El Clasico: A Review

              On March 22, 2015, the top two teams in Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid, faced off in a match to determine the new front runner in La Liga and Europe.  The score of this "El Clasico" was 2-1 in Barcelona's favor.  A match up between Real Madrid and Barcelona is always going to be exciting and it is almost a guarantee to have goals.  This match was no exception as both teams played 90 minutes of attacking play.  Going into the match, the favorites were FC Barcelona.  They had begun 2015 playing at an extraordinarily high level and have not stopped.  Real Madrid, meanwhile, have slowed down. Their last few months have been dotted with losses, and their free flow attack has been stalled.  Both teams are characterized by their attacking tridents  In the past three months, Madrid's Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, and Cristiano Ronaldo have been outshined by the red and blue attack of Neymar, Luis Suarez, and Lionel Messi.  Another subplot going into the big game was the battle for world supremacy between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.  This time around,Messi is unquestionably the player in better form.  The stats speak for themselves as Messi has consistently outscored and out assisted his rival in 2015.  However, one lesson often learned in El Clasico is that there are no favorites when these two titans of soccer clash.
         The starting lineups did not contain surprises as each manager put out their best possible team.  The Barcelona players seemed shocked to see the powerful attack of Real.  Madrid looked better than they have in months as they charged toward goal time and time again.  However, it was Barcelona who scored first.  Real Madrid conceded a free kick far from their goal, but distance can not stop Lionel Messi's magic as he swerved the ball directly on Jeremy Mathieu's head, from the free kick, who emphatically placed it beyond Iker Casillas.  However, Real Madrid equalized with a brilliant attack culminating in a Benzema backheel and a sliding Ronaldo finish.  The scores were level at half and Barcelona came out firing, and the attack was led by the Brazilian, Neymar.  Neymar, who had missed easy chances in the first half seemed determined to redeem himself.  He almost found the net with some brilliant dribbles, but it was not his night to score.  It was Luis Suarez's night. Suarez had made his debut in a Clasico and had been heavily criticized for his performance.  Now months later, he scored the winner.  A Dani Alves long pass was controlled by Suarez in between two defenders with a brilliant first touch and his finishing did not let him down as he jaw-droppingly slid the ball by Casillas.  From then on, Barcelona controlled the game by retaining possession and almost scored several more times as Real faded out of the game. Barcelona's manager  Luis Enrique deserves credit for two excellent substitutions in bringing on Xavi Hernandez  and Setgio Busquets to control the game. It was a milestone for Xavi Hernandez who played in what will likely be his last Clasico after his debut more than fifteen years ago.  It was a key victory for Barcelona, and it puts them four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Can Manchester City Bounce Back and Defend the English Premier League?

           With ten games left in the English Premier League, the defending English champions, Manchester City are in dire need of an uptake in form to take first place back from Chelsea.  It was three games ago that the general consensus in the City camp was that every remaining game needed to be won in order to close the gap on Chelsea.  Three games later and Manchester City seem to have a better chance of dropping to third than rising to first.  those three games have symbolized the highs and lows of the entire campaign.  The first game saw City demolish Newcastle to a score of 5-0.  The team also shortened their gap between Chelsea to five after the league leaders tied.  The next game stopped the momentum, however in a crushing loss to Liverpool courtesy of Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho with two wondrous goals.  The final of the three games was an unconvincing victory against the bottom table team, Leicester City. Manchester City are running out of time to rekindle their dominant form.

               The fact that those three games included two wins and one loss just goes to demonstrate how good the opposition is.  Chelsea have been brilliant in the Premier League this season and are led by the pragmatic manager Jose Mourinho and superstars Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.  Mourinho sides have had a huge record of success across Europe and the manager is legendary for never turning over an early season lead.  However, Manchester City have a history of overhauling the leaders at the very end.  The story was such as they chased Manchester United in 2012.  Manchester United at the height of their powers led their local rivals by eight points as the season reached its end.  It took a run of phenomenal games for Manchester City to will themselves back into the title race, and it still required a stoppage time goal from Argentine striker Sergio Aguero.  Last season, it was Liverpool led by PFA Player of the Year, Luis Suarez, who led Manchester City.  That time it was the Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure who led City back.  This year, it will take both Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure as well as David Silva and Vincent Kompany to defend the title.  Of course, City can not just will themselves back to winning ways.  It will require a change of tactics from Manuel Pellegrini who has come under criticism for poor formations and starting eleven.  The defense will also need to improve quickly.  The normally unshakable Vincent Kompany has been poor for City and needs to get backs to the days when he shut down offenses. Manchester City certainly have the quality to come back, but the question is: will Chelsea crumble, and if they do, can Man City be ready to race by them and win the English Premier League yet again?