I decided to watch Roma vs. Real Madrid simply because both teams have a style of football that pleases me a lot. Even though Madrid played without Robinho I would have the chance to see Robben, Sergio Ramos, Casillas. Raul, Van Nilsterooy and Julio Baptista and on the other side I really like the way Roma plays. Mancini, Totti, Pizzaro, Juan... I knew this would be a great game.
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The first half was not as good as it could be but Robben was the differential. At the 8th minute he started the play that ended with Raul putting the ball inside Doni's net. Real was up by 1 and looked pretty comfortable in the game.

The problem is that "Los Merengues" miss Robinho very much. Mainly because he is the one able to cause defenses to collapse simply by moving without the ball. And when he has it he is able to take defenders easily and create spaces for Raul and Van Nilsterooy. Without him Real Madrid was not able to transform its first half superiority into goals.

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So that at the minute 24th Pizarro scored Roma's equalizer confirming that if don't score when you have the chance you end up boosting your opponent's morale.

Pizarro celebrating his goal .

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And then came the second half. Roma came back a different team. Still the same players but with a different spirit. At minute 12 Mancini did what he does best. Coming on the left side in an individual play he shoots and puts the home team on the lead..

After the goal, Roma became a little bit more cautious and Real Madrid still wasn't able to be really dangerous. Even though the (fanatical) "Diario Marca" states that the result was unfair I honestly didn't think so.

In football you got to transform superiority into opportunities and those into goals. Real Madrid didn't but Roma did.

On my pre-game game post I got the line-up for Barcelona without Ronaldinho or Deco in it. That's cause coach Frank Rijkaard kept the mistery until moments before the match today.

I was happy to see that he had chosen to start with the brazilian. I also thought Ronaldinho would do everything possible to win this game and prove how valuable he still is for the team.

Well, that didn't quite happen.

The first half was quite balanced in numbers and also in goal opportunities but since the beginning I could see a more organized Real Madrid.  Los Merengues dictated the rythm of the game with a good passing line and a well controled pace.

At the 7th minute Ruud van Nistelrooy could have scored the opening goal with a shot from the rtop right side of the box that went just wide of the goal.

Only after 28 minutes played in the first half was Barcelona able to really balance things up when Ronaldinho decided to wake up. The brazilian was reaponsible for at least 2 brilliant moments in less than 5 minutes. It was good to see his footwork and amazing skills to take on defenders entertain the crowd and get Barça close to the equalizer. No enough though.

It was another brazilian who stole the spotlight on the first half.  A great passing play ended up with van Nistelrooy serving Julio Baptista on the left side of the box. On a perfect strike, "The Beast" scored the winning goal at minute 35.

Baptista proved once again that skills alone can only take a team so far. There's gotta be efficiency if a team wants to win titles.

The second half was, what I would call, the reason why this is the greatest sport on earth: NO GOALS but a lot of AMAZING, STUNNING moments. Barecelona kept on searching for the equalizer but Ronaldinho's inspiration was gone. The team bravely - but also too desperately - attacked with shots from outside the box and attempts of through balls, but they almost always hit a wall called Pepe. Real Madrid's defense played extremely well.

Los Merengues on the other hand used the counter attack as their main weapon. Robinho always giving Barça's defense a hard time.

Another great game that made very happy for waking up early this sunday.

And now some questions for you guys:

Should Barcelona keep Ronaldinho?

Is Messi more important for the team?

This is the game I've been waiting for. And even though Real Madrid cannot be reached at the first position (the difference is 4 points) a Barcelona win would mean a very tough and close championship after the winter break.

I honestly find it very hard to make a prediction because a lot on this match will depend on some individual performances. Robinho, Van Nilsterooy, Messi, Eto'o ... will have this responsibility.

Wait a minute, I didn't mention Ronaldinho?

Well, coach Frank Rijkaard is still keeping it a secret Ronaldinho's presence on the starting eleven. I understand that Barcelona has a great team with many players thast can be replaced by others and still keep the team playing beautiful football but in such an important match I'd take the experience of Ronaldinho over Giovani dos Santos any time.

In my opinion if Ronaldinho plays Barcelona wins 3 x 1 if he doesn't I predict the same score but in favor of "Los merengues"

The debate is open.

Ronaldinho or Giovani? What's your choice?

And who will win this match?

Here are the possible line-ups: