FC Barcelona Cruises into Champions League Quarter Finals; FC Barcelona-5,Lyon-2

FC Barcelona secured a last eight place in this season's Champions League with a sensational 5-2 rout of Lyon at Camp Nou. FC Barcelona produced a display which would have put their recent blip in form to distant memory. Two first half goals from Henry in the span of two minutes , a wonder goal from Messi and another from Eto gave Barcelona the early lead; but Lyon pulled down the lead with goals in end of first half and start of second half. But Barcelona held on to their lead and increased it in the dying moments with a strike from Keita. Once again FC Barcelona's midfield dominated the proceedings and that resulted in a comfortable victory. Villareal is the only Spanish side to make into the Quarter final; whereas all the four English team have made the cut. Guardiola lined up a starting eleven as I predicted. Valdes at Goal; Alves, Pique, Marquez and Sylvinho at the defense. The midfield was made up of Toure, Xavi and Iniesta. Henry, Eto and Messi made up the attacking trio.

From the start FC Barcelona started taking control of then match. But they still couldn't penetrate the Lyon defense. In the 15th minute the result of all the possession started coming into play. Iniesta palyed a great ball to Eto after intercepting a poor pass from Lyon defense but Eto was closed down by Lyon defender and he could only shot high. But that was the trailer for what was coming. In the 25th minute Marquez cut down a ball to Benzema and in turn send in a great ball putting Henry ahead of defense. Henry made no mistake with his finishing and took Barca 1-0 ahead and 2-1 up in aggregate. After two minutes Henry struck again to increase the lead to 2-0. Eto played the ball from left to Xavi in the middle, who put the ball to an unmarked Henry on the left inside the box, who again made no mistake slotting the ball low past the goal keeper. In the 40th minute Messi who was kind of quite showed his class. Pique sent a long ball to Messi on the right; he took the ball and set off on a tremendous Copyrighted run of his skipping past three defenders before polaying the ball to Eto; Eto stopped the ball and played it back to Messi who curled the ball low past a diving Goal Keeper. In the 43rd minte Eto made the lead 4-0 after Boumsong missed a crucial interception from a Henry pass. In the next minute Lyon pulled one back from a Makoun header. Makoun rose above everyone in the defense and exposed Barca's inability in defending set-pieces.

The second half started with another goal for Lyon.In the 48th minute Juninho made it 4-2 sparking an expectation of revival among Lyon fans. Delgado got away free off Iniesta on the right and Benzema played a clever dummy on his cross to put Juninho clear on goal. Lyon was trying to get physical to upset Barca's rhythm. But the tactic never worked as Barca soon settled back to their normal ways. In the 59th minute the Lyon goal keeper denied Henry of a deserving hat-trick. In the 90th minute Bojan was denied by the goal keeper after he was set up by Xavi. Juninho then was sent-off for a second booking. In the 94th minute Xavi played Keita through with a great ball, who rounded off keeper and slotted the ball back into the net to take Barca's score to 5-2.

We played a sensational first half; but still there were enough vulnerabilities at the defense. Iniesta and Xavi had a majestic game and as I mentione earlier were responsible in taking the pressure of the defense. Henry was clinical with his finish, something which was missing for some games. But the best news is Eto getting bakc on the score-sheet. I have a feeling that we would be facing Manchester United in the Quarter-final, eventhough I would definitely prefer Porto.

HighLights : FC Barcelona vs Lyon

Taming Lyon; FC Barcelona vs Lyon Champions League Preview

FC Barcelona is confirmed to be without their inspirational captain Carlos Puyol for the crucial Champions League home leg against Lyon. Lyon also did have a similiar injury concern with Benzema, but the latest news is that he has made into the squad but how long will he play is yet to be seen. FC Barcelona players expressed their confidence in seeing the back of a very dangerous Lyon side after finding their form in the weekend match against Athletic Bilbao. The biggest threat for Barca would be coming from Juninho with his dead ball skills. FC Barcelona should be extremely careful not to concede any cheap free kicks in promising positions. Especially with the absence of Puyol our aerial defense will be susceptible. This put more emphasize on our midfield. Our midfield once again has to guard the defense from excessive pressure. With Iniesta back in side we should be able to do better than the first leg; but the key player could be Toure.

