Make Shift Barca defense ready to face Villareal
Defensive worries would be troubling Guardiola while he prepares his team to face the stern challenge of Villareal. With Milito being ruled out for six weeks and Pique being suspended, Guardiola has to turn to a make shift defense for facing a high flying Villareal team. Villareal currently lies in third place and could provide Barca with their toughest test since the start of the season. There are rumours of Marc Batra partnering Puyol in defense. Honestly against a team like Villareal, Guardiol is not going to do that. He may still get a start against Almeria, but not against Villareal. That could be suicidal. With Chygrinskiy and Toure shipped out and Caceres loned out, Abidal is the only choice left to join Puyol. Abidal has played a couple of times at centre back in the start of season. His lack of positioning has caused numerous trouble in those matches and could once again be exposed tomorrow night. Loaning out Caceres now proves to be a very stupid decision as we have no proper back up for situation like this. Guardiola did point that the reinforcement could come from the B team but has never shown courage to nurture thos kids till now.
Barca would be once again looking to their midfield and attack line-ups to see the defense safe. Iniesta and Xavi has to partner in the midfield as they both could dictate possession and could easily take the pressure of a make-shift central defense. Apart from Pique, Guardiola has his full strength starting eleven at his disposal. That could see Alves, Puyol, Pique and Maxwell in defense. Keita also could be tried as a left back as he could give more strength in defense. The midfield must be consisting of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. Any change in midfield, we could be in for some real trouble tomorrow night. Barca fans would be hoping that Villa continue his new found goal scoring form tomorrow night also. Messi and Pedro could form the trio with Villa upfront.
Barca has been a bit off coulour against smaller teams this season, but against genuine contenders we have been majestic. May as someone pointed out this team always need a bit of challenge to find that extra motivation. If our players can keep up that spirit we could be in for a comfortable victory here. With Clasico being days away, the last thing we require is to have the point difference increasing. So this becomes a must win match for us. My prediction will be for a 2-1 victory.
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