Atletico Madrid vs Barca Preview

Atletico Madrid coach Abel Resino has sounded about a possible change of tactics to contain FC Barcelona tonight. Atletico Madrid might let go off their usual attacking style and would prefer to make it compact at the back. That would put real pressure on FC barcelona side, who have been struggling for some weeks. To make matter worse Real Madrid defeated Espanyol last night and closed the gap at the top to four points. We cannot have another slip up now as it will give the momentum completely to Real Madrid. Atletico's performance in the Champions League will give enough encourangement to Barca as they were very poor at the defense. Keita has lost his appeal against the red card and would be missing this week's action. Victor Sanchez and Pedro has been called up to the squad by Guardiola. Pique is suspended for this match and it is to be seen how Guardiola organises defense in the absence of Abidal. The squad announced by Guardiola is Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Márquez, Cáceres, Sylvinho, Victor Sanchez, Toure, Busquets, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Pedro, Messi, Hleb, Bojan, Eto'o, Henry.

I would seriously love to see Caceres at the left back position. Sylvinho is an accomplised left back but his lack of pace could trouble us. Whatever everyone will agree that Marquez and Puyol should form the central defense. So I expect Alves, Marquez, Puyol and Caceres to form the defense infront of Valdes. The midfield will also could feature a different combination from the usual one. Xavi and Toure are a certainity; but I don't expect Busquets to join them but instead prefer Gudjohnsen over there. The front three is expected to remain the same with - Messi, Eto and Henry. FC Barcelona might have to play out of their skins to win this match. But a resurgent Madrid should give the players enough reason and encouragement to go all out for a win. It is very essential for us to score the first goal and that too as early as possible. If we let in a goal then we could be seriously chasing the game. I predict a 1-2 victory for Barca. Post your predictions also.

Milito returns to Training

After a nine month long lay off following a knee surgery, Gaby Milito yesterday trained with his team mates for the first time. Andres Iniesta also resumed training, eventhough he was training in isolation. The creative midfielder will not feature in this week's away match at Atletico Madrid, but there is a huge expectation of him recovering well to feature in the Copa Del Rey match against Real Mallorca. The recent below par performance has already worried the Camp Nou faithfuls and they are seriously hoping that it changes when Iniesta is back. But there is a high chance that Guardiola will not risk Iniesta in the Copa Del Rey match and hence we will mostly see him in action only in the home match against Bilbao next weekend.

Any dates of Milito's comeback cannot be confirmed nor predicted at this moment. Mostly we might see him in action towards the end of March or early April. Abidal was the only absentee from yesterday's training session due to injury. There was also a mention of Messi having a black eye following a tackle from the Lyon match in the official website.

Champions League Review: English Clubs Perform Better

All the four English clubs are better placed to move to the next round of tournament after satisfactory results in the first leg. Barcelona also holds the upper hand to proceed to the next round; but that cannot be said about other Spanish teams - Real Madrid lost to a jam packed Liverpool at home, Atletico Madrid drew at home to FC Porto and to make things worst they conceded two away goals. Villareal also drew at home to Panathinaikos and again like the other Spanish team which played at home conceded a crucial home goal. In contrast the English clubs fared far better than any other, especially Manchester United and Liverpool. Same cannot be said about Chelsea and Arsenal as they go to crucial away matches with a solitary goal lead. But still they are better placed than other teams to proceed further.

Eventhough FC Barcelona didn't have a great game they some how managed to find an equaliser through an off colour Henry. Courtesy of that Henry header they move to the second leg being the firm favourite to proceed to the next round. Manchester United is firm favourite to proceed against Inter, Ferguson hoped that they could do a repeat of last year's semifinal. Inter not at all played well; for all the pre-match talkings of Mourinho, I thought his players were a bit confused. And once again the "Special One" has come out against the referee; the good news is UEFA has taken notice of it and most likely will serve him a touch line ban for next game. If soemthing worries Manchester United it has to be their own record. Ferguson has not done well carrying a 0-0 result to a ahome leg in Champions League, eventhough they did well against Barca. Liverpool will be doing employing the same tactic - don't let your opponents score againt you. Real Madrid is going to find it very tough to score against them in Anfield; but if Robben shows his true colour they have still hope. Still their midfield lacks the pace to overcome a defensively minded Liverpool. By the way Javier Mascherano should be adjudged the best player of this leg, had an absolutely magnificient game. The best performance of this leg has to be the 5-0 drubbing of Sporting Lisbon at Lisbon by Bayern. They surely have a big foot placed in the quarter finals.