Madrid play it cool for showdown with arch rivals

REAL MADRID assistant coach Aitor Karanka has played down the importance of tonight’s first Clasico of the season and insisted the Primera Division leaders will not alter their approach to end Barcelona’s recent superiority in the fixture.

Madrid have won their last 10 La Liga games, 15 in all competitions, and go into the fixture looking down on their arch rivals. They have a three-point advantage at the summit and a game in hand.

But when they go head to head it is invariably the Catalans who come out on top — Barca have lost only one of their 11 meetings since Pep Guardiola took charge in 2008 and have never lost under his stewardship at the Bernabeu.

It all adds up to another tasty encounter although Karanka, standing in for Jose Mourinho, claimed yesterday it was just another game.

The one-time Spain defender told reporters at a press conference: “We are in good shape. It is just one more game and we will not change our way of doing things.”

Madrid could be forgiven for having conflicting thoughts ahead of the game.

A draw would preserve their advantage, a win would put them in a very strong position even at this early stage while a defeat would see Barca regain a foothold in the title race before they head off to the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

Karanka said Madrid would adopt an attacking formation — confirming the belief that the best way to beat Barca is by getting at their sometimes suspect defence.

“Let’s play to win with a 4-3-3 formation with Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Angel) Di Maria in support of (Karim) Benzema or (Gonzalo) Higuain,” he said.

“In the centre we have several options and it is important that the 11 for tomorrow are right for this game,” he added

Madrid’s only absentee is the injured Ricardo Carvalho while Mourinho’s main selection dilemma concerns whether to go for Benzema or Higuain in attack.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta talked up his own team before the contest, declaring them the best Barca side he has ever played in.

“That’s down to the way our play evolves, with the teams getting stronger every year.”

On the debate over Barca’s formation — Guardiola has varied between 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 this season — Iniesta is comfortable with both.

“We try to work on variations in so far as we can, because we have so many games,” said Iniesta.

Guardiola, however, is likely to err on the side of caution tonight and revert to four at the back, although one of the centre-halves could be Javier Mascherano, who is more accustomed to playing in a midfield role.