Real Madrid Vs. FC Barcelona, Supercup 2012: Madrid Will Try To Rebound From A Disappointing Start

This is the right time for Real Madrid to get their first win of the season: los blancos need to win the game in order to place the 2012 Spanish Supercup in the Santiago Bernabéu trophy room--but they can't allow Barcelona to score more than twice. A 3-2 win by los blancos would send the game into extra time. It's hard to pick a single part of the game in which Real Madrid has to focus for this next Clásico, but trying to keep a clean sheet against a team that has Barcelona's firepower might be too risky.

In the first match at the Camp Nou, Real Madrid was able to contain Barcelona's control of the game for 45 minutes, but Messi's team ended up scoring three--although the first one of them came off an illegal position by Pedro.

This time, José Mourinho will be able to put Pepe in the lineup. The Portuguese defender allows Madrid to have the defensive line ten meters higher simply because of his lightening-quick reflexes. His speed and anticipation is what made Real Madrid's defense so brilliant last season, and he will be Mourinho's key piece if Real Madrid want to question Barcelona's domination of the ball--something they failed to do at the Nou Camp.

Modric's debut as a starter doesn't seem very likely, but José Mourinho did a similar thing with Wesley Sneijder during the coach's two-year stint at Inter MIlan. Mourinho asked Sneijder to be Inter's star against Lazio in the Italian Supercup the day after the Dutch playmaker signed his contract with the neroazzurri. As Mourinho has pointed out many times, Inter lost that Supercup, but ended up winning the first treble for an Italian team that very same season.

Given that, a 4-3-3 formation with Alonso, Modric and Khedira would not be that shocking.

The players probably aren't afraid of Barcelona anymore. The team has played well against them recently, and even though Tito Vilanova's team deserved to win in their last meeting, Madrid was able to get a positive 3-2 score away from home.

Benzema will likely be Mourinho's chosen one to play at the striker position once again. Higuaín has scored two goals in the two Liga BBVA matches Real Madrid has played, but the Argentinian striker isn't at his best. Unfortunately, Karim Benzema isn't either, but the French striker combines perfectly with Mesut Özil and would give his team the chance to have longer possessions.

The other likely substitution José Mourinho will make from the match against Getafe will be Sami Khedira. He wasn't great at the Camp Nou, but his positional knowledge is very useful when his team doesn't have control of the ball.

If Mourinho finally choses to start with a 4-3-3 featuring Modric, Alonso and Khedira at the center of the field, Di María could join the game in the second half to provide some spark in Real Madrid's offense. He started on the bench at the Camp Nou, as his place was taken by Callejón. This 4-3-3 formation would give Madrid a better chance to control the ball, even though Barcelona will surely have a better possession percentage.

Defeating Barcelona for the Supercup would be very positive for Real Madrid's morale; so hopefully the first win of the season will come sooner rather than later.

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