Barça/Gijon preview and other thoughts.

Same lengthy gap without an update, same broken record: sorry folks, it's really inexcusable.

Perhaps my lack of updates is post- Copa blues, who knows?

Last week Barça made another club record, going entirely undefeated for the first half of the season, the first time in the club's history. Pep Guardiola has provisionally agreed to sign a new contract, Messi is playing better than ever, Xavi and Iniesta are hitting incredible form, Alves is trying his best to play in every position possible, Abidal is fast becoming one of the best left backs in the world, and team morale is at an overall high. Even Joan Laporta's more and more frequent politically motivated media outbursts (wether I agree with these or not isn't the point, and this isn't the place to discuss it, either) cant dampen the mood around the Camp Nou. We're five points clear of Madrid, who are having a little bit of bother with selection for this weekend, and overall, life is great.

If every cloud has a silver lining, then the Copa Del Rey exit is the embodiment of this phrase. Having one less game per week has relinquished a lot of strain from the squad, and this bonus is reflected in our improved performances lately. It only gets better, too : Busquets is back from injury, and Yaya has returned from international duty.

With all of this taken into consideration, Barça head into tonight's clash in an excellent position. Consequentially, we should expect a top quality performance against a Gijon team who, without any disrespect meant, have lacked real quality this season, despite sitting in a fairly comfortable league position.

Alves has unfortunately picked up an injury, and considering the way he has been playing lately, this should be a huge blow. The perfect remedy is, however, Carles Puyol. Always dependable, always playing well, we know he will slot into right back perfectly as always, providing a different option, and perhaps allowing Abidal to go forward more often as he has been doing lately, with exceptional skill, I might add.

Of course, moving Puyol out right does leave one selection question : who to play with Pique?

Dima has had a hard time lately, and I'm not sure a starting role is the best way to resolve this. Likewise, Marquez hasn't been playing well either. Step up, Gabbi Milito.

Since returning to action from his injury, Milito's performances have improved with every game, the most recent of which being the best, against Valladolid last week. I have faith in Milito, and with the 5 point gap, and potential for Madrid to slip up this weekend (more about that later) I'd like to see him handed a starting role, in order to see if he can fully progress to recapturing his impeccable pre-injury form.

As such, my lineup would be :

---------------Valdes---------------

Puyol---Milito---Pique---Abidal

---------------Toure---------------

---------Xavi---------Iniesta------

---Messi----Zlatan---Henry-----

Of course, several of these selections are up for debate. Notably, Pep may opt for Dima or Marquez instead of Milito. Or, in a less expected move, he could deploy Maxwell at right back and allow Puyol to stay in the middle.

Likewise, Busquets COULD start ahead of Toure. Considering the former is just returning from an injury, however, I'd rather see Yaya given the nod.

Henry's play has been improving a lot lately, and all that's missing is goals. I'd like to see him get a start and get a goal, along with Zlatan who needs to get out of his scoring drought sooner rather than later.

I predict a comfortable win, perhaps with a few defensive lapses. I'll go for 3-1.

Finally, Madrid have, as I mentioned, something of a selection nightmare. Ronaldo is out for 2 games and Higuain is injured. They also haven't won in A Coruña in 19 years. I would not be surprised to see Super Depor claim a draw, and help us on our way to a 6 point gap.

Barça/Tenerife

After a disappointing game during the week in the Copa against Sevilla (albeit with a weakened starting 11) Pep Guardiola will try to use this week's game against Tenerife to increase team moral. The islanders have been generally very poor throughout the season, with the odd result like a draw against Atletico coming more from the Madrid side playing poorly than Tenerife playing well.

On the injury front, Eric Abidal has recovered and is in the squad, but I imagine Maxwell will get the nod ahead of him in anticipation of the return leg with Sevilla during the week, in which Abidal will be vital.

Zlatan will miss the game due to collecting a fifth yellow card against Villareal.

Pedro will therefore get a chance to play against the team he supported as a boy. Hopefully he will not allow such emotions to have an impact on his game in a negative manor. In light of suspensions and the game in midweek, I expect we will lineup as follows:

---------------Valdes--------------

Alves---Puyol--Pique--Maxwell

------------Busquets---------------

-----Xavi--------------Iniesta------

Pedro------Henry------Messi-----

The performance of Marquez in the holding midfield role during the week left a lot to be desired, so I see no reason for Busquets to be missing from the starting 11. Likewise, another poor game from Chygrynsky means the obvious choice for Pep would be our strongest back two of Puyol and Pique. Alves more or less picks himself when available, and Abidal is recovering for an injury as I alluded to earlier.

Henry and Messi are interchangeable, and I expect them to swap roles throughout the game. Hopefully Henry can put in an equally impressive performance tonight as he did against Villareal, as this is a vital time in the season where our squad is stretched thin. Players need to rise to the challenge and help the team, especially big ones like Titi.

As for the score? I expect nothing but a win, and I also think we'll keep a clean sheet. I'll go for 3-0 Barça (though sometimes when I guess these scores I still think in terms of last season, so 2-0 may be a more accurate outcome).

