It's a Trip To Munich for Barca

FC Barcelona is drawn to face Bayern Munich in the Quarter-finals of this season's Champions League. The draw happened hours ago at Nyon, Switzerland. Everyone expected FC Barcelona to line-up against one of the English Giants; but they are drawn against the German giant, Bayern Munich. English Premier League fans dream of an all English semi-finals has been dashed off as Liverpool meet Chelsea in the Quarter finals. These two teams met each other last year but at the semi-final where Chelsea emerged the winner. Chelsea once again hold the upper hand having to play the second leg at home. The other spanish side Villareal has been drawn against Arsenal. These two teams met at the semi-finals of Champions League 2006 with Arsenal emerging the winner. The defending Champion Manchester United were handed down the easiest of draws - against FC Porto. But they still have to travel to Porto for the second leg.

The semi-final draws has been also made with the winner of Barcelona vs Bayern facing the winner of Liverpool vs Chelsea match. The first leg of quarter finals will be hel on Aril 7th and 8th; the return leg will be on 14th and 15th. The semi-finals date are April 28 and 29; the return leg will be on May 5th and 6th. Many of FC Barcelona supporters will be happy with the fact that we avoided facing any English opponents. But Bayern Munich will be a tough opponent; they destroyed Sporting Lisbon in the knock-out by scoring twelve goals altogether. The likes of Podolski, Klose, Schweinsteiger, Ribery, and Lahm will send shivers through any line-up and to make matters worse Barca has to play the tricky second leg away from home. But Bayern can be expected to play a bit more attacking style of play giving FC barcelona players enough space to manoeuvre. Klose very much is likely to miss the Quarter-finals with injury. Bayern's season has been erratic to an high extend this year. Eventhough we have to play the second leg away from Camp Nou, the current form of players and team should see us through. Plus we might have our Captain back shortly and can hope to count on the service of Abidal also against Bayern atleast in the second leg. There were reports of Milito also returning abck to training. Everything looks pleasant for the moment; let's keep our fingers crossed.

Necessity to Proceed with Caution

FC Barcelona seemed to have put behind their recent stumble, which saw many fans raising quetions about the Treble chances. But the recent recovery was so assuring that once again Barca fans have started dreaming about a treble. FC Barcelona's recent form has been good one, and does give considerable hope for a silverware this season. But the chance of achieving a treble is quite distant at this moment. The best silverware we can hope is the Copa Del Rey at this moment. La Liga is a very much bright possibility but there are enough rounds to go into the final lap and Real Madrid had showed no sign of easing down. So La Liga and Champions League is at the moment a distant possibility. Therefore it is necessary for the team and fans to go slow in the Euphoria surrounding the re-emergence of the team from the slump. The truth simply is that another stumble could be round the corner; especially if another pair of main team members get injured. Secondly it is clear that in Europe we have to negotiate tough English challenges to go forward; to make matter worse Real Madrid has only one trophy to aim at and they would whole heartedly go for the defnse of their title. That means a slight miss in concentration and focus we could be in serious trouble in La Liga and we already have a habit of taking the confidence of one competition to another competition. So it's better to be cautious as the truth still is that we are trophyless for last three year till now.

Now that's all the bad news that could happend and should not happen. Now time for some good news to lean upon. It looks like Iniesta has hit his top form, or is close to his best. Xavi, Eto, Messi, Henry all have not rediscovered their pre-december form. But everyone of them looks like returning back to their form. Especially Messi; he was a bit on-off in recent matches but when he was in on mode he destroyed the opposition. Xavi when partnering Iniesta at the middle looks very close to getting back to his best. Eto still may be goal starved by his standard, but he did look so good in last two matches he started. Henry meanwhile has looked to have found a new heart these days. Toure after a small blip (surpisingly that coincided with the team's blip) have looked more composed and solid in the middle of midfield. Alves, who has been very poor in last few matches also did produce a good second half display. But for Barca's quest at Europe we want this guy at full form and force. Puyol and Abidal should return shortly and that should add some more stability to defense. So, in short there is still a big hope for more than two silverware this season but a treble could require some fortune and form.

Almeria vs Barca Pictures, 15/03/09