Atletico and Barcelona played out their fourth draw of the 2013/14 campaign – with two crucial meetings still to come…
Tato Martino selected his expected side for this match: his ‘big game’ shape with Cesc Fabregas in midfield, Andres Iniesta out on the left and Neymar on the right. Gerard Pique didn’t last the first...
Read more »
Both managers made surprise selection decisions upfront, but Barcelona’s line-up worked better.
Gerardo Martino left out both Alexis Sanchez and Pedro Rodriguez, naming Cesc Fabregas as one of his three attackers.
Carlo Ancelotti omitted Karim Benzema and brought Gareth Bale into the side. Daniel Carvajal started at right-back, and three nominal three centre-backs were used: Pepe,...
Read more »
In an ideal world, Gerardo Martino wouldn’t be coaching Barcelona this season. Whereas the majority of Europe’s top clubs were after a new manager this summer because of footballing reasons, Barca were forced to turn to a new coach because of Tito Vilanova’s health problems.
Barcelona background
That makes Martino’s task slightly complicated, because this summer...
Read more »
Brazil won the Confederations Cup at the Maracana after a convincing demolition of the world champions.
Luis Felipe Scolari stuck with his usual side – in five games he only deviated from this XI once, when Paulinho wasn’t 100% fit for the final group game.
Vicente Del Bosque brought in Juan Mata on the left of...
Read more »
This match took more than 45 minutes to get going, but it turned into a fantastic end-to-end contest.
Luis Felipe Scolari brought Hernanes into his side at the expensive of Paulinho, but otherwise his starting XI was unchanged.
Cesare Prandelli was without Andrea Pirlo so Alberto Aquilani came into the side, while Leonardo Bonucci, Antonio Candreva...
Read more »
