Duel of gunboats at Camp Nou

Do the amnesia exercise and forget about the poor performance you experienced a month ago at the Santiago Bernabéu. For a moment, erase from your thoughts that Barcelona that hung on the crossbar for seventy minutes and Madrid that was the real I will and I can’t. Another classic is presented tonight. Camp Nou (21 hours, 1 and Let’s go) is ready for a duel at a high level. The eternal rival arrives with the need to win. Only one goal in favor of the home team in a competition where away goals are already equal even if it is a draw. A clash of gunboats is expected. Benzema and Lewandowski face to face. The two best scorers in the league. The two men called to mark the differences.

Both face a duel after finding themselves at opposite doors again after weeks of blindness. The Pole managed it with a double in Elche, to be the top scorer with 17 goals. The Frenchman scored a hat-trick against Valladolid, allowing him to stay three behind his rivals tonight.

If we count the goals scored during the season in different competitions, the Central European still leads with 27 (17 in the League, 5 in the Champions League, 2 in the Cup, 2 in the Super Cup and 1 in the Europa League) to 22 from Lyon (14 in the League, 3 in Champions League, 2 in the Spanish Super Cup and 1 in each of the following tournaments: Cup, European Super Cup and World Cup). Gunpowder on both sides.

However, the Pole is more determined than the French this season, as he scored only one goal from the penalty spot, while 6 of the 22 French scored from eleven meters and only 16 were in play.

There are also differences in when both score for their respective teams. The Barca striker was more effective in the last moments of the first half. In the last fifteen minutes, he scored 9 goals (of which 2 in stoppage time and one more in the 45th minute). The Madrid players are more precise in the final moments of the match (7 in the last fifteen minutes, of which they have already been surpassed with 83).

decisive goals

Some data that, in addition to showing the importance that both strikers have when it comes to scoring a goal — something characteristic of footballers who operate in their position — proved to be decisive for the final result, since Lewandowski scored three mackerels already in the ninety minute. . If we add the ones he made from beyond 45, they give a total of 6, which speaks to the constant danger he has, even as each period draws to a close, something that has brought Barcelona many points.

Two gunners for a duel in which Xavi, although he started with a goal advantage, wanted to transfer all the pressure to Carletto’s team. “I didn’t measure Madrid at all, they can perfectly come and win. For me it’s very even and the favorite point is for Madrid, they’re used to playing games like this and coming back,” he said at the pre-match press conference. His losses (Frenkie de Jong, Ousmane Dembélé, Andreas Christensen and Pedri) support his position .

For his part, the coach of the Whites did not want to take on the role of favorite, although, unlike his colleague from Barca, he did not try to put pressure on him. Quite the opposite. He believes the time has come to win: “Barcelona have won the last three games and it’s time for us to win. Reality says that we are in the red and it will be a very even game. I don’t know who the favorite is because the tie will be determined by small details.

The fourth duel in 2023

As the Italian coach says, it will be the fourth time that both teams meet in less than three months, and the balance is clear in favor of Barcelona, ​​who won both times at Real Madrid (0-1 in the Cup), and on neutral ground ( 3-1 in the Super Cup) and also at home (2-1 in the League, just two weeks ago). If we expand the time gap, Madrid registered in the regular match played at the Bernabéu (3-1), back in October.

It’s all useless. Today is a new party. A duel that awards more than three points. A meeting worthy of going to the final of the King’s Cup. An obligation in which the credibility of both technicians is at stake. Whoever wins will emerge stronger. Whoever loses will be touched and will just have to catch the competition so as not to close the year empty, as far as the big tournaments are concerned. to Xavi, Liga; for Carletto, the champions. Currently 90 minutes that promise a show.