Not a great deal of news today except the usual nonsense of who said what about the big game, so I thought I’d take a look at the opposition (or should I say enemy). Of course, some Culés will say that all Real Madrid players are rubbish and that Barça will win easily, but if Madrid won La Liga last season and currently sit four points above us, it must be for something.

Obviously, Casillas has been very important to their recent success, but Casillas was there when they were winning nothing between 2003 and 2006. I believe they have benefitted greatly from the clearout of the galacticos. Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Beckham are all history and their younger players show a greater desire for success. (I’m not suggesting Barça need to do the same yet, but come the summer we can talk again about this.)

Last summer, Bernd Schuster came in as coach in place of Fabio Capello because Madrid weren’t happy with winning while playing badly. However, this season has seen little change in this respect, the only obvious improvement has been the form of Raul who has benefitted from playing closer to goal. None of the new signings has done much, Saviola is playing less than he did for Barça, though Pepe and Sneijder have found a place in the team.

Madrid have generally played with a 4-4-2 system this season, though Robinho supports Raul and Van Nistlerooy in attack. On Sunday it wouldn’t surprise me if they play a more defensive 4-2-3-1. I also have a feeling that Guti will start despite being left out of the last three games. The back four will probably be Sergio Ramos-Pepe-Cannavaro-Marcelo though Gabriel Heinze could get a recall in place of Marcelo. The two midfield pivots will most likely be Diarra and Baptista, the Brazilian having finally found a role at Madrid. The other three in midfield are the most difficult to predict. Raul, of course is sure to play, but I have a sneaky feeling that Guti and Sneijder will play, while Robinho will be left on the bench. This is down the fact that Robinho’s best quality is breaking down tight defences, Guti’s passing ability into space is likely to be more useful against Barça. The lone striker of course will be Van Nistlerooy.

Of course Barça needn’t worry too much about what plan Madrid may have. If Barça play as well as we know they can, then no team can stop them. I look forward to seeing Casillas picking the ball out of the net four or five times at least on Sunday evening as Eto’o and co run riot.