26/10/2013 : Ronaldo/Bale/Isco vs Messi/Neymar/Iniesta....
What is your preditctions FR community ? Which team are you supporting ?

Madrid. Otherwise Barcelona will run away with the title.

3-2 with a late winner from Benzema.

1-3

Would love to see Madrid win. But I doubt it.

3-1 for Barcelona. I call Messi, Neymar, and Alexis scoring for Barca, and C. Ronaldo for Madrid.

0-3 vamooosss!!

2-1 for madrid

2-1 For Barça.
Messi, Neymar and isco for RM. :)

Most overhyped fixture of alltime, but my prediction is a 2-2 draw.

i'm of course sure that Madrid will win. 3-1 for Madrid. 2 goals Ronaldo, 1 goal Isco, 1 goal Neymar.

I predict 8 yellow cards and 1 red.

with bale in madrid and neymar in barca , i dun know why i think el clasico matches in the last few years are more exciting than the upcoming one :/

I predict lots of surrounding the referee and inexplicable "falls"

^ Hate it when that happens. Busquets inevitably gets our players sent off or booked every frickin' time for some pathetic dive. I hate him so much for that.

If referees fully know that Pepe and di Maria are diving every other second, why can't they notice Alves and Busquets? If either Neymar or Bale dive or simulate really badly in this upcoming match, I'm going to lose my temper.

^^ Mourinho ruined the Clasico, you will see the difference clearly.
Past years, RM refused to play Football and lost all its caracter, Mourinho was clear, he refused to play Football against Barça saying to his past teams (RM Inter) that they were not the best team but they could win with very strict discipline...
Ancelotti has another style, all his teams win or loose by playing Football.
If we look very well, only Arsenal and Bayern won against Barça by playing great Football, they did it once but at least, as a Barça fan, i had the impression that the best team won by playing Football.
The only responsible of the bad games we had watched was RM, and their fearness to lose games.
When Barça lose, at least they do this by playing Football and with honour, to win with 90 min of anti-football and parking bus is not very honorable, thanks god Mourinho has gone so we will see beatiful Clasicos.

PS : I watched Man utd vs Chelsea : 0-0 , and imo Mourinho is the enemy of beatiful Football and games in general, but the sad reality is that Football is a game of results and as a coach he has the best results, just keep him far from Spain. :)

Honour? You think Barcelona lose with HONOUR?
Dude, Mourinho was not to blame for Busquets and David Villa (among others) blatantly diving.

Every team that has beaten Barcelona beat them by playing football. This includes Madrid, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

See, I love Barca. I love the way they play, when they're playing. I love the teamwork, the intelligence and the phenomenal skill level of most of the players.

But when people try to cop this nonsense that Barcelona only lose when other teams 'don't play football' against them, it makes a LOT of other people NOT like Barcelona. Because you know who complains about how someone else beat them?

Losers complain about that. Whiners complain about that. People who don't care about the game itself, but only like it when their team wins, complain about that. Much as I love the team-play of Barcelona, they do not have a monopoly on it, nor are they always playing that well themselves. Sometimes, you know, Barcelona are just not good enough. Such was the case against Chelsea, Inter Milan, Bayern an Madrid. Barcelona FAILED.

Get over it, and stop making excuses.

And as a matter of fact, I think if you actually asked most people around the world, they'd say that when Barcelona players dive around, cheating their opposition, faking injuries to get players sent off, going down falsely to get penalties they don't deserve... it's BARCELONA who are the ones guilty of Not Playing Football.

Playing defensively is playing football. Diving and cheating is not. The sooner Barca, and their fans, stop making excuses for it, and instead put pressure on their players to STOP cheating, the better off Barcelona will be, and the better of the world of football will be.

Instead of, you know, talking about 'honour'.

