Hallway in the Champions League

A win through Inaki Alkiza, the former president of Real, who died this week under his mandate txuri urdin squad got their last victory at Camp Nou. 32 years have passed since then. Of the 24 called yesterday by Imanol for this match, only Illarramendi was born, Indurain did not have a Tour, Real played in an Atotxa that fell like ripe fruit from the adjacent factory and the cars of the year were the Renault Clio and the Ford Orion. Now or never. If not Silvathat the damage was hidden until yesterday (such as the inclusion of Pablo Marin in practice), but this is the appointed day. La Real, with the sparkle of Champions League stars in their eyes and a knife between their teeth, face a hungover Barça, gasping for breath after a week of fun, flip- flops because they have reached their goal of winning the League and are full of absentees. Winning at Camp Nou is impossible for Real, except tonight. Even without the wizard.

Perhaps today it is worth remembering: the last point achieved there was 28 years ago with the current coach of Real Madrid in the realistic starting eleven. Since then, only 24 consecutive defeats in the League. But there is one clearing in the middle of the perfect storm: six of the last seven defeats at the culé coliseum -including the January Cup- are the lowest. And, to make matters worse, Barça have won 14 of their 17 league games this season at home and the remaining three have been drawn. He conceded just two goals in those 17 games, Joselu punishment and Araujo own goal against Real Madrid. One can only imagine that too much partying for the title and too little practice will affect them.

To break forecasts

For Real, for its part, this is a decisive game in its fight to maintain its fourth place. With four games remaining, they maintain their five-point lead and their direct rivals will be hoping to beat them tonight. If he wins, there will be other people’s broken predictions and hopes.

And you have to do it without David Silva. Some muscular discomfort kept the Gran Canarian from this stake, but, a priori, they will not prevent him from playing the remaining three. It is impossible to consider a more sensitive descent. The balance of the nine games that the player from Gran Canaria has missed this season due to injury is two wins, two draws and five losses. And now the ‘master’ is great.

Illarramendi could be Imanol’s emergency solution to try to cover the Gran Canaria player’s absence. In zubimendi and Merino can try to give balls to hut, Sorloth and oyarzabal, candidates to crown the royalist trident. The main question is whether the technician will choose Aritz Elustondo either gorosabel on the right side, to try to stop dembele either Rapinha. With the trainer Pablo Marin on the call exchange Silva. Brace and madik are the other two absences due to injury.

At Barça they fell Gavi by sanction and Peter and Araujo due to injury. Important casualties, although it was not easy to stop the offensive chaos of dembele, Ansu, Rapinha either bucket and Pichichi’s hunger Lewandowskiwho scored a brace in Anoeta’s 1-4 draw, Real’s worst game of the season.

But now it’s time for pasillo txuri urdin, the champion, and then the Champions League. Through Inaki.

Zubimendi: 60 million reasons to show off

If in doubt, Xavi He made them all clear with his appearance. martin zubimendi He is the pivot that the Terrassa coach wants to replace Busquets and for this reason the eyes of the nearly 75,000 people who will attend the Camp Nou tonight will be on him. “He is an exceptional pivot, who dominates the game with and without the ball and understands the model we want at Barça,” said the Culé coach.
But zubimendi it will not make you change your usual modus operandi. His wish, presented actively and passively, is to stay at Real, play ‘Txanpions’ next year and the 60 million euros of his clause – which in principle they are not paid even with crowbars – is the strong which is the club’s argument to base their peace of mind about their future.

Girona fans at lunchtime

Real players and followers will be true Girona fans at lunch today. And it is the Catalan team, who drew with Anoeta (2-2) last week, receives Villarreal, the main realistic enemy in the table, at 2:00 pm “We don’t care what the rivals do, but what we are doing. I have something very clear. Tomorrow, the game will start at lunch time, as we always do,” he announced. imanol.