on Tuesday. Ibrahimovic has been a success so far, starting in nine of Barca’s 10 league games and scoring seven goals.

Also tonight, fifth- placed Deportivo La Coruna host an Atletico Madrid who are 18th, while promoted Tenerife welcome third-placed Sevilla to the Canary Islands.

amitten@thenational.ae

Real v Racing, KO 11pm, Bilbao v Barca, KO 1am, both on Aljazeera Sport + 3