Boat Rolls On; Getafe - 0, Barca - 1

A goal from Lionel Messi in the first half was enough for Barca to register a win against Getafe. Getafe was always a tough place for Barca to visit, but a 1-0 goal line was an injustice to FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona was denied by some poor finishing, excellent goal keeping by Stojkovic and some poor refereeing. Fc barcelona was denied two clear penalty spot kicks and was twice adjudged offside while through to goal and one goal was disallowed wrongly by offside call. The game was indeed a story of two half. In the first half FC Barcelona wre completely in control, they created chances after chance and would have been very dissappointed by the fact that they took only a goal lead to half time. But the second half was different with Barca losing their control on passing and letting Getafe come back into the game. Guardiola again fielded a strong side with Alves, Marquez, Pique and Puyol in defense infront of Valdes. Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets formed the midfield. Messi, Eto and Henry formed the attack line.

FC Barcelona took only 5 minutes to test Stojkovic, Iniesta played a throughball to Messi, the defender tried to intercept but deflected the ball to Henry's path, Henry's casual finish was superbly saved by Stojkovic. Stojkovic again denied Henry again twice withing the first twenty minutes. In the 18th minute Xavi played a great ball to Henry but again Stojkovic came in the way of goal. Then in the 19th minute Barca deservedly went ahead with a goal from Messi which was helped on its way by a defender's deflection. Xavi gave the ball to Messi who held off one defender and skipped past another but his shot was helped definitely by the deflection into goal. After that till the end of first half Getafe did not see the ball for much time. In the 22nd minute Eto headed wide from an excellent Iniesta cross. In the 26th minute Pique's unbelievalble over head volley from an Alves cross was brilliantly saved by Stojkovic. Then we had two penalty shouts turned down. First one was against Eto who was brought down in the box. But I thought that was a right decision as Stojkovic would have grabbed the ball, but still a clear penalty shout. But the second one against Messi was a clear penalty. In the 39th minute Mario clearly brought down Messi inside the box when he had the advantage with the ball. Then in the 41st minute Stojkovic again pulled out another excellent save to block Messi' curling shot. The half ended with Xavi shoting high from a free kick just outside the box.

In the second half Getafe started to venture forward more and did put some pressure on our defense. But our defense held firm. Getafe were helped in possession by some stupid passing from barca players and some bad ball distribution from midfield and defense, especially Busquets. In the 54th minute Valdes tipped over a cross and as usual we almost made a mess defending the resulting corner. In the 63rd minute an over head kick from Messi goes wide form Alves cross. Barca players a lookked a bit tired, Guardiola should have bring some fresh legs early on. In the 75th minute Guardiola took off henry and brought in keita. Iniesta moved to front. In the 81st minute Messi had the ball in the net but he was adjudged offside. The replays showed that the right back played him on by a great distance and unsurprisingly that was not the first time that linesman called non-existent offside against Barca. he move started with Xavi putting the ball to Keita, Keita shot at the goal from outside the box, Stojkovic produced anoyjer save but the rebound fell to messi who made no mistake with his finish. In the 84th minute Iniesta long range effort went wide, but it did trouble Stojkovic who scrabled to cover the shot. It was great to see Iniesta trying that. Then in the next minute Eto who had a poor night shot wide; Messi passed the ball to Eto who moved away from defenders to create angle to shoot. Then in the 90th minute Eto's shot hit the post after a great pass from Messi put him on. Then in the 91st minute Bojan was brought in for Eto to kill time.

This was another vital win for Barca. But the inabillity to kill the game early is becoming a problem. They should have finished the game off early, that would have helped players getting some rest. Messi was good but henry was wasteful. Eto for the second match in succession was not in the game. Busquets was poor throughout the match and caused Iniesta and Xavi to work way too much. Guardiola needs to concentrate on these fact. But Guardiola's decision not to bring Bojan in for Eto early on baffles me. But any way there are enough positives from the match and it is our sixth clean sheet in succession in La Liga.

Getafe vs Barca Preview

Joseph Guardiola has announced a 19 men squad who will travel to Getafe tomorrow. Both Jorquera and Pinto are included in the squad as Valdes is carrying a slight knock and may not fearture in tomorrow's encounter. Getafe is the only team in La Liga whom the Blaugrana has not yet beaten this season. Last time when the two sides met at Camp Nou the scores were equal. The squad for tomorrow's clash is Valdés, Pinto, Jorquera, Alves, Abidal, Sylvinho, Puyol, Piqué, Márquez, Touré Yaya, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Keita, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan, Eto'o ,Henry. There were reports of Guardiola devising a strategy to rotate the players so that everyone remain fresh, so we can indeed expect some changes in the squad. Caceres and Hleb didn't make into the squad. Getafe always have been a tough place for Barcelona to travel. The Copa Del Rey reversal two seasons back still remains fresh in memory.

