FC Barcelona Player Ratings against Real Mallorca on 03/01/09

Valdes - 6 - Didn't have a good game. Made a number of mistakes, spilled the ball on many occasion. Looked confused when coming off the line and should thank Abidal for saving him twice.

Puyol - 8.5 - The best player on the pitch. Was good while going forward and was a constant treat upfront.

Marquez - 6.5 - Had an average game, did very well in defense but was caught out some times.

Sanchez - 3 - WAs nowhere to seen. Had to be blamed for the first goal. Then you can't blame, he is a centre midfielder who was slotted to play the centre defense role.

Abidal - 7 - Had a decent game in both attack and defense. Most importantly covered the defense well and made no mistake.

Xavi - 8 - Great performance with so many good passes and involvement in attack.

Toure - 8 - Another stellar performance which was capped with a better goal. May be blamed for the goal but then redeemed himself later on.

Gudjonsen - 7 - Wasn't any spectacular, but was involved in many move. Lost possession cheaply in many occasion.

Hleb - 7 - Like Gudjonsen had a decent game but nothing spectacular to show off.

Eto - 6.5 - Was missing for many time and missed some good chances.

Henry - 7.5 - Good game by the frenchman. He was the best attack minded player we had on the pitch.

Substitutes:

Alves (7), Iniesta (8) and Sylvinho (7)

Man Of The Match - Puyol

FC Barcelona Stroll On; FC Barcelona - 3, Mallorca - 1

FC Barcelona extended their winning streak with a not so convincing 3-1 victory against Real Mallorca. On a night when tempers where running pretty high on the pitch, Goals from Henry, Iniesta and Toure saw Barca overcome a determined Mallorca side who took the lead from an Aritz Aduriz goal early on. This is the second time in succession FC Barcelona is coming down from a goal down to win the match, that sounds very good as far as the rest of the season is considered. Mallorca boss prior to the match had said that they couldn't hope for a much betetr time to play the League Leaders; he was proven right with some scrappy play by Barca players, who all have yet to achieve the full flow. Guardiola also was to be blamed partially for going a goal down in the begining as he looked to have slotted Victor Sanchez in the central defense. Victor Valdes was at the goal. The line up showed Puyol and Marquez as centre defenders; Abidal as Left-back and Victor Sanchez as Right-Back. But during the game Victor Sanchez moved to the centre and Puyol to right. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Toure and Gudjonsen. Henry, Eto and Hleb formed the front three.

The match had a very cold start. Both team were struggling to create any good chance; particularly Barca were struggling to go through Mallorca defense. The first attack from Barca came in the 13th minute when Eto shot wide from a very promising cross by Toure. In the 15th minute Aritz put Mallorca in the lead stunning the Camp Nou faithfuls after Toure gave away the ball cheaply; Artiz got the ball in the half line, then got past Victor Sanchez with ease, ran past him and flicked the ball over Victor Valdes head.In the 27th minute Gudjonsen great strike from a Xavi corner hit the cross bar. In the 29th minute Mallorca goal keeper Lux produced a magnificient save to deny Toure. In the 31st minute Thierry Henry equalised for Barca from a Xavi corner; Puyol won the initial header which fell to Henry on the left side of post; Henry's first touch was excellent but his finish was much better. In the injury time of first half Lux produced another good save to deny Eto from a great ball from Xavi.
The second half started the same way like the first half. Both the team failed to take the initaitive early on. In the 49th minute Eto saw another of his shot blocked from a good Puyol cross. In the 52nd minute Puyol send in a great ball spotting Xavi's run but he couldn't control it properly, even then the ball went aganisingly close to goal. In the 56th minute Sanchez was replaced by Alves. In the 62nd minute Iniesta came in for Hleb. In the 76th minute Iniesta put Barca in lead after he finished well from a Gudjonsen cross. The build up had a bit of luck, the initial Xavi shot hit Eto and fell to Gudjonsen who crossed it to Iniesta who looked on level with Gudjonsen when the cross was made. In the 88th minute Henry's back flick from an excelelnt Alves cross went just wide of the goal. In the 92nd minute Toure completed the score-line with a finish which would have made Eto happy on any day. Toure skipped past three defenders in the box after receiving Eto pass and fired the ball to the right hand corner of the goal.
This may not be a very convincing victory for Barca, but still it retains the lead at the top. Secondly the players are only back from holiday and it will take some time before they hit the top gear. But they better hit the top gear as soon as possible as they have a mid week match against Athletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey competition.

To Start The New Year on the Right Note

FC Barcelona would be looking to start the new year in the same way in which they have ended the last year. With a huge ten point lead and a bigger fight between teams for the second spot, there is only one team which can prevent Barca from the Championship - i.e FC Barcelona itself. There is a high chance that players would become a bit complacent and would not focus on the pitch; but then with Guardiola in charge the chances of that happening now is very rare. FC Barcelona players have shown enough commitment on the field and on the training ground this season. The best example would be Eto and Keita cutting short their vacation to train early. Against Mallorca Iniesta is expected to start the match; how much the lack of match practice is going to affect him is yet to be seen. Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves both arrived late from vacation and it is very difficult to see them starting the line-up. As usual Guardiola has not yet named his squad. But there may be certain surprises in his mind.

Valdes would retain his position at goal. Abidal would be preferred as the Left-Back; but with the chances of Alves starting very remote, Puyol may be asked to fill the Right- Back role. In that case Marquez and Pique would join in the centre of defense. But I would prefer Puyol being pushed to centre and some one from B-Team making taking the position of Right-Back. The centre of defense would be ideally made up of Xavi, Toure and Iniesta. Up front Eto and Henry should be teaming with either Bojan or Pedro. Real Mallorca are no push-over; but still with the form displayed by FC Barcelona it is difficult to see him Mallorca taking anything out of this match. Mallorca would be using the usual style of ten men behind the ball to stop Barca; but how much they will succeed only time will tell. My prediction is FC Barcelona running away with the match with a 5-1 victory.