Barca -3; Real Betis -2

I have not figured out a word to describe FC Barcelona's performance in yesterday's match against Real Betis. They looked like hell bound on throwing away a match which should have esily won. Once again the opposition scored goals from the only chances they had. The positives from the game has to be the return of form or let me say interest from Lionel Messi. He was very good and looked at times ready to build a move along with his team mates. The hero of last two games had a average night and Barca inability to close the encounter early can be attributed to that. Eto looks like have found his goal scoring touch. Guardiola shuffled the team completely. Puyol was given rest and Caceres joined Marquez in central defense. Alves and Abidal played in their usual position of full backs. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Keita and Toure. The forward line-up remain unchanged with Iniesta, Eto and Messi.

FC Barcelona started the game very confidently. In the 4th minute Toure earned a free kick outside the box after an excellent run into the box. Then in the 7th minute Iniesta and Messi combined well from the left but the defense managed to clear the ball somehow. In the 12th minute Iniesta tried to reach Xavi with a great pass but was a bit heavy. Then in the 17th minute Eto put FC Barcelona one up with an wonderful goal. Messi played the ball to Eto just outside the box, turned to the right found a bit of space thundered his shot past the Goal Keeper to the inside of cross bar. Then in the 23rd minute both these players combined well to create the second goal, Messi took on the defensers with his speed and cuts the ball back to Eto, who perform the simplest of finish to sent Barca two up. In the 27th minute Enama almost pulled one back after rounding off Marquez but shoots high. In the 30th minute Messi in his usual self twists and turns past defenders but his shot was easily blocked by Goal Keeper Casto. Then in the 32nd minute Alves's good defending saw Jose Mari's dangerous cross getting cleared. Then in the 39th minute Alves run into the box turning past defenders but his clever chip somehow got deflected off the Goal Keeper.

Second Half start was a repeat of Gijon match; Barca players suddenly switched off. They were not helped by the stupid decision of Guardiola to continue with Keita and Toure in Midfield. Both of these players were fasting and there was no sense in continuing with them. They looked completely tired and were losing balls very cheaply. What this did was this shut down Iniesat completely from the game. In the 57th minute Jose Mari turned past Marquez but shoots wide. It was a begining of things to come. In the 58th minute Capi's powerful shot from way outside the box was saved by Valdes. Then in the 59th minute Toure concedes a free kick on the edge of the box; Monzon's free kick went through the defensive wall. Valdes was pretty unhappy with the wall. Then in the 67th minute Jose Mari equalised for Betis after recieving an excellent ball from Sergio garcia; Valdes could get only his finger tips to the ball. Guardiola reacted immediately by bringing on Busquests and Gudjonsen for Toure and Keita and then FC Barcelona started to take control of the game back. In the 69th minute Iniesta provided an excellent pass to Xavi outside the box who was brought down. the resulting free kick from Xavi was saved by Castro. In the 77th minute Eto was replaced by Bojan. In the 79th minute Bojan's excellent shot after a great individual play was saved by Goal Keeper Castro. Then in the 80th minute Barca went one goal ahead courtesy of an excellent finish by Gudjonsen. Alves inch perfect cross from right was put in to the far post by a sliding Gudjonsen. In the 85th minute Bojan should have put Barca two up but he shot straight at the Goal Keeper after Messi played him through. In the last ten minutes Messi was controlling the game totally, Betis defense were not able to stop him. Then in the dying minutes Alves's free kick was saved by Goal Keeper.

Barcelona played well and they deserve the victory. But questions would be asked about their second half performance and rightly so. They need to tighten up their game especially after a break.

