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!