Its strange how Hope chose to resurrect itself from its deep slumber now and then. Barcelona's title hopes were revived yesterday by the most unlikeliest source of it all - Almeria. Almeria are currently at the seventh spot but nobody expected to beat Real Madrid - and that too by a 2-0 margin. Juanito Gutierrez put the hosts ahead after 18 minutes through a goal which might be put on question about its validity. Alvaro Negredo doubled the lead just after half-time from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Fabio Cannavaro. It didn't come as a surprise that they kept another clean sheet, five in a row.Almeria buyoed by their excellent defensive record faced the with a defensive mind set up. They were clinical in defense and when they got the window of oppurtunity, they made Madrid pay. But the real beneficiary would be Barcelona which may find themselves reducing the lead to six points, provided they win. With last week draw with Athletic every hope seemed to lose. But this unexpected turn of events have changed the complete scenario around on its axis. Rijkaard is expected to pick his strongest side. A side without Puyol, who is out with injury. But that should not trouble Rijkaard as Milito and Maruez combined well early this season. Marquez should be expected to move to the back with Edmilson taking up the Defensive Midfielder role.
But the real trouble might be finding goals. Osasuna cannot be taken lightly and Barcelona should make sure that they kill the game off well in advance. Any lapse in concentration may shut this wind of oppurtunity completely. Its essential that they win this match well so that they make a strong statement to the leaders.
As a Bulgarian Proverb says - " Seize the opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind."
Second Goal By Almeria
Source:www.futbolcuyuz.com
To get a testimony of how bad this season performance is, don't have to look beyond the present Pichichis table. I can't remember the last time when we had a total absense from the Pichichis table top ten. The only guy who is near the top is Lionel Messi. This just shows how much we have missed Eto this season. He used to be in the top five evry season. Victor Valdez leads the Zamoras table just ahead of Cassilas. That also shows that our defense and Goal Keepers are not doing much wrong season. What is hurting us the most is inability to create Goal. Above all the shots on target and off target statistics looks like coming down this season by huge. Barcelona never used to convert everything they create. The maximum they used to convert was 30% of all shots on target. With those shots on Target coming down, logically goals have dried up. Anyway Messi and Eto still can make it to top ten.
