Time For Iniesta to be Aggressive

Iniesta has been the unsung hero in many of Barca's victory, but nobody gives any damn credit to him. But recently the bad run of results suddenly saw people recognising his talent and contributions. If there is a player we would all take for granted in the world football at present, it has to be Iniesta. The coaches uses him left, right, centre, back everywhere; and we the fans will never give him his due credit. Iniesta, for me is the second most talented player in our lineup after ofcourse Lionel Messi. When he made his debut as a Spanish International, everyone said he will find hard time to get into the lineup ahead of Cesc Fabregas; but then we all knew what really happened. Iniesta is that kind of player who likes to keep quiet and get on with his job.In his initial season we all thought he would never be able to score many goals. But he did prove us wrong in the last two season.

He is an excellent dribbler, who for me hesitates to take his chance inside the box. You cannot blame him for that; may be throughout his career he was looking to provide someone with goal scoring oppurtunity. In the Real Betis match, when we were 2-0 up he dribbled past two Betis' defenders with ease keeping the ball just inside the goal line. I was watching that match along with two of my friend who are supporters of Manchester United and Chelsea. The initial reaction from them was "How the hell he managed to get past those defenders?". He did that again in last match against Real mallorca. But in all these we still can see a hesitation to try his luck infront of the goal. The final shot after that great dribble in the Real Mallorca match made me think that he was placing the ball for an easy tappin for Hleb. But that never happened, maybe I am wrong. Messi has been spectacular this season, so was Iniesta. But for Barca to remain ahead of their challengers in all competition we definitely need Iniesta to take his chances more often. He is an aggressive player; but we need him to be even more and may be a bit selfish too.The most deadliest combination would be a full flowing Messi pairing with an Iniesta who is ready to take his chances.

"Failure is Not An Option";FC Barcelona vs Bilbao Preview

Four defenders are missing from the squad which prepare to face Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou tonight. The absentees are Milito and Abidal both out with injuries along with Alves and Caceres both suspended for tonight's match. Barca Atletic youngster Alberto Tomás Botía has already trained with the first team and very likely will feature in the substitutre bench of tonight's match. Athletic Bilbao lies in the eleventh spot in the league table and has been without a league victory in February. Both the clubs have booked their places in Copa Del Rey final and both will be looking for a physiological advantage ahead of their Copa clash. For FC Barcelona this is a "Now or Never" match. Having already dropped eight points in lead in last three weeks , Barca can ill afford to have another slip up. Atletico played well against FC barcelona but you cannot expect them to do the same against Real Madrid at Bernebeu. Historically Athletico has always did well against Barca but struggled against Real Madrid.

The good news is the return of Iniesta and his presence should ease the midfield a bit. But the defense is still yet a question. after his heroics at Mallorca, there were cries for Pinto to be chosen ahead of Valdes in this tie. Bu I don't expect that to happen, so Valdes will surely hold on to his position. The defense is tricky. Puyol would be expected to fill in as Right Back in the absence of Alves; Sylvinho will get another go as Left Back and Pique and Marquez should form the Centre Backs. I expect both the full backs to be conservative and remain in their half. Hence all the attacking move should start from the midfield. For this we definitely need the combination of Iniesta and Xavi to start along with Toure. he front trio will most probably remain same as Atletico match. But if I had the option I would have rested Eto and brought in Bojan. It is for Barca's renowned midfield to win this game; they ahve to control the proceeding from the begining. After a couple of not so great performance Messi looked great in Mallorca match. So we should be able to win this with a score line of 2-0. I reapeat it again "Failure is not an Option".

Copa Del Rey Semi Final 2nd Leg Pictures