Soccer: Real Madrid Need Miracle Against Barcelona

The second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi final between Real Madrid and Barcelona takes place today. Barca lead 2-0 after the first encounter and enjoy home advantage. Al Dannity expects Lionel Messi and pals to make it through to the final with a convincing performance tonight.

Shut up and play
The days since last Wednesday’s encounter in Madrid have been loaded with cat fighting between the Barcelona and Real camps. Now we can finally focus on the action on the pitch as these two arch rivals do battle once again.

Real will be without their charismatic manager Jose Mourinho for tonight’s game. The Portuguese tactical master is suspended and will instead be forced to rely on his assistants running the show once the action gets under way. Pepe, who shown so brightly in two other recent meetings between the Spanish giants, is also suspended as is Sergio Ramos. That leaves Real with a mountain to climb as they look to make the Champions League Final for the first time since 2002.

Guardiola will keep it tight
The media buzz over these games would make it easy for soccer betting fans to assume Barcelona will attack from the off tonight. I’m not so sure. There is bad blood between these teams but Pep Guardiola, Barcelona’s manager, is as thoughtful as he is passionate. Looking back at his previous three seasons at the helm of Barca, Guardiola has never entered a home second leg while holding the lead. This is unknown territory but also a situation he will relish. While less defensively minded than Mourinho, Guardiola has the players in Xavi and Sergio Busquets to focus on maintaining possession and waiting for opportunities to arise.

Remember, Real Madrid have to score at least twice tonight. This means they must play with a more attack-minded approach than they prefer. Added to this, the absence of Pepe and Sergio Ramos will leave them particularly susceptible to counter-attacks. The words ‘susceptible to’ and ‘attacks’ of any kind never spell good news when you’re playing against Lionel Messi. Animator Richard Swarbrick captured the young master’s genius better than any words I can write.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGUtpF2n5aM[/youtube]

That footage was from the first meeting between these rivals this season, which ended 5-0 to Barcelona. Don’t expect the same flurry of goals today. Instead Barcelona will control possession, absorbing Real’s attacks and then striking hard on the counter. I like Sports Interaction’s price of +550 for Barcelona to win 2-0.

For the best soccer odds check out Sports Interaction’s online sportsbook.