Real madrid Barcelona La Liga 25-10-2014

 

Luis Suarez could make his long-awaited Barcelona debut when they travel to Real Madrid for the first El Clasico of the La Liga season on Saturday evening.

The Uruguayan striker joined Barca from Liverpool for £75m this summer but has been prevented from playing by the worldwide ban handed to him for his bite of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

He watched the last game during his suspension on Tuesday evening as the Catalan giants recorded a 3-1 home victory over Ajax in the Champions League, in which Lionel Messi and Neymar both scored.

Luis Enrique may be tempted to start Suarez alongside his fellow South Americans, who have each netted in all of Barcelona's last five games, in a formidable forward line when they visit their biggest rivals.

Madrid themselves come into the game on the back of an impressive European result, having put Liverpool to the sword to win 3-0 at Anfield, with Cristiano Ronaldo notching before Karim Benzema's brace.

Ronaldo has a staggering 20 goals in 15 appearances this season and undoubtedly presents the biggest test yet of a Barcelona defence which has yet to be breached in their unbeaten start to the campaign.

Twenty-two points from eight games see Barca top the standings by three points from Sevilla, with Madrid one further back in third having recovered from two early defeats to win five La Liga matches on the spin

Gareth Bale missed out on a return to British soil with a hip problem which will also sideline him from the encounter at the Bernabeu, so Isco will keep his place as one of three attacking midfielders.

El Clasico veteran Sergio Ramos is also a fitness doubt having picked up a calf injury. Raphael Varane is again in line to deputise in a defence which could feature Dani Carvajal rather than Alvaro Arbeloa at right-back.

Should Enrique gamble on Suarez, Pedro is the most likely to make way and other members of Barca's golden generation, Xavi and Gerard Pique, could strangely find themselves on the fringes of Clasico chaos.

Ivan Rakitic has nailed down Xavi's place in midfield, while Jeremy Mathieu's return to fitness puts Pique's inclusion in jeopardy, should Javier Mascherano be deployed in the centre of defence. Claudio Bravo will be recalled in goal after Marc-Andre ter Stegen was given a go in midweek.

Barcelona won both La Liga matches between the teams last season before Carlo Ancelotti's side gained revenge in the Copa del Rey final

 

Possible starting lineups

 

Real: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; Kroos, Modric; James, Isco, Ronaldo, Benzema

 

Barcelona: Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mathieu, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Neymar, Messi, Suarez

Sports Mole says: 2-2

 

Channel

 

Sky Go Extra, Sky Sports 5/HD, NOW TV, Sky Go

 beIN Sports en Espanol, SiriusXM FC, beIN Sports USA

C More Sport 1, C More Sport HD

Fox Sports 2 Cambodia, Fox Sports 2 Papua New Guinea

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 Can You Watch Match Live Here Link 1 Link 2 live Score

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Match Denmark vs Portugal UEFA Euro Qualifying 14-10-2014

Denmark vs Portugal -

Competition: UEFA Euro Qualifying
Match date: 14 October 2014 - Kick Off Time: 19:45 BST
Venue: Parken, Kobenhavn

Denmark have an excellent opportunity at home this midweek to stamp their authority on Group I. Portugal pose a difficult task, but the hosts have more than enough quality to put in an upset bid, especially considering they have won their last 3 matches in Copenhagen while going unbeaten in their last 4 in the Danish capital. Furthermore, on home soil overall they’ve lost just once in their last 6 contests, most notably defeating Sweden and holding Italy to a 2:2 draw. The hosts have gotten their European Championship Qualifying off to a nice start as well, claiming 3 points at home against Armenia and then drawing on the road 1:1 with Albania. This start has them sitting in 2nd place of the table, 4 points above the Portuguese (with one extra game played), and oft-controversial striker Nicklas Bendtner has been a big reason for their success, as the imposing lead man now has 2 good assists over their first 2 games. But Christian Erikson is a big part of Denmark’s plans, and while the creative midfielder isn’t in the best of form for his club right now, he will be looked to as the imaginative spark for the hosts at the Parken.

 

Portugal team have followed up their poor World Cup showing over the summer with perhaps even more disappointing displays. In their opening Euro qualifier, they lost at home to Albania 1:0, failing to consistently threaten their opposition in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. A return to less-intense competition in a friendly match with France on Saturday saw the comeback of Ronaldo to the line-up, but once again the Portuguese failed to capitalize on their opportunities, and by the time Ricardo Quaresma scored in the 77th minute from the penalty spot, France already held a multiple-goal lead and would hold on in the end for all of the bragging rights. New manager Fernando Santos however will be pleased with his team’s performance, and his competitive debut this Tuesday will be interesting to see how well he utilizes tactics, deploys his troops, and motivates his players. A coach signing typically has a ripple effect of newfound confidence for the team and the desire to play for the new boss, and while the going won’t be easy in the Danish capital, the players and traveling support will be more than up for this match.

 

Probable lineups:
Portugal: Patricio – Soares, Pepe, Carvalho, Eliseu – Moutinho, Carvalho, Gomes – Nani, Ronaldo, Danny.

Denmark: Schmeichel – Ankersen, Bjelland, Kjaer, Boilesen – Kvist, Hojbjerg – Schone, Eriksen, Krohn-Dehli – Bendtner.

 

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