Who Wins The El Clásico? Luis Suarez Selected To Play First Barcelona Match This Season.

The Clásico is aptly described as the biggest game in football. The game between spanish football giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

Two institutions that are ‘more than a club’. Four hundred million people will be watching. This season has been particularly interesting as the two clubs have been on a winning streak. This would be the first match between the two clubs.

Real Madrid is on a run of eight consecutive victories, scoring 35 goals this season. And with James Rodríguez and Isco, who should replace Gareth Bale on Saturday, they keep possession longer than they have done for a decade.

Barcelona, meanwhile, have not conceded a goal in the league this season. Luis Enrique, in his first Clásico as a coach, is trying a mixture of quick transitions and possession game in this their biggest test so far. Four of Barcelona’s first league goals in the seven games they have played have been scored from the counter-attack.

And then there is the main event: the Luis Suárez show. The man who bit Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in June and was handed a four-month ban. Signed from Liverpool in the summer for £75 million, he is in the matchday squad

 

The Barcelona staff have debated passionately about the rights and wrongs of having him in the team all week. There are those that defend his high motivation and goalscoring talent could be an asset, and others who think he needs to be fitter to do the work without the ball Barcelona need.

Enrique confirmed on Friday that his star player would definitely play a part.

 “He will have some minutes for sure,” he said. “How many I cannot say, that is the million-dollar question. It is an important occasion for him to be able to join in with the group.”

 “Clásicos have to be heated, enjoyable and the best show possible for the fans, but staying within sporting parameters,” he said.

Gerard Piqué has this to say abut his team mate

“Two or three times when we are fighting for the ball and I’d say, ‘Hey don’t bite me’, just a comment like that,” he smirked.

Suárez has been welcomed by everybody at the club and his team-mates insist they are happy with him starting even though he has not played a competitive game in four months. So, how does he react to the biting joke?

“Just a smile,” Piqué said. 

“He knows that what he did is not right to do it in a game. It’s something that happened and he has to accept it. Playing in the Clásico will be a really good start for him. When he arrived he didn’t play or train – and he needed to train.

"He was dead after 10 minutes of running around and I was saying to him, ‘What’s happening to you, man’. But after two or three weeks he started to get himself really fit. He is now ready.”

 “I was really happy [to hear of his arrival]. I don’t care if he bites or if he has bitten before. As a player he is in the top three or top five in the world, so I am very happy to have him in my team.

“In England if you fell [dived] one time then you have this reputation. Here in training he never goes to the floor, he’s always trying, even if you are fouling him.

“In training he is unbelievable, he’s just got something. There are two or three rebounds in the box and it falls to his feet and he scores. From nothing he can score a goal.

“He’s a different style of player to what we have had here before. Players like [Andrés] Iniesta or Xavi they play a sweet game, you enjoy watching them with the ball, but with Luis Suárez it’s just the opposite, it’s about fighting but finally he scores the goal, and it’s all about scoring goals.”

Ancelotti also had this to say about Barcelona's star player:

“I am not here to judge Luis Suárez. He has scored a lot of goals, but it doesn’t change our tactics,” the Italian said. 

“I think for football it is good news that Suárez can play in this league. I don’t know if he will do because it is not my business. It is not my problem. Naturally I have a lot of respect for Suárez’s quality, but if Suárez plays or not doesn’t change their idea of how to play the game and doesn’t change ours either.”

But, Piqué says, everything changes when it comes to the Clásico. “It is different. I’ve been in England and I’ve played Manchester United v Liverpool and it’s a really good game, one of the best in England, maybe the best.

“But for me this game is different. The pressure you have from the crowd It’s like the country just stops for this match.”

“The problem is that we maybe crossed the line a little and it was not right. But I enjoyed the competitive part of it, the rivalry between the two teams. It’s historical and it’s exciting. I really like playing those kind of games.”

Let’s now see if Suárez does too.