Why Barcelona and Real Madrid will be desperate to dominate the most intense La Liga in memory

Football fans the world over were treated and tantalised during the summer’s festival of football by Spain’s poetry of possession and artistry of approach.

The 2008 European Champions dished out lesson after lesson in ball retention to their most acclaimed challengers, occasionally having to physically-fight against adversity, until they rightfully claimed football’s most cherished prize.

But those who most admired the Spanish national team’s philosophy were occasionally on the receiving end of accusations of footballing snobbery from some fragments of supporters.

Those who argue against what has been coined by the Spanish as ‘tiki-taka’ football, feel teased and tormented by the patient passing and probing, and generally want to be entertained by whizz-bangs, thunderbolts and fireworks.

There is no solution to the conundrum of which method is the superior winning formula, but what better metaphor to provide some sort of answer than the 2010-11 La Liga season. Or more precisely, the battle between Spain’s two football giants.

Seven of the successful Spanish starters, the entire dynamic of the team, will turn out for Barcelona under the guidance of Guardiola as the composer, Xavi, and his orchestra will attempt to achieve footballing perfection.

But the nuevo galacticos of Real Madrid provide the yin to the Catalan’s yang. Now under the mantra of Mourinho, the Bernabéu boys will operate in a style which completely contradicts the Camp Nou gospel.

Mourinho has built a reputation on stubborn defending combined with direct fast-paced attacking, and the shrewd signings of German break-out sensations Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira will feed the goal-hungry attack of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain.

But most of all, the ‘Special One’ will aim to frustrate, to get under Guardiola’s skin. And how will the Barça boss respond? The man they call Pep may have been a no-nonsense player, but can he handle the mind games of the man who has mastered the skill of using the media to pile pressure on his rivals?

Every aspect of the two clubs’ personalities are polar opposites. While Barça portray a family club who hand rear the majority of their players from a young age to ensure the club is ingrained on their soul, Real purchase established players to assemble their elite squad.

Compare the managers and the top goalscorers. The calm and composed coach Guardiola against the animated and abrasive Mourinho. The modest and majestic Leo Messi opposite the dramatic and dynamic Ronaldo. It’s purity versus glamour.

In the two years since Guardiola took the reigns in Catalonia, Real Madrid have gone trophyless, while Barcelona have won everything, even the World Cup. Guardiola will be striving to complete a hat-trick of league titles, but now Mourinho has arrived and Mourinho doesn’t do losing.

Never has there been so much at stake between the great rivals of El Clásico. Expect tempers to fray and explosions to happen as we are about to enter one of the most intense Spanish league title races in recent memory.

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