Sporting Lisbon vs Barca Pictures 26/11/08

Barca Grabs Top Spot; Sporting - 2; Barca - 5

FC Barcelona assured themselves of the top spot in their group and hopefully increased their chance of meeting an easier challenge in the second round with an emphatic 2-5 victory against Sporting Lisbon. With both team assured of a second round place the only thing that was at stake was the top spot. There is no guarantee that we will have a easy second round opponent; but there is a high chance of that happening. Hnery, Pique, Messi and Bojan all got into the score sheet; a Caneira own goal completes the tally for Barca. For Lisbon it was Veloso and Leidson who scored the goals. Guardiola fielded a very strong side at Portugal. Valdes guarded the goal; in front fo him Alves, Marquez, Pique and Caceres formed the defensive line; the midfield was made up of Xavi, Busquests and Gudjonsen; Messi,Henry and Hleb formed the forward line.The presence of two attack minded players helped FC Barcelona but there is no question of the fact that Messi was the main reason for such emphatic display. This victory would go well for a great display at Sevilla this weekend.

FC Barcelona dominated proceedings from the begining. In the 13th minute Busquets stole the ball from Lisbon and the ball reached Messi on the right; Messi unleashed his trademark dribbling run upto the goal line and pulled back the ball to Henry who completed the formalities. The second goal came in the 17th minute when Pique latched on to the end of a Xavi cross from corner. FC Barcelona went with a two goal lead to the half time. In the second half Henry was replaced by Bojan. In the 49th minute Alves played in Messi with a quickly taken free kick who rounded off Rui Patricio before slotting Barca's third of the night. Guardiola immediately took Messi off and put Pedro in his place. That move looked to have backfired with Sporting pulling two goals back in quick time. First it was Veloso who curled a free kick into the corner; the second came from Leidson after a Marquez's mistake. The recovery was short lived with Barca increasing their lead courtesy of a Caneira own goal after he tried to clear the ball off Busquets. In the 73rd minute Bojan was brough down by Patricio; he was expelled and a penalty was awarded. Bojan slotted the penalty to take Barca's tally to five goal and a welcome personal relief too.

Sporting Lisbon vs FC Barcelona Preview

The clash between Sporting Lisbon and Fc Barcelona could be one of the most insignificant match of this round. With bot teams qualified for the knock-out stage, it could be the time for the coaches to give the lesser known players some playing time. But this match is more tricky for FC Barcelona than Sporting. Barca would like to top the group and avoid other top ranking clubs in the second round. Hence we can expect Guardiola to put up a good competitive side for this match. Taking a deviation to his usual policy; Guardiola announce the squad well in advance. Messi and Marquez have been included in the side but Puyol and Toure are rested. That is a very good move considering those two gentlemen would be sure starters against Sevilla. Messi could be expected to start but Guardiola is expected to rest Eto, Valdes etc. The squad announced is Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Sylvinho, Cáceres, Márquez, Piqué, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Sergio Busquets, Víctor Sánchez, Keita, Hleb, Pedro, Messi, Henry, Bojan and Eto'o.

I expect Guardiola to Pinto a start in place of Valdes. Pique, Caceres, Marquez and Sylvinho should make up the defensive line. The midfield is pretty tricky with Keita and Busquests expected to start with Victor Sanchez. Bojan should replace Eto on the centre of pitch with Henry on left and Pedro on the right. This could be a very tricky tie and we could do us a world of good if we come out undefeated.