Barca vs Betis Preview

FC Barcelona would be hoping to carry on their last two good performance against Real betis also. After a shaky start Guardiola's boys looks like have put the train back on track. Henry who missed the 6-1 drubbing of Gijon will be back in place of Pedro. The squad announced by Guardiola for Betis encounter is Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Márquez, Puyol, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Eto'o, Abidal, Touré Yaya, Cáceres, Bojan, Keita, Messi, Henry and Sergio Busquets. Pedro should consider himself unlucky to miss out on the squad. There could be some changes especially considering the busy week. FC Barcelona will be playing Espanyol on saturday and would be heading for their Champions League encounter on Wednesday. How Guardiola is going to handle Messi would be the most interesteing part of this game. Another question everybody is asking is whether Busquests get another start?

FC Barcelona is expected to retain the squad which played against Gijon. Valdes is expected to be guarded with a four man defense consisting of Puyol, Marquez, Abidal and Alves. Midfield would be made up of Keita, Busquests and Xavi. Up front Iniesta will join Eto and Messi like last match. It is difficult to expect Henry to walk into the side for this match. If that happens then Busquests can be expected to start from substitute bench. Guardiola rightly was in a cautious mood during the pre-match press conference. He warned his players and fans not to expect a repeat of Gijon performance. He has singled out Iniesta for praise during the press conference. If Barca is going to have a good night, then it is mandatory that Iniesta has a good night. Betis will be more defensively organised and could be bit hard to crack. So this could be a test of how much Barca has recovered from their initial slump in form.

Andres Iniesta, The Silent Hero

FC Barcelona sadly has been always about the players like Ronaldinho, Messi, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Figo etc. Many a times we tend to overlook the contribution of many of our heroes. Andres Iniesta was in place to make that list of unsung heroes. This liliputian from Fuentealbilla has been Barcelona's best player of last season. He is inline to become the best player of this year also. But we will take his contribution for granted. As soon as Messi hits back his great stride we will forget this little man's contribution, surprisingly he will not complain about that. Usually there are two types of footballers - one with tremendous skills who tend to drift away now and then, and the other with moderate skills who tend to give their 100% percent everytime on the pitch. Iniesta belongs to the third group which does both to perfection.

Iniesta was off colour when FC Barcelona lost their seasons opener to Numancia; or may be we can say that Barca lost that match because their Mr.Reliable was having a bad day. Guardiola expressed his concerns over Iniesta's performance in that match and dropped him for the next match against Racing. But when he replaced Hleb in that match he showed what FC Barcelona was lacking till then. He undoubtedly has been the man of the match in FC Barcelona's last three matches. Even when the front trio has failed repeatedly it is Iniesta's partnership with Xavi which was pivotal in last two decent performnace by Barca.

Eventhough Louis Van Gaal was the one to handle Iniesta his debut; his success at the top level has to be accredited to the belief Rijkaard had in him. To an extent we can say that Iniesta was the most over abused player of the Rijkaard era. Rijkaard used him in all position - front left, front right, midfield, holding midfielder and even left back. His humility has earned him the title "El Anti-Galactico" by the Catalan press. Last match against Sporting Gijon is the prime example of the commitment he shows; he was slotted to play the attacking left front role but many a times we saw him track back and help Abidal in the defense. Because of this natureIniesta is simply the least substituted player in the Barcelona side.

Iniesta along with Xavi has become the core of Spain's National side. When he first made his debut there was reports suggesting that he is pretty unlucky to fight for a place in that already crowded midfield. Nobody gave him a chance of starting for Spain in the Euro. Such was his performance in the Euro qualifying matches that he pretty soon became the second most trusted midfielder for Luis Aragones; first being his campatriot Xavi Hernandez. He displaced Cesc Fabregas from the starting eleven. That didn't go that well with the English Press; there were suggestion put to change thes system so that the three Catalan midfielder can play together. He didn't start the Euro campaign that well; he was solid but wasn't magnificient. But with every match he improved and was at his best in the last three matches.

It's time the FC Barcelona fans stood up and appreciate this "Silent Hero". The more he plays the more he improves; two seasons before everyone complained about his ability to score goals. Now he is regularly getting into that scoresheet. His natural flair would be the driving force for FC Barcelona and Spain in the present and the future. With Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta Lujan forms the most dangerous partnership in today's midfield.