FC Barcelona can expect a tough fight at Getafe, especially with getafe managing to defeat Sevilla last week. Debutant keeper Stojkovic was in tremendous form and would have to be on top to stop the inform Barcelona attack. Getafe lies 14th in the table after successfully managing out to pull out of relegation zone in recent weeks. I expect Guardiola to give Valdes a well deserved rest, Pinto would be my choice to replace Valdes. Alves, Marquez, Puyol and Abidal should form the defense. Pique should get some rest after some hectic weeks. Xavi, Toure and Iniesta should form the midfield. Henry, Eto and Bojan should form the attacking trio. Messi should start from the bench as he needs to be fresh for the mid-week clash against Sevilla. He can come in the second half if necessary. This one could be a very tough battle, but barca's current form should see them through. My prediction is 3-1 victory for Barca.

Decoding Chelsea

In one of the most craziest match of this year's Champions League, Chelsea saw off the Liverpool challenge to book a semi-final showdown with FC Barcelona. A clash between two top England clubs usually promises everything other than goals. But this one was different with 12 goals being scored in two legs. Uncharacteristically the two sides defense were guilty for majority of the goals and unusually Pepe Reina and Cech were also guily of few. When the draw was made, many pundits gave Bayern a better chance of progressing to the semi's than Chelsea. Chelsea had a zig-zag season, while Liverpool were the inform team. The destruction of Real Madrid at Anfield and Manchester United at Old Trafford made them favourites to win this year's Champions League. But Guus Hiddink managed Chelsea to do the unthinkable and they did it in a completely different way.

Guus Hiddink already said that - If Chelsea is going to play like the way they did against Liverpool, they are bound to have a tough night against FC Barcelona. Chelsea definitely hold the upper hand in the clash as they play the second leg at home. And they would be hoping to exploit the aerial weakness of Barca like they did against Liverpool. FC Barcelona undoubtedly has been the inform team this year but they definitely have the aerial weakness which Chelsea would be looking to exploit. But what worries FC Barcelona the most would be the return of Drogba back to form. He always have been a tough nut for us to crack and Puyol definitely is going to have a tough time ahead. Lampard looks in good form and he is the one through which most of the attacks are going to come. Also Barca needs to wary of the master-tactician named Guus Hiddink.

One good thing for Barca is that this Chelsea is not the ideal squad for Hiddink's tactics. Hiddink is known to be a person who employs wingers with devastating effect. But still he has manged fairly well with this Chelsea side. This will be the first visit of Deco to his old club. But there are some definite pleasing news for Barca. First of all is the absence of Ashley Cole for the first leg. With Cole suspended, there is no recognised left back for Chelsea to play in that position. Stopping Messi without a recognised Left-Back is going to be tough, add to this Daniel Alves, a Right Back who regularly find himself in opposition penalty box. As far as I am concerned, the fact that there is no recognised wingers in this Chelsea side is one fact which will make Barca happy. Our fullbacks are known to go deep upfront and this creates a possibility of getting caught in defense, especially with Alves. Malouda is good in the right wing but has not been in great form recently. This means that Messi will have more than decent support from Dani Alves on the right.

Most of the attack from Chelsea is going to come from the centre. We will see many long balls being flotted into Barca's box again and again. Guardiola could be tempted to go in for a bit more defensive midfield against Chelsea. But I fgirmly believe that he should not give into that kind of temptation. Against Chelsea we need to have our midfield completely dominating the proceedings. For this we need the deadly duo of Xavi and Iniesta playing in the centre. With the kind of form these two players are in, this is the best bet to unsettle Chelsea. Hiddink will definitely employ Essien and Mikel together to negate these two genius. But then they will have a tough time dealing with them.

Uncharacteristically Chelsea has been quite uncomfortable this season in the defense. This is good news for Barca. And the fact that Cech is not in great form also could help Barca. But the success of Barca against Chelsea will depend on how we cut the balls from centre to Drogba and Anelka. And for this one man becomes crucial - Yaya Toure. There is no reason why we should think that he will fail in that, he has been exceptional this season. FC Barcelona has to take a sizeable lead into the second leg. Fot this Messi and Alves should definitely exploit Chelsea's vulnerability on the left flank.