Barca will play their third match in the 2013-14 La Liga season tomorrow night at the Mestalla. There is no need to say that it's going to be a tough trip; Barca fans have always considered the trip to Mestalla a very tough one, especially after Guardiola took over. No other team have managed to stifle our playing style like the Valencian players have done, that too consistently. Our last five visits to Mestalla in La Liga has seen us winning once and drawing the rest of four times. But never consider those draws as boring affairs, they were the most entertaining draws one could watch and all of them had goals in it too. Our last visit to Valencia ended in a 1-1 draw, we had to thank Valdes in saving us that day with some brilliant saves. Incidentally Valdes has been saving our skin in the last couple of matches and he may have to do it again tomorrow night.
Tata Martino had made it clear that his main task would be to keep the squad fresh till the end of the season. We already saw him taking off Lionel Messi in the first match of the season. This time around he had given Xavi and Alexis Sanchez a well deserved rest. Both of them has been excluded from the travelling squad. Everyone would like to see Xavi being given more rest this season, especially with a World Cup at the end of it. The squad selected for travelling to Valencia is Valdes, Pinto, Montoya, Alves, Pique, Bartra, Mascherano, Adriano, Alba, Busquets, Song, Dos Santos, Sergi Roberto, Cesc, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi, Neymar and Tello. Considering the real tough task at hand don't expect any much experiments in starting eleven. Tata Martino may very much go with his most strong eleven, there is no other was as we have to play Sevilla also next week. The way the season is shaping up, it becomes extremely necessary not to fall behind early in the season.
Everyone has been calling to either start Montoya or Bartra in the starting eleven. But I doubt that will be in Martino's mind. He most probably will go with a strong back four. I would be surprised if I see anyone other than Adriano, Pique, Mascherano and Alves in the defense. The midfield should see Iniesta who most probably playing in a bit deeper role, Busquets should play the normal defensive role and Cesc Fabregas should play a more advanced role. The front trio should see Pedro, Messi and Neymar. The match could be one of our toughest test since the start of the League. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up securing only a draw here.
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