Visca el Barça i visca Catalunya!

Barça/Villareal

Firstly (primermente) : Happy new year, feliz año nuevo i bon any nou!

Now that's over with ,it's time to address the first game of the year, against Villareal at the Camp Nou.

Cast your mind back to last season, where a victory over the Yellow Submarine at the Camp Nou would have secured La Liga for us. Recall how we led them 3-1 with about 10 minutes to go. Recall Abidal being sent off, Fernandez scoring the resulting penalty, and then, in the 92nd minute, Llorente equalizing and ruining our league celebrations (for a while).

The moral of the story is, Villareal are never an easy team to beat. Despite a shaky start to the season, their poor results have often overshadowed good performances. What makes matters worse is that they're starting to hit form now, too. I expect this game to be open, and difficult.

Yaya is of course on international duty, and Keita is out injured. Jeffren is also still recovering from an injury, and several youth team players have been called up to bolster the squad (namely Gai Assulin, Thiago Alcántara, Víctor Vázquez and Jonathan dos Santos) though I don't expect them to play a major part.

In good news, Iniesta has been given the green light to play, as such, I imagine we'll line up as follows:

-------------------Valdes---------------

-Alves----Puyol--Pique---Abidal

--------------Busquets-----------------

------Xavi--------------Iniesta--------

Pedro-------Zlatan-------Henry---

Messi did not take part in training this week, reportedly due to Pep's fears that he is being overworked. I wouldn't expect him to play any part in the game as a result. This is a big game for Henry then, as Zlatan has yet to play Villareal before. We should expect the Frenchman to lead by example therefore. Henry needs to step up to the plate for us now, at this crucial point in the season where the calender becomes congested. Still, I don't expect us to outscore them by much, though I do expect a brilliant game.

I'll go for 3-2, with Zlatan, Henry and Iniesta netting.

Until my next update:

Visca el Barça i visca Catalunya!

Hola!

I would just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (Me gustaría decir Feliz Navidad) : Merry Christmas, feliz navidad i bon nadal !

:D

ps:

Barça vs Espanyol - buildup

Another week passes by, and another update is long overdue. Fear not however, I have no coursework due until January now, so I'll be updating this frequently.

The performance in Kiev was, in my opinion, excellent, and if it wasn't for some really good defending (and a goalkeeper's very sore head) I believe we would have scored more. None the less, Messi's sublime freekick at the end secured the top of the group and gives us an easier passage through the next round (hopefully).

The only other incident of note in that game was the shameful tactics Kiev adopted in trying to deal with Messi. We've seen it a million times before, best exemplified by Madrid at the Camp Nou last year : Systematically foul Messi, changing player each time to avoid a booking, because teams cant deal with his talent in any other manner. Once again, just like Madrid, the result of this was Messi getting his revenge by scoring.

Unfortunately however, unlike Madrid, this time Messi was injured, and will thus miss the derby game today. The refereeing in Kiev was nothing short of shambolic, with Xavi being booked for his first foul (a weak one at that), whilst Kiev players got away with no repercussions for kicking Messi up and down the park.

Anyway, I could go on about this forever, but I'll move on to the task at hand.

Espanyol are on a particularly poor run of form lately, but they always up their game for these matches, so I don't expect this to be a walk in the park at all. That being said, I don't believe Espanyol will offer much going forward (their goal scoring record this season is particularly poor) and will opt to get as many bodies in their own half as possible. Let's not forget that last season this fixture was a banana skin for us, though Keita being sent off early on certainly didn't help matters.

I'm confident we can get a win this time however, with the added physical presence of Zlatan up front and his inability to stop scoring in the league being taken into account. I do think it will be a tight affair, but I don't think we're likely to concede (barring any crazy mistakes from Valdes, but that's another story.....)

I expect the team to lineup as follows:

---------------Valdes-----------------

Alves---Puyol----Pique-----Abidal

---------------Toure-----------------

------Xavi---------------Iniesta-----

--Pedro-----Zlatan------Henry----

I'll explain my choices:

With Abidal's recent emergence as, in my opinion, one of the most prominent left backs in the world this season, I see no reason to drop him for the lesser Maxwell. Abidal's performances in recent games, starting with Madrid, have saw a notable improvement in his ability going forward : in particular, two pinpoint-accurate crosses from the left flank have led to two goals in his last two games. I would also suggest Pique and Puyol are our best central pairing and, in a derby game, are the obvious choice. Alves is a shoe-in as always.

Toure Yaya may be more likely to get a game with the knowledge that he is more powerfulphysically than Busquets. In a game which is likely to feature a congested midfield through Espanyol's tactics, Iniesta and Xavi are by far the best option to unlock them due to their ability to function in a tight space. As a consequence of this, with Iniesta not moving out wide, the natural choice to replace Messi is of course Pedro. Henry didn't play much in midweek, so he should have plenty of energy for this game and it's physicality. Zlatan is picked for my reasons previously mentioned - he adds something new which Espanyol have not yet had a chance to try and deal with.