Guardiola would not be experimenting too much with the line up and surely will field his best available line up. Valdes is expected to be at the Goal. Alves, Pique, Marquez and Sylvinho would form the defense. What worries me the most is Alves's sudden dip inform. If he does not get back to form tonigh we will struggle seriously. Sylvinho's lack of pace makes him a weak link in the defense and we don't need a similiar week link on the right. Iniesta, Toure and Xavi is expected to form the midfield. For me the midfielders are going to decide the match. Messi, Eto and Henry should once again form the attacking trio. Messi has been having some ordinary matches recently by his standard. But he showed serious improvement in last two matches and should naturally carry forward that momentum into this match. Lyon and Barca is renowned for playing the game in an attacking manner. Hence we will see a number of goals. But I don't expect Lyon to cause an upset at Camp Nou. I expect Barca to win by a score line of 3-1.

Benzema or Villa or Aguerro?

Which one will you prefer? Ok, I know that's a million dollar question, but still just curious to know who would be Barca fans choice. A fortnight ago it was indeed a choice between Villa and Benzema. Benzema from last season has voiced his preference to play for an European giant. Villa never showed any considerable interest in moving away from Valencia, but Valencia's present financial crisis could force them to sell one of their biggest stars. But the cream of the moment have to be Kun Aguerro. Surprisingly Aguerro was overshadowed by the more talented national team mate, Lionel Messi when both their teams met for the first time in the league this season. It was billed as the "Duel of the Year", featuring two of the most brightest talent in Argentina - One billed as the "New Maradona" and the other who is all set to become Maradona's son-in law. But that match turned out to be a mismatch. Messi came out clear winner with FC Barcelona destroying Atletico 6-1. Then how much of that poor result can be blamed on Aguerro is a big question? His defense conceded early goals and from that point onwards Camp Nou would be the most toughest place on earth.

But a fortnight back he really made up for that mismatch. He inspired Atletico to a 4-3 victory in a game which Atletico clearly dominated FC Barcelona from the word go. Last week he repeated the performance against a resurgent Real Madrid at the Bernebeu. He may have missed a handful of chances to seal off the match; but no one can deny his importance in that match. Out of the three options David Villa is the most proven customer. He has been a sensation both for Valencia and Spain for a number of seasons. In that view he should be the ideal choice of striker at Barca especially if Barca mange to retain Eto. Out of the three he is the ideal to take the front left position and would be at ease in switching to the centre. But again it all depend on what Barca's technical team is looking for. If they are looking for a striker who can complement our attack as well as provide a substantial aerial threat, then Karim Benzema would be a better choice as a striker. Then his arrival will surely create some problem is we manage to retain Eto. Eto and Benzema would ideally like to play the centre forward role. Eventhough Eto can do well at the left, I don't think he would be happy to let go off his position. Aguerro is kind of different from both of these players. Aguerro's clear strength are his physical ability and great burst of speed and obviously his latin american style of playing. He made a mockery of Real Madrid defenders on Saturday, especially Cannavaro. He effortlessly turned past them every time, but I have to admit that there is not much of interest in Barca circle to poach him. But if he can get Atletico go past FC Porto then there could be srious interest in him. But what could potentially become a big factor if Barca is going to sign him would be the fact that Messi and Aguerro plays really well in their national side.

