To Cheer You All Up

To all those Barcelona fans who are very much disappointed to see yesterday's performance, this is to cheer you up. We can hope the best. Hope this encourages the players too.

Black Sunday; Barcelona-1,Villareal-2

This match was billed as a dedication to Lionel Messi; don't be surprised if Messi hesitates to accept this dedication. With yesterday’s performance Barcelona find themselves a huge eight points adrift of the leaders. Two weeks before we were just two points away and now its again we have to wait for Madrid to slip, really badly. Will Madrid do the favour a second time, is doubtful. Two weeks before we were celebrating the fact that Madrid were unable to win their away games in the league, now we suddenly have a problem of our own. In recent weeks our defense has conceded more goals than any of the top flight clubs in Europe. Unless Rijkaard address the entire problem as early as possible, we might be out of Copa Del Rey pretty soon.

Barcelona started the match with Ronaldinho on the right and Henry on the left. Iniesta, who was Barcelona's best player, joined Xavi in the middle. With Puyol suspended and Marquez injured, Barcelona had the combination of Milito and Thuram who both had a forgettable night. In the third minute Abidal created an early chance for Eto, but his attempt on goal was a very weak one. In the 26th minute Abidal found Henry in the box, who did well to lose his marker but to shoot high. Then in the 30th minute Franco's individual play won Villarreal a penalty when Valdes brought him down in the box. Marcos Senna converted to take Villarreal one up in the match. The lead should have doubled in the 38th minute after another excellent Franco run into the box, but the defense somehow cleared the ball.
Just after the break, Barcelona should have equalised when a wonderful ball from Ronaldinho found Eto but Eto was very indecisive and gave time for defense to close him down. Then in 65th minute Bojan came in for Henry, Barcelona looked like settling into a decent formation for the first time in the game. In the 67th minute after a beautiful one two with Ronaldinho, Iniesta rushed past defenders into the box from the left and place the ball into Xavi's path, who converted it with ease. For sometime Barcelona gave signs that they might convert one more, but then in 80th minute Tomasson scored after a neat exchange of passes by Villarreal players. That goal was a defensive disaster with nobody feeling the need to close down players. In the 89th minute Ronaldinho free kick hit the cross bar, that should have summed up Barcelona's night.

Its time Rijkaard looked into the problem of our defense. It would be better going back to the tactics that saw us past Villarreal and Sevilla in Copa Del Rey. It is also necessary that Rijkaard understands that he can only have either one of Henry or Ronaldinho in his side. They both prefer to play in a wide left position; Iniesta could play in front right, with Gudjonsen getting his dues in the centre. He is a very decent player. Have we lost the championship? I don't know.

Xavi Goal

A Complete English Dominance

With Madrid crashing out in the hands of Roma, Barcelona suddenly has become the lone flag bearer of Spain in the most prestigious tournament in Europe. Madrid's defeat at Barnebeu came as a surprise but a bigger one was that of Sevilla. Both looks like paid for the complacency and indeed was a bit tough on the fans of both the club. Real Madrid now remains in only one competition and should be more motivated than before. This makes Barcelona's job much harder, especially considering Messi is out for six weeks or so.

There are already three teams from England and if Liverpool can see off Inter then they can make that count to four. There might be a repeat of last year semi final scenario with three English teams qualifying for it. Honestly speaking I never expected Manchester United and Arsenal to go through, especially considering the kind of results they had in the first Leg. Lyon is always a tough place to visit and Ferguson's boys came out victorious. Much tougher was the job assigned to Arsenal, everybody including me never expected Arsenal to overcome Milan at San Siro. They exactly just did that and that too with some style. Liverpool should join the other three on the back of a great performance towards the end in first leg.

Now it looks almost certain that Barcelona might face any of the English sides. With Ronaldinho getting better day by day, Barcelona has nothing to worry. But as the fate of Madrid, Milan and Sevilla shows, Complacency would be the greatest enemy for these teams moving into the Quarterfinals.