Real focused on beating Barca again

MADRID – Real Madrid have the chance to beat Barcelona again after they cruised into the Spanish cup final with a 3-1 win on Tuesday over their historic rivals in front of a stunned Camp Nou, their clearest win there since 1963.

Friday, March 01, 2013
Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa (left) battles for possesion with Barcelona forward Lionel Messi during the first round clash at Nou Camp which ended 2-2. Net photo.

SaturdayReal Madrid     vs     Barcelona    17:00    Deportivo     vs     Rayo    19:00    Osasuna     vs     Athletic    21:00    Valencia     vs     Levante    23:00    SundayGranada     vs     Mallorca    13:00    Espanyol     vs     Valladolid    18:00    Malaga     vs     Atletico    20:00    R Sociedad     vs     Betis    22:00Monday    Sevilla     vs     Celta Vigo    22:30    MADRID – Real Madrid have the chance to beat Barcelona again after they cruised into the Spanish cup final with a 3-1 win on Tuesday over their historic rivals in front of a stunned Camp Nou, their clearest win there since 1963.Barca this time travel to Madrid for a fascinating league Clasico in which they will be desperate to gain revenge and dispel all the Madrid media talk about a change in the Spanish balance of power.Real are practically out of the league title race, 16 points behind record-breaking Barca in third place. However they will not hold back despite Tuesday’s Champions League showdown at Manchester United.Angel di Maria and Sergio Ramos are suspended, but otherwise coach Jose Mourinho will field his best eleven. Mourinho originally wanted El Clasico played on Friday, in order to have more preparation time for Manchester. When the television operator rejected this, he insisted on the unpopular kick-off time of 4 pm exactly the same time United take on Norwich City at Old Trafford.Defender Alvaro Arbeloa said the whites would be totally focused on Barcelona rather than on United."We will start to think about Manchester on Sunday,” he said. "Until then, our minds are on Barcelona, and how to get another good result against them.”Midfielder Andres Iniesta - as dull and uninspired as his teammates on Tuesday - said Wednesday: "We are annoyed at what happened yesterday, but now we must focus on the next battle against them...Our style and mentality are not going to change.”When asked to what extent Barca’s poor form was due to the absence of coach Tito Vilanova - still in New York for throat cancer treatment -Iniesta replied: "It is not easy to get by without the coach. He has been gone for a long time. But we are not going to ask him to return now because we are losing.”