FC Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao Match Pictures on 07/03/09

Getting Back On Track; FC Barcelona-2, Atletic-0

After three difficult week, FC Barcelona were back to their usual best against Athletic Bilbao. First half goals from Busquets and Messi was more than enough for Barca to see off their Copa Del Rey final opponent. Fc Barcelona created a flurry of chances in the second half but could not increase their half time lead. Meanwhile at the Bernebeu, Atletico Madrid held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw. Atletico was clearly the better side and was unfortunate not to have won that tie. Real Madrid drawing means we have extended our lead six points at the top and that should comfort some nerves for now. Again Kun Aguerro was the highlight player of the madrid derby and I have to admit that I don't see Atletico madrid holding on to him forlong. His back to back spectacular performance against Barca and Real Madrid is sure to have raised some interest in him at Barca but we have to wait to see how the story develops. But all was not well for Barca on last night, which also saw our captain Puyol getting injured towards the dying moments of the game. Puyol has sprained the left ankle and will be out for three weeks including the crucial Champions League tie against Lyon. Now Guardiola has to re-access his strategy at the defense.

The only player Guardiola rested from the usual line up was Toure; Alves and Caceres were both suspended for this tie. Valdes returned back to the goal despite calls for Pinto's selection. Puyol formed the Right back; Pique, Marquez and Sylvinho made the rest of defense. Busquets was selected to do the defensive midfielder job whereas after some time we saw a very attacking midfield with Iniesta and Xavi. Messi, Eto and Henry formed the front three. With Iniesta coming back to midfield we controlled the game well from the begining. Athletci Bilbao was looking to hit us on the counter; in the 16th minute Yeste wasted a great chance to put Athletic ahead after he shot wide with just Valdes to be beaten. But Barca made Athletci Bilbao pay dearly for that when in the 17th minute Busquets put Barca ahead. Busquest rose to guide Xavi's excellent free kick towards goal and put Barca firmly in command. Then in the 30th minute Iniesta showed why he is considered one of the best dribblers in Spain. He recieved the ball 30 yards out and dribbled past defenders into the Athletic box and was brough down by Gurpegi. The referee never hesitated to give the penalty and Messi calmly slotted it past a hapless Iraizoz. In the 39th minute Eto saw his ambitious bicycle kick from an excellent Puyol cross going just over the bar. In the 42nd minute Eto wasted another chance from another great Xavi free kick from the right. But to be fair to him he was denied by tight marking.

After the restart Barca started showing more of their great form which helped them to a twelve points lead. In the 46th minute Iniesta saw his shot from outside the box hit the post after receiving a pass from Messi. In the 52nd minute Eto header was denied by Iraizoz with a great save from an excellent cross from Sylvinho. In the 55th minute Eto was again denied by Iraizoz. The move started with Iniesta dribbling into the box but his shot was blocked; the rebound fell to Messi who took the ball to gol line and crossed back to Eto, whose shot was well blocked by Iraizoz. That save resulted in a corner and Pique's header off xavi's corner was saved off the line by Iraola with a spectacular dive which resulted in another corner. The resulted corner created more havoc in the Athletci box; Puyol rose high above all and met the Xavi corner with a great header but Iraizoz pulled out a stunning one hand save; the ball fell to henry shose shot was cleared off the line by defender; the rebound again fell for Eto who blasted high while turning around. In the 65th minute Eto was denied again this time by the bar; Xavi released Puyol on the right who found Eto who brilliantly tracked back off his markers but his great shot hit the bar. In the 74th minute Iniestaplayed a brilliant ball to Henry whose effort to curl the ball went agonisingly close to the goal. In the 88th minute xavi played a great ball to Eto who turned brilliantly breaking off his markers and again his shot hit the post.

After a series of poor results it was heart warming to see Barca at full flow. But still there are doubts about our defense especially with Puyol going to be missing for three weeks. Eto looked a far better player than he was in the past few weeks. Xavi looked comfortable with Iniesta back in the midfield. As I pointed out in my earlier posts there is no doubt that Barca defense looks completely different with midfield in charge.

HighLights: FC Barcelona vs Athletci Bilbao