Real Madrid have arrived in Barcelona, and they've arrived there without a couple of their questionable central midfield players. If Jose Mourinho wants to play for a draw against Barcelona in El Clasico and pack the center of midfield, he's going to have to use a makeshift setup. Neither Lassana Diarra or Nuri Sahin made the trip for Real Madrid, so obviously neither of them will be in the 18-man squad.
Madrid are also without defender Ricardo Carvalho as well, so they will not be able to play Pepe as a midfield anchor man, one option that Mourinho has used in the past. If Mourinho feels like he needs a third player deep in the center, his makeshift options are Fabio Coentrao, Esteban Granero and Kaka. Granero -- normally a wide player -- has played in the center recently when Sami Khedira was out with injury, and he performed well in that role.
We'll have pre-game and live game coverage in our Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.
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