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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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The opening suggested Brazil would win comfortably – but they spent the majority of the second half clinging onto a one-goal lead.
Luiz Felipe Scolari kept the same XI that defeated Japan in the opening game.
On the right flank, Jose Manuel de la Torre stuck with the duo that ended the defeat to Italy –...
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