Yesterday was a rather controversial day: it was decided that the Classico will be played on Monday 29 November, a date neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid agree with.
Representatives from both teams have given their views on the subject, but for the moment that's absolutely irrelevant, since there's a very important match tomorrow at Camp Nou against Villareal, who are currently third in the league, only two points behind Barcelona. Winning the Classico will only matter if Barcelona can also beat the other opponents!
Villareal are an excellent team and will certainly prove to be a formidable opponent for Barcelona. Marcos Senna, Santi Carzola and Rossi are some of the stars of a very organized team. Also, no Barcelona supporter has forgotten that Villareal were the only team to get points from Camp Nou last season, with a surprising, but deserved, 1-1 draw. That is proof enough that they won't be pushovers tomorrow.
With that in mind, Guardiola will certainly field his strongest squad, after rotating several players on Wednesday Copa del Rey match against Ceuta. The Barcelona boss knows that Villareal are one of the toughest opponents in the league and that only with a top notch performance (like the one against Sevilla) can Barcelona get the three points.
After a shaky start (at home), Barcelona have won their past four league matches, but are still one point behind Real Madrid in the league standings.
If the Blaugrana beat Villareal, they'll grab the pole position (for one day at least) and put extra pressure on Real Madrid, who have a potentially tricky match at Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
With that in mind, Guardiola should field Victor Valdés; Maxwell, Puyol, Abidal/Fontás, Daniel Alves; Sergio Busquets/Mascherano, Xavi Hernandez, Andrés Iniesta; Pedro Rodriguez, Lionel Messi and David Villa.
Piqué was sent off last week and is unavailable for this match, while Milito got seriously injured in the mid-week match against Ceuta, which might be a blessing in disguise for Fontás, who might be given an opportunity.
Lionel Messi and David Villa have shown great scoring form recently and their chemistry has been getting better and better, much to the pleasure of the blaugrana supporters. These two might be the key to unlock Villareal's defense tomorrow.
The Camp Nou expects another show from Pep Guardiola's Dream Team. Will they deliver?