You were the first to say same arguments about Arsenal - Spurs game (1-0). Even if it is absolutely different Arsenal really played good but i remember you blame them for parking the bus 25 min. imagine 90 min of parking bus and 2 offside goals in 1st leg against Inter Milan...
Comming from a Barça fan is not well viewed but its my opinion, when i get the feeling we were robbed i cant control it. Chelsea fans have an idea about this in 2009 when i got the sensation that we robbed them, loosing 7-0 against bayern or 2-1 against Arsenal i had the feeling that it was deserved, and its a personal opinion and feeling.
and for diving, we dont have the monopole, but when its a Barça player who dives its always highly shared, i see an average of 5 dives in every game in every league...
I think you should ask Valencia-Athletico-Sevilla about wich one of Barça/Real always get the favour of refs in Spain.
Busquets is not the whole team, and Villa is not a big Diver for example Drogba or Suarez or Young are on an other level of diving.

I didn't blame Arsenal for parking the bus against Spurs. I just said that's what they did. I'm not complaining about it; that's just the way it goes sometimes, and it was a good tactic for Arsenal to do. If I were in their position, I would have done exactly the same thing.

I've never once said that Arsenal didn't deserve all 3 points in that game. They did, because they did exactly what they needed to do to hang on the lead, and it ended up being a good defensive performance by the Gunners. The reason it's a taunt, from a Spurs fan to an Arsenal fan, is because Arsenal always pride themselves on never having to do that. Well, we forced them to. It's... personal, in that regard. ;)

But it doesn't mean that Arsenal didn't deserve to win, just because they didnt play the way we would have liked them to...

As for the diving, I don't believe that you see 5 dives every game, in every league. And no, it's not just Busquets. It's also Alba, Villa, Alves, Pique, Pedro, Sanchez, and even Messi used to do it (though to his credit he cut it out).

You know that I (or anyone) could bring out a dozen videos to prove this, man, so let's just not go there?

And you're right about Suarez -- this is why an awful lot of people don't like Suarez. Drogba had his moments too, sure. Bale was guilty of it too, early on, although he did cut it out.

No-one's saying Barcelona are the only team with divers, but, when someone is trying to claim that Barcelona lose because the other team 'doesnt play football', and when you can find hours and hours of footage of Barca players diving, against the very same teams who are being accused of 'not playing football'...

... it's a little irritating, and hypocritical.

In fact, maybe if Barcelona were less prone to falling over every time someone breathed on them, those other teams might not actually play so defensively against them. ;)

In fact, maybe if Barcelona were less prone to falling over every time someone breathed on them, those other teams might not actually play so defensively against them.

So the parking bus is directly linked Barças diving ? :D

All i said was that the game quality will be better with Ancelotti as a manager, being 11 player in the penalty area for 90 min is not an honorable way of playing, maybe im the only one who think it here but its my opinion.
I like more Wengers philosophy to give a fight and trust in attacking no matter who is the rival, i like good defending too but watching the WHOLE team forwards included in the penalty era in the first half of a game is not honorable way of playing even if it works.

Im not saying that Arsenal philosophy which is the closest to Barça philosophy in EPL is the best in term of results, but its my favourite playing style, and i respect other playing styles exept putting 11 in the box, its just ridiculous to watch.

"So the parking bus is directly linked Barças diving ? :D"

Actually, in a way, yes. When you know that you can't play football against Barca, because Barca would rather fall over and dive instead, you have to find other ways. ;)

Again, playing defensively against a team with a great offense is not 'ridiculous'. It's just sensible. Pretty much every team that Spurs play, nowadays, park the bus against us and hope to catch us on the counter. It's just the way it is, and it simply means we have to find ways of beating them despite that.

But wittering on about 'honour', as though my team didn't REALLY lose just because I didn't like the way the other team played, would be showing a lack of honour, and a lack of respect for the other team.

"All i said was that the game quality will be better with Ancelotti as a manager, being 11 player in the penalty area for 90 min is not an honorable way of playing"

That's not all you said, at all. You basically said that only Bayern and Arsenal have ever beaten Barcelona by playing football.

