Barcelona v Real Madrid Tactical Preview: The Ultimate Guide to el Clásico

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The key issue facing Mourinho on Saturday is whether he sticks or twists. Does he go for his normal 4-2-3-1 formation or does change to a more defensive minded 4-3-3 line up?

The 4-2-3-1 lets Madrid press high and allows Busquets to be marked, preventing him from having time and space. The problem though is that it allows Messi space further up the pitch and requires Khedira and Alonso to work very hard.

The defence more or less takes care of itself. The only decision will be whether Mourinho selects the attack minded Marcelo or the more conservative and defensively solid Coentrao. Given the better attacking relationship with Ronaldo and the need to push Dani Alves back, Marcelo seems more likely to start albeit he has been at fault for goals in recent clasico’s as Guardiola pinpoint ‘s him as a weakness. Coentrao was poor against Bayern but he received no defensive cover from Ronaldo.

How can Mourinho maximise Ronaldo’s attacking ability and release him from defensive duties? In attack Ronaldo will start. The rest appears up for grabs depending upon how they react from the game on Tuesday night. Due to his defensive cover and workrate, Di Maria would most likely start but could he manage three games in a week after returning from injury?

Similarly, Benzema played the majority of the game on Tuesday night and links well with Ronaldo however Mourinho favours swift breaks particularly against Barcleona therefore the pace of Higuain, only making a brief substitute appearance against Bayern, is much more useful.

The central decision is then whether Mourinho chooses Ozil, who has contributed little in previous clasico’s, and permits him to drift from side to side, looking to exploit gaps in the Barcelona backline or should an additional defensive minded midfielder be selected to strengthen the central area and sit alongside Alonso and Khedira?

Nuri Sahin has made several appearances lately. He could feature in the central area. Does he have the fitness levels to operate fully at such a high level however? Similar concerns exist over Diarra, who has seldom featured recently. In clichéd football parlance, it’s a big ask expecting either to step straight into the team for such a massive game

This leaves Granero. Would Mourinho consider borrowing from the Unai Emery school of tactics and play Granero deeper than normal to help ball retention? Emery successfully played Parejo deep against Madrid in the recent 0-0 draw.

Barcelona need to win the game whilst Madrid can accept a draw thereby maintaining their four point lead. A draw grants Madrid the safety net of one further slip up in the league campaign. Mourinho is first and foremost, a conservative coach. For these reasons and as detailed above, I believe that Madrid will go with a 4-3-3.

I think Mourinho will play Coentrao centrally allowing him to double up with Marcelo when required and letting Ronaldo focus entirely upon the attacking aspects of his game, staying high up the pitch. This will require Coentrao to shuttle from the centre to the left frequently but he has the fitness to do this. It prevents Alves from pushing forward.

BarcelonaGuardiola has utilised so many variations in his formations this season from the basic 4-3-3 to the highly attack orientated 3-3-4 against Getafe recently that a number of subtle system changes during the match are inevitable.

The performances of Ronaldo in the clasico’s has not been at the same level as in other key games for Madrid although he has scored 3 goals in the last 4 games. One possible reason for this has been the performance of Puyol when played directly against him.

With Abidal missing, will Puyol start at full back to match up to Ronaldo?