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| BRING THE BEST IN EACH OTHER |
There isn't all that much mileage in the Real Madrid engine room for Sunday's big game when you consider it as a unit. Carlo Ancelotti knows that the 'Clásico' could well be decided in midfield, yet will put his trust in a quartet who have barely featured in unison. Nevertheless, he remains confident that they are proficient with the system he has been drumming in and can operate perfectly well together.
Apart from the defeat in San Sebastian, the foursome have only played 196 minutes together. This includes two joint cameos in the Champions League: in the group stage at home to Liverpool (Bale came on for James in the 62nd minute, giving him 28 minutes with the other three) and in the last-16 second leg against Schalke (Modric made his comeback after a long injury layoff and the four clocked up 33 minutes together).
Modric's spell on the sidelines means that the quartet were unable to team up in the Spanish Cup or the Club World Cup. They did see some limited action side by side - 13 minutes, to be precise - in the UEFA Super Cup, once Isco was introduced off the bench.
The idea behind Ancelotti's use of this 'fantastic four' at the Camp Nou is to prevent Barça monopolising possession. It remains to be seen, however, whether this relatively untried unit can function effectively enough to achieve this goal.
