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Soccer Break Wednesday – Real v Barca. Take three.
Growing tired of Real Madrid and Barcelona playing each other? Not here we aren’t. And nor is an octopus named Iker (see picture).
The Champions League is the biggest club competition in the world and generally where players peak, so Wednesday’s semi-final first leg should be the best of the recent encounters between the Spanish rivals.
A place in the final, most probably against Manchester United after their barnstorming performance on Tuesday albeit against a lacklustre Schalke 04, will be at stake. Will the third ‘clasico’ in 12 days be an all-out attack fest or a nervy 0-0?
Who is your favourite of the two sides? Barcelona for their slick-passing panache or Real for their watchability factor, in which coach Jose Mourinho plays a large role.
A player in form in the Champions League is Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer. Alex Ferguson heavily praised the German but it seems he is set for Bayern Munich as Neuer himself has ruled out a move to the Premier League.
Finally, in England Stoke City edged further away from the relegation zone with a 3-0 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday and Wolves find themselves deep in trouble. Can they stay up? But at what cost to the FA Cup finalists Stoke after influential midfielder Matthew Etherington went off with a hamstring problem?
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Neuer edging ahead in German goalkeeping race
Germany have not had it easy when it comes to picking a starting goalkeeper for this year’s World Cup.
Robert Enke, who was first choice going into the last three World Cup qualifiers, committed suicide in November and it is still unclear who will stake a claim to being the long-term successor to Jens Lehmann.
Following Enke’s death, Schalke’s Manuel Neuer, Bayer Leverkusen’s Rene Adler and Tim Wiese from Werder Bremen have been in contention for the spot.
Loew recently crowned Adler as the man to beat but the keeper failed to repay the coach’s trust with an error-ridden performance in Germany’s 1-0 loss to Argentina earlier this month. Then came two consecutive Bundesliga matches where Adler, 25, was directly responsible for letting in goals. Suddenly his starting spot looks far from certain.
At 23, Neuer has had an outstanding season so far, helping drive Schalke 04 into title contention and often being the best man on the pitch.
Wiese has been less efficient in a mediocre season with Bremen and still looks the outsider in the race.
Any decision will be taken with the future in mind and there, it could well be that the younger Neuer has the edge, despite his lack of international experience. He may only have two caps but so does 28-year-old Wiese while Adler has only nine.
