{"id":10437,"date":"2011-12-08T14:47:07","date_gmt":"2011-12-08T14:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/"},"modified":"2011-12-08T14:47:07","modified_gmt":"2011-12-08T14:47:07","slug":"madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Real Madrid will be aiming to extend their lead in La Liga when they host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The Whites are currently on top of La Liga standings, three points ahead of\u00a0Barcelona, with a game in hand.<\/p>\n

Jose Mourinho\u2019s men continued with their winning run, by beating Sporting Gijon 3-0 in their last league outing and then overpowering Ajax Amsterdam 3-0 in their midweek Champions League clash.<\/p>\n

The Catalans on the other hand thrashed Levante 5-0 in their last La Liga match and continued with their good form by outclassing BATE Borisov 4-0 in the Champions League with a weakened squad.<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo has already netted 17 times for Madrid in the league this season and he will be looking to continue with his good form this season with the help of Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema.<\/p>\n

The visitors will be counting on Lionel Messi who has also scored 17 goals this season, as well as Xavi Hernandez, who is always the creative force in the\u00a0midfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are no new injury worries for Real Madrid apart from Ricardo Carvalho who is trying to get over a knee injury, while Barcelona\u2019s Adriano Correira is also recovering from a thigh strain.<\/p>\n

Last season Barcelona embarrassed Real Madrid 5-0 at the Camp Nou before playing to a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu with both Messi and Ronaldo scoring from the penalty spot.<\/p>\n

Xavi, who will be playing his 13th game for Barca at the Bernabeu says a win will be vital for his side to reduce the gap between them and Madrid.<\/p>\n

“It’s always nice to win at the Bernabeu and even more so looking at the table. It would be a turning point for us. To go and win at the Bernabeu is a footballing pleasure,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid Real Madrid will be aiming to extend their lead in La Liga when they host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nMadrid aiming to keep Barca at bay - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid Real Madrid will be aiming to extend their lead in La Liga when they host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-08T14:47:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/\"},\"wordCount\":315,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/\",\"name\":\"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-08T14:47:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid Real Madrid will be aiming to extend their lead in La Liga when they host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night.","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay","datePublished":"2011-12-08T14:47:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/"},"wordCount":315,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/","name":"Madrid aiming to keep Barca at bay - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg","datePublished":"2011-12-08T14:47:07+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/08\/madrid-aiming-to-keep-barca-at-bay\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.mtnfootball.com\/content\/REALvBARCApreview580.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}