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?

Sunday, 5:45am. It was still dark outside when I got up to watch Internazionale versus AC Milan.

All I hoped was for a great game to keep me awake and to get me even more excited for a great football Sunday.

They didn’t let me down.

First it was very nice to see Internazionale's players line-up in a "tunel" formation to greet AC Milan as they stepped onto the pitch. They all clapped in recognition of Milan's achievement in Japan. A great gesture. 

But Internazionale was eager to beat the World Champions.  

Internazionale dominated the first half but it was Milan who scored first. Inzaghi was fouled at the left side  of the half-circle and Pirlo invited goalkeeper Julio Cesar to watch the ball curves and rest inside the net on the top right corner.

That was Milan’s only shot on the first half that still had some great runs by Kaka, one of each, ended up causing Samuel to get injured. Defenders need a special health insurance when playing against Kaká. He literally “bent” Samuel. The defender was replaced by Materazzi.

And at the 35^th minute justice was made. In a good play on the left side of the pitch, the ball found Julio Cruz in the box to score his 10^th goal for Internazionale this season.

In the second half Milan came back with Emerson, Gillardino and Serginho in the places of Gattuso, Inzaghi and Seedorf.

Serginho for Seedorf was the weirdest sub coach Ancelotti could have made. Ok, Seedorf was not brilliant but the team certainly lost a reference.

And with a very unorganized defense came Internazionale’s second goal. A shot by Cambiasso (the best player of the game in my opinion) that was deflected by Kaladze and could not be saved by Dida.

Man of the Match: Cambiasso

After the second goal it seemed that the Nerazzurri still wanted more. They were putting pressure on AC Milan’s defense and brought in the 20-year old Portuguese player, Pelé.

Milan’s offensive efforts were not working and even though the Rossoneri played a little better towards the end of the match, it was not enough to change the score.

I honestly expected more from AC Milan from a team. They were the world champions but they deposit all their hopes on Kaka’s shoulder. He actually did what he could but many times I felt he was playing by himself.

As for Internazionale, they have a very balanced, organized team, I personally wanted to see more from Ibrahimovic but Julio Cruz and Camibiasso did the job. It’s inter on their way for a second championship in a row.

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:

AC Milan versus Inter will be he frist great battle this sunday.

It's a match that will be interesting more because of the rivalry, the tradition and the number of great players that will bo on the pitch but in fact if you look at the Serie A table you will see that this game matters a lot more the World Champions AC Milan than for their rival neighbors.

Internazionale is leading the Serie A with a reasonably comfortable 7 point difference to the second place (Roma) on the other hand AC Milan has only 18 points in the 11th position.

If AC Milan intends to repeat the sucess of 2007 they'd better start winning games and what would be better than starting against their biggest rivals?

I believe it will be a close game and I really can't wait to see Kaká for AC Milan and Ibrahimovic for Inter to put up a great show!

Any score prediction??? I'd say 2 x 1 for AC Milan - just because the game matters a lot for them.

Here is how the teams might play, according to the Italian Newspaper "Corriere Dello Sport"

All right, so Kaká is the best player of the world right? Messi got second place. There's not a lot to contest specially after we saw how Kaká played in the FIFA Club World Cup final against Boca Juniors. He is definetly the best footballer of the year.

Then we have Marta. A 21-year old tiny and shy girl who simply demolishes defenses. She couldn't care less how tall, strong or rough a defender can be. All she wants is to take that ball all the way and score goals. Best female footballer of the year.

Brazil won the Copa America one more time against all odds. Playing with a young brave team without Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo or Adriano and with a coach who had no previous experience in the job. Argentina had all its stars a brilliant team, an extremely inspired Riquelme, a magical Messi but they could not defeat Brazil and were beaten 3 x 0.

Now I get to the point: How is it possible that Argentina is on top of FIFA's Ranking?

Oh well, that's why I always hated algebra!

But I promise I'll settle down if someone gives me a reasonable explanation.