Barca Player Rating against Real Madrid on 02/05/09

Valdes - 8 - Should have done better with the second goal, but then he cannot be entirely blamed. But he came forward on many occassions to collect ball, a lack of this I have criticised many times in the past. Produced some crucial interventions.

Alves - 7.5 - Not a great performance, but was really good in going forward. Where was he in the second goal is still a question.

Pique - 9.5 - Great performance. I am not giving him ten because he lost some balls towards the end of first half. He had Robben completely under his check. And to cap it all he scored the 100th La Liga goal of this season, with a finish which would have made Eto jealous.

Puyol - 7.5 - Took his goal weel. But was erratic at times. People may complain that he is not upto his best after the injury break but he do inspire the team a lot.

Abidal - 7 - Struggled against Robben's pace in the first half but was decent since then. In the second half looked a bit dis-interested.

Xavi - 10 - He had a bad night against Chelsea, but here "The General" was back on song. Not even a single blemish. Failed to get into score sheet but had four assist for the night. The way he was turning past Madrid midfield and defense was a joke.

Toure - 8.5 - Solid as usual. Some will complaint that he did not venture forward, but do he really needs to? He is the guarantee which the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, henry, and Messi needs going forward.

Iniesta - 8.5 - Ok, a some what quiet night by his standard. But was there fully in retaining possession. I feel you have a better chance of Valdes scoring a goal than stealing a ball from Iniesta. Was a bit slow and for heaven's sake shoot man.

Messi - 9.5 - Missed a flurry of cances that's why no 10 for him. Great finish for both his goals and a great ball putting henry ahead in the first goal.

Eto - 7.5 - Ok, he was missing from the score sheet but did that really matter? He was much better than in his recent matches. Clearly was linking well with attack.

Henry - 9.5 - Another great performance from the old French legs. His speed put Ramos in trouble for most of tonight's match. Great finish for the two goals.

Substitute:

Keita (7.5), Krkic (7.5) and Busquets(7).

Man Of The Match - Xavi Hernandez

Barca Humiliates Real Madrid; Real Madrid -2, Barca - 6

In one of the most sensational displays away from home, FC Barcelona humiliated Real Madrid by scoring half a dozen goal against the. With the 2-6 victory FC Barcelona has extracted some revenge for the humiliation at the same ground last season. In a match billed to be the "Title Decider" this season, Barca showed their technical superiority to emerge comfortable winners. Madrid went into the lead early on with a Higuain header but goals from Henry, Puyol and Messi put Barca firmly in control by half time. After half time Madrid pulled one back through Ramos but Henry, Messi and Pique got barca to half a dozen for the match. There were doubts raised about Henry about his fitness, but he put all those to rest with a spectacular performance. Guardiola put his best side for the El Classico encounter. Henry, Eto and Messi formed the front trio. The midfield was rightly formed with the magical trio - Iniesta, Toure and Xavi. The defense was made up of Alves, Pique, Puyol and Abidal. And as usual Valdes kept the goal. The first El Classico of this season featured a ultra defensive Real Madrid side being beaten at Camp Nou. Since it was a "Must Win Match" for Madrid and there was an expectation that there will be goals in this match, but nobody expected to see eight goals.

The first attack in the match was from Barca in the first minute with Xavi forcing a decent save from Saint Iker from the edge of the box. After that Real Madrid buyoued by fans produce some exciting football causing us some trouble, especially Robben. They were rewarded with a goal in the 14th minute when Sergio Ramos got past Abidal and send in a great cross to Higuain in the box; Puyol left Higuain unmarked and the Argentinian made no mistake in putting Real Madrid ahead. The response from Barca was excellent. They came forward in flocks and most importantly raised their rhythm to some notch up. Then in the 16th minute Messi send in a delightful chip to Henry putting ahead of Ramosa, henry ran into the area and cooly finished the ball into the goal past Iker Casillas. Then in the 20th minute Henry was brought down on the left of box by Cannavaro. Xavi picked out Puyol with the resultant free kick and an unmarked Puyol headed the ball into the goal to take Barca into lead. Madrid responded immediately with first Robben and then Raul bringing on necessary intervention from Valdes. Then in the 27th minute Xavi send in a great pass to Eto, whose shot was well saved by Casillas. Fc barcelona was raising the tempo taking Real out of the game. In the 29th minute Messi and Iniesta combined well to create a wonderful chance but Messi's shot was saved by Casillas. In the 35th minute Xavi robbed Lass off the ball and sent Messi through, Messi made no mistake in slotting the ball past Casillas. The first half ended with Alves free kick from outside the box being saved low by Casillas.