Well, Mourinho beat Barcelona with Chelsea in 2005 by playing wonderful football. Mourinho beat Barcelona in 2010 playing wonderful counter-attacking football. Mourinho managed to beat Barcelona playing great counter-attacking football with Madrid a couple of times, too.

Chelsea should have beaten Barcelona in 2009 with great attacking football, but were cheated. Chelsea DID beat Barcelona with a frankly ASTOUNDING defensive performance in 2012, with 10 men, and scored the two best goals of the game.

Just because you don't like the way they did it doesn't mean that they were 'not playing football'. They were playing excellent football, that just so happened to be exactly what was needed to defeat Barcelona.

Why not show some respect to the people who have beaten you, most especially Mourinho and Chelsea?

\'\' Actually, in a way, yes. When you know that you can\'t play football against Barca, because Barca would rather fall over and dive instead, you have to find other ways\'\' . ;)

Are you serious, so all teams park the bus because they fear a dive from Busquets ? If you open play Barça you will lose not because of 2 or 3 dives in a game, but because of tiki-taka and high accuracy passes of Barça players, teams that park the bus are knowing that they cant compete in the midlefield battle, not because they fear cheaters its ridiculous. By parking the bus, im not talking about a team who did this in the end of a game or with remaining forwards for a possible counter-attack, parking the bus is to defend very low with all the team, even forwards are in the box, do you have the same defintion of it ?

I respect Mourinho, i dont like the man but he is one of the best and i have any problem against Chelsea.
I did just share my point, their are many ways of wining, if football is about win any how than why not dive ?
If i play against a team who defends in the box all the match even in first half and with no attacking, for me its in the same case than diving, its a part of anti-football for me.

I think Football must keep the good playing and beauty, when wining is the most important thing to do, than parking bus, diving, b*tching about refs before games and other bad things to influence the result are in the same case for me, i personally never seen such a low defending in small era against other teams, and such an agressivity against players.

And Tottenham never faced such a low defending, i dont exagerate when i say 11 player in the penalty era for 90 min defending, even no forwards to start a counter attack just defense with high number.
But its just my opinion im not saying thats the way it is.

"If you open play Barça you will lose not because of 2 or 3 dives in a game, but because of tiki-taka and high accuracy passes of Barça players"

Tell that to all the teams who have gotten shafted by dodgy penalties, red cards because of play-acting, and the deliberate stopping of the game any time they get the ball because of a Barca player falling over... ;) You might be surprised at how little they were upset about the passing.

"if football is about win any how than why not dive ?"

Because it's CHEATING.

And playing defensively is not a case of 'winning any how'. It's a case of adjusting tactics to defeat an opponent who cannot be flexible enough to change their own plan.

"If i play against a team who defends in the box all the match even in first half and with no attacking, for me its in the same case than diving, its a part of anti-football for me."

Seriously, tiki, if you need the difference between playing conservatively and playing outside the rules explained, then there's not much point in even talking about it. Playing in a way you don't like is not 'anti-football', and by the gods I wish that detestable phrase would die the slow, painful death it deserves. It has been a phrase used by Barcelona as far back as the Rijkaard days to whine about the fact they got BEATEN by a different, apparently superior game-plan.

Diving is not the same thing. It's cheating, plain and simple.

"i personally never seen such a low defending in small era against other teams, and such an agressivity against players."

You missed the whole of the 90s, where Italian zonal marking was literally the best and most successful system in the world?

"And Tottenham never faced such a low defending,"

Except for, this season alone, Crystal Palace, Swansea, Cardiff and West Ham. We face it all the time, now, because teams know we are very possession-based, with lots of pace that can punish teams who don't defend properly against us. West Ham did it brilliantly, in fact, and hit us on the counter for their 3 goals (2 of which were a little lucky). But make no mistake: they spent the entire game in their own half, waiting to win the ball from us.

It comes with the territory. It just means we have to make our game even better.