The Whites go into the battle after a huge disastrous dip in form that could result in a trophy less season, on the other hand the Blaugrana are going into war after playing the best football that the Camp Nou has seen since the Pep era.
Carlo Ancelotti's man looked invincible for most of the season but the lack of motivation and ideas has lead to their surprising downfall lately. Los Blancos have two main problems that must be fixed before the war, the first one is that Ancelotti has to realize that his team lacks a game changing player that can create his own goal and carry the team on his back. Due to the lack of a game changer offensively Ancelotti must use the El Clasico at the Bernbeu as an offensive blue print to break down Barcelona's average back line. Ancelotti must give Marcelo and Carvajal freedom to support the wide midfielders and exploit the Blaugrana's poor defensive positioning especially when it comes to Alves and Alba.
The return of Luka Modric will provide the capital's giants with the much needed creativity they have been lacking in recent weeks and will most likely revert them back to using their best fitting formation the old school 4-4-2. The 4-4-2 will bring Kroos back to life and enable him to express himself offensively without worrying about the huge amount of defensive duties thrown at him in the 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 setup that clearly doesn't suit him. The four man midfield will provide Los Blancos with defensive and offensive balance and could finally bring back their invincibility. Ancelotti must offer a rough old school counter attacking game.
Luis Enrique has been surprisingly impressive in recent weeks showing that he isn't the average coach people thought he was at the beginning of the campaign. Enrique's best tactical move so far has been moving Messi to the right wing which gives him more freedom to skin defences and provides Neymar and Suarez more space and touches to express themselves. Barcelona go into the war with confidence as high as it can get and with three ridiculous attacking talents that can unlock any defence at any time. Barcelona's game plan is simple, start strong, avoid over committing and feed the three beasts.
Lucho's men should try to take the lead early using the crowd that will support them for the ninety minutes, but the trap that they must avoid is over committing too many men forward and leaving spaces at the back for Cristiano and Bale to exploit with their pace. Dani Alves and Alba must think about their positioning at all times. Barcelona don't need to commit many men forward to score, Enrique's men must play a smart game and feed the front three that will always create chances and will always score.
Abdul Elakrat
