Giving Up; Betis-3,Barcelona-2

I can't simply remember the number of time Madrid has oppened the door for Barcelona and Barcelona has denied every opputunity to get back at Madrid. Yesterday's match showed the twisting fortunes involved in a soccer match. Barcelona controlled the game for the entire first match and scored two goals. From that point it looked done and dusted, but nobody expected the sides to switch their positions in half time and even worse; no one expected Barcelona to lose the match.

Barcelona went with henry, Bojan and Eto upfront. Thuram and Puyol joined Abidal and Zambrotta at the back. In the first half it looked like even the best attack in the world could not break this well organised defense. Then football is a match of two hals and thing went from one end to another in the second half. Within fifteen minutes Barcelona went two up against a hapless Betis side. It was first Bojan who put Barcelona in the lead. The opener came from a magnificent assist from Xavi to find Eto’o, whose shot struck the post, but Bojan grabbed the rebound and made most of it. The second was from Eto who latched on to a wonderful pass from Iniesta. Barcelon could have scored more in the first half. Second half started just the reverse. Barcelona was happy to defend the two goal advantage. They didn't realize they were diggng their own grave. With Betis attacking them one after other the defense started crumbling. This showed when Edu cut down the lead in the 63rd minute. The goal did wonders for lifting the Betis side and they kept attacking and was rewarded with a penalty which Valdes saved. Barcelona players was too casual with celebration of that good save and paid by conceding another goal within minutes. Edu made it 3-2 with a wonderful effort. Puyol had no idea how to stop him.
Rijkaard did the biggest mistake in substituting bojan, He should have substituted Henry with Gudjonsen, especially when they were looking to defend the lead. He also should have brought Sylvinho instaed of Abidal as he would have added another dimension with his run from left. Anyway if Madrid wins to day its all obver for Barcelona; but then I have a feeling which says watchout for Villareal.

Ronaldinho To Madrid?

Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto Assis has once again admitted the possibility of Ronaldinho moving away from the Catalan club in the summer. He has pointed out the reason for it is the immense criticism Ronaldinho is under for Barcelona's turbulent season. Ronaldinho has a release clause in his contract which is quite high, but Assis is looking into the possibility of invoking article 17 of FIFA's transfer regulation. Milan and Chelsea were reportedly interested in signing him in the past and now also. But the most damaging of revelation is that Assis did not rule out the possibility of Ronaldinho signing for Madrid. Are we going to see a repeat of the Luis Figo episode? These all things are coming at the wrong time, in his recent matches he has given signs of returning slowly but surely back to his self. Now will he be putting the same effort in future matches? Don't know?

Anyway amidst all this the chaos in Spanish Federation is continuing. Till now I don't think a solid decision has been made where Barca will face Betis. Most probably it will be played at the Athletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon stadium. Now will it work in favour of Barcelona, most probably? But then the possibility of Madrid fans filling the stadiums also would be there. But Barcelona’s biggest problem now is the fact that Milito is ruled out for the match. Puyol most probably would not make it. But there is a high chance Ronaldinho comes back to the fold along with Eto and Bojan upfront. Iniesta and Xavi should start in the middle; but should Yaya start especially considering his fitness? With Milito out and Puyol in doubt Rijkaard may still go with him, as he is less error prone than Edmilson. But for what all be the formation and the team structure; it is necessary that Barcelona win this match; especially considering the fact that Madrid will only face Sevilla late on Sunday night. Throughout this season we have seen that when Barcelona has won and put pressure, Madrid always stumbled.

Real Tough Task at Estadio Mestalla

When Barcelona drew with Valencia in the first leg of the semi final, there was a basic belief among the Barcelona fans that they could surpass Valencia at Estadio Mestalla. Considering Valencia's form throughout the season and the promises Barcelona showed three weeks back, that was a fair assessment. But the last three weeks were the toughest for the fans and players and now does sow some doubt about the possibility of going beyond Valencia. Three weeks back ours was the meanest defense in Europe, but now they are draining goals. Under these circumstances Rijkaard's decision to leave out Ronaldinho may raise some eyebrows. But I tend to agree with Rijkaard, as anyway Ronaldinho was not at his best this season, so it’s better to wait till he gets fit fully. But the most promising of the returnees are Zambrotta and Toure; they should add stability to defense.

For me Barcelona should start with Sylvinho ahead of Abidal as he looks a better option upfront than Abidal. But picking up the midfield might be a little tricky. There is no sense in giving Bojan a start in such a crunch match. Iniesta could start up front on left along with Henry and Eto. This should give us space to include Gudjonsen and Xavi in the midfield. Maybe Rijkaard can think about modifying the formation a bit, not too much. He should go with a 4-3-3 style but with Iniesta playing in the pocket behind the two centre forwards - Eto and Henry. This may resemble a formation like 4-3-1-2. This would be prefect for Iniesta as he don't have to worry about converting too much of chances and do the best he is at - assisting. This will also add stability in the midfield as he can get back much quickly to retrieve the ball. Then in this formation it would be better to have Abidal as the Left back as all the attack is going to be through the centre. Abidal, in this case will give more protective cover than Sylvinho. Secondly such a formation will see Gudjonsen playing a much better part as he and Iniesta can freely switch places. I do agree such a crunch match is not the right places to try these, but this could be safe as you are not changing too much of the formation.

Barcelona management has promised incentive for the team if they can get past Valencia to reach the final. I cannot judge the morality of such a move, but hope this really inspires the team. And Valdes really need to come up with some showing to get us past Valencia.