The royals will play with the Duma of Catalonia at 4.15pm. Before the clash at the top of the La Liga, the 35-year-old son of Jan Urban, a former Polish representative, then coach of es. Legia, Lech and Górnik talk about:
Who supports
Recently, in an interview with Przegląd Sportowy, my father said that he has always been behind Barcelona and that he was a favorite of him because of his idol Johan Cruyff, who first played for Ajax, then performed and led the Catalan Duma. Well, I had no choice. In any case, the house is fine, we don’t have quiet days before the Classic.
From my childhood, I remember a situation in which Atletico played and were leading the Barca King’s Cup. The Madrid club pushed, created opportunities, but their players missed. At one point, when they missed again, I groaned in disappointment. My father looked and said with great reproach and surprise: “Aren’t you for Barca?”
I have always been a fan of Osasuna where my father played and of the Catalan Duma. Sometimes the kids make their parents despite that, but I haven’t had a chance here either. My first conscious idol, apart from my father, of course, was the Brazilian Ronaldo.
When he arrived in Barcelona with PSV in 1996, I was nine and bought all the books about him. He only played for a year in Catalonia, but he scored more than 30 goals and was phenomenal. I am not indifferent to Real Madrid. In the era of the “galacticos” – with Zidan, Figo, Beckham and .. Ronaldo I liked watching them, but I was still behind Barcelona. Royals deserve respect for their achievements.
An unusual moment of the match
It will start in the early afternoon due to television broadcasts in Asia. Each season, one of the two Classics is at this strange time for everyone in Europe, but business is business.
What is the favorite
Real, if only because that season they won the Champions League and LaLiga, and now they are even stronger. Barça have the worst moment of the season and it could be even worse if they don’t win Inter on Wednesday. So he will be on the verge of his second consecutive Champions League exit after the group stage.
He has played poorly in the last three games and Madrid are irritated and will try to show that they still rule La Liga. In Spain there is a lot of talk about a reborn Barcelona led by Xavi, successful transfers, phenomenal young people, Lewandowski, etc. Irritates the Kings.
In addition, the previous classic at the Santiago Bernabeu lost to Barca by 0: 4 and they want to pay back. Last week they played at home with Shakhtar with incredible commitment and determination. It looked like it was a dress rehearsal for Classic, because they played the next two games away.
Real are lethal in their counterparts, sometimes teasing their rival, allowing them to enter their own half, feel safe and immediately deliver a blow after a theft. And Barcelona will want to have the ball, keep it for as long as possible.
His problem is the reaction to the loss. Real can suffer, chase the ball, but – as he demonstrated that season – five, ten, maybe fifteen minutes of a great match are enough and the opponent is on the scoreboard. Real’s magic and power can destroy any rival.
Advantages of Barcelona
We will see the mood in which they will come to Madrid. Much depends on the match against Inter. Barcelona can stay on the ball, which doesn’t mean they are playing slowly and statically. As soon as there is room in the wings or the opponent is positioned incorrectly, the ball immediately flies behind the opponent’s back, looking for diagonal passes. Much will depend on the disposition of the individual players: if Pedri and Gavi dominate in the middle, he will win.
Dembele can do anything with the ball, he can be the best but also the weakest. You never know. A few weeks ago, I would say that Barcelona have reached Real, that this is a team to be feared: effective in defense, deadly in attack, with the effective Robert Lewandowski, Andre ter Stegen defending everything, large team, talented coach.
However, after the September break for the national team, everything went wrong. Many players have returned with injuries. Despite this, he defeated Mallorca, but then played badly in Milan and lost, and very badly, to Celta, with whom he ran out 1-0 on Sunday.
The difference between big and bad games was too big. I don’t think it all started with a defeat in Munich: after 0: 2 with Bayern, manager Xavi supported the players and made sure the message was positive. They lost, but after a good match in which they lost chances.
Bayern survived, scored and took advantage of the surprise of Barcelona, whose players did not know how to react and recover after conceding the first goal, so … they were quickly losing 0-2. Real managed to survive the difficult moments of last season, Barcelona did not. However, I think the loss at San Siro was more painful for her.
The situation in the La Liga
After eight rounds, Barcelona and Real are on the same balance: seven wins and one draw. When they dominated the competition a few years ago, there were complaints in Spain that the league was boring, that it wasn’t fair, etc. When a few other clubs came to the fore they lost all times to very strong Real and Barcelona. It was said that after all they would dictate the pace. Really keep them, it’s important that Xavi’s team join him and he can fight for trophies to the end.
The difference today is that Real won everything last season because they had the great goalkeeper Thibault Courtois and striker Karim Benzema. Barcelona had neither. Now ter Stegen defends himself inspired and Lewandowski shoots as if he were on signal and, I keep my opinion from before the season, he will be the top scorer in the championship. I am disappointed with Atletico, who have a strong and fantastic team and should fight for the title and change potential.
Two matches of Lewandowski without a goal
I saw Robert frustrated after the game against Celta, but that’s normal. In Spain, no one criticizes the Pole, everyone notes the extraordinary work he does for the team. If someone has a grudge against someone, it is towards his friends who do not help him, do not deliver the ball to the penalty area and do not create opportunities.
With Mallorca, Robert himself “conjured” a goal out of thin air, but every miraculous match is unable to invent. He could position himself well with Celta, but he would have carried the ball a meter behind his back or up instead of down. He got off to a perfect start as the team created a lot of opportunities.
Without his goals the team doesn’t win, but how does he score when the ball is rarely in the penalty area? For now he is praised, but we will see what could happen if he does not take advantage of the opportunities with Inter and Real, for example. So far they are well aware that without “Lewa” they would be in a completely different place.
What he was doing in the beginning exceeded all expectations. Robert was seen here as a “scoring machine”, but no one expected him to improve the entire team and individual players.
When he arrived, reporters wrote of him as “an extraordinary striker”. Today the narrative is different: he “he is a phenomenal footballer”. He can do something out of nothing, he is complete, he can play without a party, he works well in a small space, in duels, in a maintenance game, he is creative.
Incredible transfer. Robert did not come to Barcelona to earn more money or to live in Spain, but for a new experience. Participation in the Classic is one of the greatest awards in European club football. What can this match be compared to? Probably only with the Champions League final or semi-finals.
The English league is the strongest and the richest, but there is no such match. Liverpool vs Manchester City, the London derby or Manchester are big clashes, but none cause such a global stir as Real vs Barcelona. I am calm for Robert even more than for his colleagues. I hope they have a better day on Sunday than last time.
The return of Messi
The news came a week ago and no one would care if it wasn’t given by a reporter who is close to the Argentine family and usually had verified information. I don’t know to what extent Leo’s return to Barça is real in the new season, after the expiry of his contract with PSG.
I guess it’s too early to consider it because there are so many variables that can affect it. He is the best footballer in the history of Barcelona, and perhaps football as well. I don’t know, what else would he earn after his return if he hadn’t shown the form years ago? For him, the World Cup in Qatar is the most important. We will see what he will achieve with the Argentine national team and what motivations he will have afterwards.
Due Sunday
I bet on 2: 2. Even if it doesn’t work, I will be in the game to correctly guess the result until the end.
***
His vision was getting worse every day. First in one eye. Activity in the hall, a ball hit in the face and Michał Globisz was in the hospital. Later, the visibility in the other eye faded. However, the well-deserved youth coach and educator can still be found in the stands of the Gdynia stadium: he comes to the matches and his friends tell him what is happening on the pitch. In “X-ray”, the guardian of the gold medals of the European Championships from years ago talks about learning a new life and positioning his head at such an angle that he can see the number of a trolleybus arriving at the stop.
