Real Madrid v Barcelona: It's Barca seeking revenge for once

Spanish Football / Michael Lintorn / 17 January 2012 / Leave a Comment

The holders have won 22 of their last 23 matches in all competitions

"The two giants contested the final last season and it marked the only time that Real Madrid have got the better of Pep Guardiola in a dozen encounters."

Michael Lintorn fears that Real Madrid's title aspirations will be negatively affected by a Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Barcelona...

After last season's five Clasicos, this year we are guaranteed at least six, with the prospect of more to follow in the Champions League, after Real Madrid and Barcelona's Copa del Rey collision course was completed by both reaching the quarter-finals.

The two giants contested the final last season and it marked the only time that Real Madrid have got the better of Pep Guardiola in a dozen encounters since he took charge at the Camp Nou in 2008. And it wasn't even a genuine victory in the betting sense, being achieved in extra time.

That won't have stopped it stinging for Guardiola, representing one of just three occasions in his absurdly successful stint as coach that he had failed to claim a trophy, lifting the other 13 that he has challenged for. It was also the second of those three minor setbacks engineered by Jose Mourinho.

That match at the Mestalla also allowed a rare moment of personal triumph for Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi, nodding in the only goal on a night in which the Ballon d'Or winner was unable to add to his tally of seven strikes at the Bernabeu.

But even though that result was supposed to inspire belief in the capital club that they can compete with Barcelona, you can't help suspecting that they will welcome this two-legger far less than their great rivals.

After all, it is Real Madrid with the momentum for a change, sat five points clear in La Liga and [1.65] to stay there. All that is despite losing at home to the champions in December, an eighth defeat in 12 to them and unwanted reminder that no matter how well they are doing, Barcelona always appear capable of raising the bar.

So with the Catalan side widely fancied to progress, and indeed [2.72] favourites to Real Madrid's [2.86] to win the first leg at the Bernabeu, elimination runs the risk of severely wounding the morale of the leaders, and giving a timely boost to their [2.58]-rated pursuers.