'El Derby' thoughts

The time has come once again for the grandest match in all club football Real Madrid hosts FC Barcelona on Sunday.

The match will be indicative of each club's season fortunes as a Madrid win will make the Barcelona lead less comfortable, but victory for the Catalans will surely seal the title.

A storm of debate has been brewing around whether Real Madrid should play Raul or unleash super-sub Michael Owen. The talismanic Spanish no.7 has an unimpressive ratio of one goal every 316 minutes this season, while the England forward, recently insulted as a 'midget nobody' by Azerbaijan coach Carlos Alberto, strikes every 127 minutes on average. And that while only playing a cameo role.

Raul though provides an unmatchable pedigree in white, with over 300 goals for the club. He has led Madrid to both European and domestic glory over the course of a decade. His is the kind of record that cannot be ignored.

Owen, although a great goal-scorer, will never be part of the club's history. He is a fleeting ghost in the Bernabeu it is unlikey he will stay for next season. "He is an island," as one commentator put it. Disconnected and remote from his teammates, a man playing somehow all on his own, despite his good goals ratio.

Raul, since the departure of Fernando Hierro, has been the heart and soul of the Bernabeu locker room. He fights on where other galacticos give up with a shrug. In the big games and they don't get bigger than this it is to such players you turn for inspiration.

For the 26th time in La Liga history, Barcelona travel to the Bernabeu Stadium in a higher league position than their Madrid rivals.

It will be the third time they visit Madrid with a nine-point advantage.

The first time Barcelona came to the Bernabeu with such an advantage, in 1974, they stuffed Madrid 5-0. In that game the mercurial Dutchman Johan Cruyff, led the rout, scoring one, and inspiring Asensi, Juan Carlos and Sotil to score the rest in an emphatic victory which had their coach Rinus Michels (who sadly recently passed away) in ecstacy and disbelief: "It would be inhuman if we always played like that."

Barcelona won the title that year.

By the time of the 1990/91 campaign, when Barcelona again made the trip to Madrid with a nine-point superiority, Cruyff was himself manager and his Barca team had already been garlanded as Spanish champions, but the Catalans succumbed to a 1-0 defeat.

In the 2002-03 season Barcelona travelled with little hope. They were 24 points (!) adrift of their white counterparts. The result was a 1-1 draw and Madrid went on to win the league.

Last year Barcelona found themselves seven points behind Madrid in the league but took the battle to the newly-dubbed 'galacticos' and earned a 2-1 victory kick-starting a downward spiral in Madrid's season and an upward surge in their own fortunes under Frank Rijkaard, which saw them finish second in the league, two places above Madrid.

For the significance of this Sunday's clash, listen to Rafael Marquez, Barcelona's Mexican defender:

"If we win, La Liga is over."

Yup, it's pretty clear-cut. Lose this and Real can kiss the title goodbye. Joan Laporta, Barca president, has no doubts about the outcome. "We're going to win the league," he said, following the weekend's 3-3 draw with Real Betis. When asked if defeat would press panic buttons, he answered: "With a six point advantage we would still be tranquil, but not relaxed."

The league leaders will be buoyed by news that captain Carles Puyol, ironically a Madrid transfer target, will be fit. On the downside however, Portuguese midfield engine Deco is suspended.

Madrid coach Wanderley Luxemburgo's fingers are crossed that David Beckham will recover from a knock he received on international duty for England against Azerbaijan. It is crucial he take up the midfield double-pivot position, following the suspension of it's normal inhabitant, Guti.

At the back there are serious concerns as Argentine hardman Walter Samuel, nickname 'The Wall', is injured. Ronaldinho & Co. will be rubbing their hands with glee if error-prone Raul Bravo is drafted into the Real back four as cover.

A fascinating duel will be that of Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldo, head to head. The Barcelona and Cameroon player has 20 goals this season, an average of two goals every three games. In four visits to the Bernabeu he has three wins under his belt and one draw.Ronaldo is on 12 goals for the season, a far cry from his three previous pichichi campaigns. Eleven of those goals came before Christmas, and he's registered only one in the last 11 games. The last time 'Ronnie' scored was March 5. In three 'clasicos' he has had to make do with one win, one draw and one defeat. Something tells me the Brazilian will feel he has something to prove this Sunday...