Finally- Gabby Millito is on the bench, and it would be a joy to see him make a cameo at some point, but I'm not sure this is the kind of game to start bedding in a player who has just came back from a horrible injury. We'll see.

I'll settle for 2-0, if everything goes to plan.

Until then-

Visca el Barça i visca Catalunya!

Barça/Deportivo Preview

As you might have noticed, it has been far too long since I last updated this. Unfortunately, University work which despite being far less enjoyable, none the less had to be done.

In the days that have passed since I last wrote, Barça produced their best passing display of this season against Inter, looking far more like the tempo of last season. Following on from that was a tight but vital win in el clasico, and then the snore-fest in Xerez last week.

The Xerez game doesn't concern me too much ; we fielded a weakened lineup, and in light of this i expect a lot of the big game players to be fresh for the Deportivo game tonight.

Our record against Depor in recent years is pretty terrible. Pep has yet to win away to A Coruña, though we did muster up a draw at a meaningless stage of the season last year.

I think this game is a potential banana skin, Deportivo are playing well and they are more than capable of causing an upset. That being said, if we can find the rhythm of the Inter game again, and field a strong lineup, I'm confident we'll get the result.

My predicted lineup would be:

---------------Valdes-------------

--Alves--Puyol--Pique--Abidal

--------------Toure---------------

-------Xavi----------Iniesta------

--Messi-----Zlatan----Henry----

Abidal has been in fine form as of late, and is getting forward a lot more than he used to. All he needs now is a pair of shooting boots and hopefully he'll notch up his first Barça goal.

Toure put in an unusually poor performance against Xerez, but with Busquets out he's the natural pick for this game, I don't expect him to play poorly twice in a row either.

Hopefully Iniesta and Xavi can play in midfield again, it seems like we rarely see this, by far our strongest central midfield partnership, in action at all this season. Keita is great, but doesn't have the creativity of Iniesta and as such, when he plays in the middle, our strikers tend to come looking for the ball a little bit more than they should.

I expect Zlatan to score, because he seems to like doing it so much. Messi made some fine runs against Xerez , and I reckon he's due a goal too. I'd like to see Henry score too, and build on his goal last week. In any case, I think that's a bit ambitious, this will be a tight game, and with Puyol and Pique playing (Marquez and Dima played midweek, so this would be the natural choice) I don't expect us to concede.

I'll go 1-0 Barça, Messi to net the winner, though at a push I'd say 2-1 with Zlatan being the other scorer is a possibility.

Finally, Millito will be on the bench for this game most probably. Hopefully he gets a run out, if he can get back to form he'll be a vital asset.

Visca el Barça i visca Catalunya.

Barça/Athletic Bilbao preview.

After what seems like an eternity, the international break is now over, and it's back to business as usual in La Liga.

Some concerning developments have emerged in the last 48 hours ; namely that Marquez, Abidal and Toure have all contracted the H1N1 virus and thus will not play until they recover.

This is particularly unfortunate considering Abidal's recent form for Barça, though thankfully we have a capable replacement in Maxwell.

It has also emerged that Zlatan tweaked his hamstring in training, and will miss today's game. Whilst this is not ideal, it is imperative that he rests with the aim of playing in the game against Inter during the week, which is more important.

On the positive side, Gabby Milito made his first appearance for us in over a year this week, in a friendly game made up of non-international first team players and reserves.

Hopefully his rehabilitation continues to progress, and he'll be available after Christmas as is predicted.

Now to tonight's game :

It seems like Barça/Athletic Bilbao is the most played fixture between two La Liga clubs in recent memory (indeed, it may well be!). After playing twice last year in the league, twice in the Spanish Supercup and of course, the Copa Del Rey final, this will the sixth time Pep has lead us out to battle against the Basques.....

....which may well be a good thing : as it stands, our record against Athletic under Pep is 5 wins out of 5, and I expect that to continue tonight.

The word on the street is that Bojan will be handed a central role tonight, with Henry on the left and Messi out right. Maxwell will slot in for Abidal, and likewise Busquets will probably replace Toure (though Keita is of course a possibility). I predict the lineup will be completed with Xavi and Iniesta in midfield, and Puyol, Pique and Alves at the back:

---------------Valdes-----------------

Alves----Puyol--Pique---Maxwell-

-------------Busquets----------------

-------Xavi-----------Iniesta--------

Messi-------Bojan-----------Henry-

Athletic are a good, physically strong team, but I feel they rely too heavily on magic from Llorente for victories. If we can contain him (which has been the case in the last 5 encounters) then this will be a routine victory for the Blaugrana. Bojan has had a good run of goals recently, and as a player who works on confidence, I expect him to score again today, as he did against Athletic in the Copa Del Rey final.

I'll go for 3-0, with Messi, Bojan and Henry to net.

I'll be back for the midweek game against Inter.

Until then,

Visca el Barça i visca Catalunya.