• Setién. "For Madrid it's a vital game"

Surprised yesterday to hear it in the mouth of the coach of Barcelona , accustomed in recent times to the low tone of Valverde in the previous classics, always away from words with sharpness. Quique Setién , who has made the speech an important part of his professional career, regained an old trick from the press room: putting pressure on the opposite bench. "It is vital for them," he said when summarizing the significance of the game.

The recovered leadership of the League seems to have given confidence to the coach, rookie in the great Spanish game. Nor could a defeat suit him - he is supposed to imagine it - although he must recognize his tino when calibrating the weight of a local stumble. He has much more to lose Real Madrid today than his team.

That vertigo, that of seeing five points this midnight plus the particular goal average (that is, six real points), threatens the whole of Zinedine Zidane . The truth is that neither recent data against Barça at the Bernabéu nor the latest results, both in the League and in the Champions League , inspire an overflowing optimism against Real Madrid. The two consecutive stumbling blocks, with Celta and Levante, took him out of the head of the table; and the fall in the Champions League, on Wednesday, against Manchester City removed the worst memories of last season. Then, also in a week, the season was ruined without solution, linking defeats with the Catalans and the Ajax.

Given all this charge of negativity, Zidane presents today's duel as a great opportunity to clear clouds. If Setién is right in the previous trial about the importance of the clash for his rival, the Frenchman succeeds in changing his fear for the opportunity; The panic of failure for hope.

In just 90 minutes, theirs could redirect the course, with an always tasty leadership and the strength of the psychological blow that a triumph in the classic has. For this, Madrid has no choice but to recover the formula that made it take off in autumn, taking a title ( the Super Cup ) along the way and demonstrating to Barça that the League can play for it.

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He needs to retrace his steps to reactivate the solidarity ways, those of defensive rigor and the control of the center of the field. The pressure after loss (as in the goal to the City) and the seriousness behind. That of the goal to zero as life insurance, in the absence of better days in attack. A tactical version and sometimes not very attractive, but effective if all the pieces fulfill their mission (Benzema puts them in, Casemiro does not lose them, Ramos wins the marks ...). A Madrid that may not be for large European companies, but that serves to fight for the Barcelona Braithwaite League

The curious signing may appear tonight as a starter at the Bernabéu, looking for Setién with more offensive nerve. The emergency agitator piece is kept by Zidane on the bench, called Mariano by surprise yesterday, at Luka Jovic's place. Any route would be worth it to Madrid today if it helps you knock down a club that without wearing its best suit, arrives with the player who has most frightened Chamartin in the history of the club.

Messi's extra motivation is as safe as the full one at La Castellana stadium. In recent classics, the Argentine has not needed to give a recital to have Madrid breathless throughout the game. Overcoming that complex to the great ogre, as the whites have been doing lately in the Camp Nou , is another of the missions of Zidane , if you do not want your team to be half grogui at the opening of March and that on Monday you start to question your future.

"The recipe for the classic is heart, head and unity," he said, looking at the fan, who expects more encouragement than excess pressure, as has happened in previous commitments. In his eleven, Kroos should reappear, after his striking absence before the City.

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  • Real Madrid
  • Zinedine Zidane
  • Quique Setién
  • Luka Jovic
  • First division
  • sports
  • football

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