Schalke-0,Barcelona-1

Barcelona gained the upper hand in the two legged Quarter final against Schalke courtesy of a solitary Goal from Bojan Krkic. Considering their performance against Betis, Barcelona played well and showed enough consistency and courage to grind out this result. Now they can firmly look forward to finish the job at Camp Nou and get ready to face Manchester United in the semis. Rijkaard brought back Milito in place of Thuram and the rest of the line up was the same as the Betis match.

Barcelona started the match in pretty much their usual manner. They had the majrity of possession and got their first shot on target in the 8th minute when Iniesta shot was blocked by Neuer. Then in the 12th minute Barcelona went one up when Henry placed the ball across the face of the goal for Krkic to have the easiest of tapping. The goal was a courtesy of Schalke keepre who failed to held on to Henry's first shot and the rebound found Henry again. That goal made Bojan the second youngest to score a goal in Champions league Matches. Barcelona could not make any meaningful attack in the rest of first half and apart from some unfutile attempts Schalke really failed to test Valdes. In the begining of second half it looked like there will be a repetition of the Betis match. Barcelona was allowing too much of possession to Schalke and was finding it difficult to hold the ball against a more physical opponents. Throughout the second half Schalke was interested in testing the Barcelona defense with arial ball and was successful in most of the cases. Barcelona defefense didn't fare well against the arial ball but did well to thwart any danger. Moreover poor finishing skills of Schalke players helped Barcelona a lot.

Schalke has already shown that they are no push over. But to win at Camp Nou will be little tough for them.

Match Highlights

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.