In the second half Fc Barcelona started playing around with the Madrid side. Many occasion it looked like Barca players were contend in playing the ball around rather than going forward. In the 48th minute Iniesta skipped past three defenders but hs shot went wide. In the 54th minute Messi collects the ball near half line and sets off on a great run skipping past defenders and send in a great cross across the face of goal, but none of his team mates showed any interest in getting anywhere near him. Meanwhile many of FC Barcelona's were blocked off by the most unlikely of source - the referee. Two times he came in way of a great Barca move. Then against the run of play Madrid scored a second reviving their hopes from a Ramos Header off a Robben free kick. Barca responded immediately restoring the two goal lead with a cool finish from henry in the 58 minute. Xavi send in a great pass to Henry on the left who slotted home past a Casillas who stormed out of him goal. In the 60th minute Eto send in a great cross from right who surprisingly missed the open chance. Guardiola brought in Keita for Henry in the 61st minute. Then in the 75th minute Messi and Xavi combined well to create the fifth goal with a great finish. Messi played the ball to Xavi on the edge of box, Xavi rounded off the defenders with a great 360 degree turn and released Messi on the right. But it was dissappointing to see Guardiola not taking off important players immediately. Then in the 83rd minute Pique scores a great goal with a great finish to complete the socre sheet. Pique started the move near the half line; Pique passed the ball to Messi who released Eto on the right; Eto then send in a greta cross which was well finished by Pique. That was FC Barcelona's 100th goal of the league. Guardiola immediately took out Toure and Iniesta in the 85th minute and brought in Bojan and Busquets. In the 87th minute, Bojan skipped past Heinze on the right and send in a great cross only to see Messi placing the ball wide.

This was an excellent performance which might have already sealed this year's League. Barca can now concentrate on the encounter with Chelsea with no distraction on mind. Guardiola never gave an hint of how he is planning to line up his defense of that match. But with this win there is no doubt that barca players will be on the right frame of mind while travelling to Stamford Bridge. All of Barca players were good last night, but Henry, xavi, Messi and Pique stood out. Pique's form is impressive. It was good to see Messi doing well once again. Eto was also involved well but could not get into the score sheet. Iniesta may not have any assist to boast from this match but he was really good, it is no surprise that he makes Xavi look so dangerous. There were a series of 360 degree turns by both the "Little Men" of Barca leaving Real Madrid playesr at sea. Toure was again excellent throughout the match. But Guardiola do have things to ponder, especially aerial defending.

Ream Madrid vs Barca Preview

A couple of months back, if someone have told you that the title will mostly be decided at the Bernebeu, you probably might have laughed at him. But tonight's match at the Bernebeu is mostly a make or break match. Simply put this is a match which Real Madrid cannot afford not to win. A victory at home will see Barca's lead at top cut to just one point and most importantly will surely be a huge blow to Barca's confidence. But a lose or Draw will make it more tougher for madrid to overcome Barca this season. There were doubts of Henry's participation in the match at Bernebeu. He was reported to have not yet recovered from the blow received from Chelsea's Alex. But Guardiola has included him in the squad which travels to Madrid, but mostly he will not start in the starting eleven. The 19 member squad is Valdés, Jorquera, Henry, Xavi, Piqué, Iniesta, Puyol, Cáceres, Sylvinho, Bojan, Eto'o, Messi, Hleb, Alves, Abidal, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Touré and Sergio Busquets. Barcelona would have ideally rested some of there star players but I doubt Guardiola would do that.

The possibility of Henry starting on the bench puts me in a bit of confusion. Normally Iniesta will move up front, but that makes it easy for Gago and Lassa pair to mark Xavi out of the game. I would have loved if Guardiola took the option of including Pedro in the squad. Eto has been poor in some matches and I would have dropped him for tonight's match. But with no Pedro I doubt that happening. So in all probability we will see Messi pairing with Eto and Bojan upfront. Why i will prefer Bojan ahead of Iniesta is that for tonight's match it is crucial we win the midfield battle hands down. Without Iniesta it will be very difficult. Messi is due to some good showing, Eto has been playing the spoiler in all of Messi's vibrant run. So I will prefer to start with Bojan on centre and Eto on left. The midfield has to be Iniesta - Toure and Xavi. There is no need to rest Toure as he has been fortunate enought to get some rest recently. But the defense still puzzles me. In a normal circumstances, Puyol and Pique should pair in the centre and Alves and Abidal in both side. But for Chelsea match Puyol is suspended and most probably we will start Abidal in centre. So i would love to see Abidal and Pique partnering in the middle and Puyol playing the left-back role.

This is a match which Real Madrid will be desperate to win and that too most probably atleast by a 2 goal margin. FC Barcelona players should use that to their advantage. They should control the midfield cutting Real Madrid of any sizeable possession. Last time when these two teams met, Real Madrid come out with a defensive set of mind. This time they can't afford to do that to Barca. They have to atatck and Iniesta should do well from midfield. Iniesta missed the match at Camp Nou and will be looking to do well at Real Madrid.