Barca Player Ratings against Mallorca on 17/05/09

Oier Olazabal - 6.5 - I liked him. He did look susceptible at times and should have done better for the first goal. But his coming off his line was excellent. Definitely a nice back-up for Valdes in future.

Alves - 6.5 - Did well defensively but as in last matches was not into his usual self in attack. May be we will not miss him too much in Rome.

Caceres - 7 - Good overall but has to improve on his positional sense. Got some serious challenges and tackles right.

Abidal - 6.5 - Was good throughout the match. Gave away the free kick which led to first goal. But overall had a decent match.

Sylvinho - 6.5 - He was solid and calm. Didn't go up that too much, but whenever he did he still oozez energy. Got some match practice for Rome.

Gudjohnsen - 6.5 - A decent outing maybe one of his last in Barcelona shirt. Looked so good when going forward.

Xavi Torres - 6 - Ok, give the guys some credit. It was his debut and he came out with his head held high. He is that kind of player who will make so much fouls. But with more experience he should improve. His ball distribution should definitely improve.

Hleb - 7 - He had three good chances but failed to get hold of any. But overall was decent in attack.

Pedro - 6 - Wasted a great oppurtunity given by Guardiola. Was good with his run but never was able to find any of team mates at the end of it.

Eto - 3.5 - Great finish for the goal. Wasted so many chances. What makes it more irritating is that he vere tried to be clever, a decent chip of flick woul have helped him finish but he still went on shooting low with much power.

Bojan - 8 - Great performance. I will be surprised if Guardiola overlooks him for Rome, if Henry don't start. He was at his creative best last night.

Man Of The Match - Bojan Krkic

FC Barcelona loses their First Match as La Liga Champions

Real Mallorca - 2, Barca - 1

Guardiola decided to rest majority of first team players against Real Mallorca. The makeshift side had three Barca B team members - Xavi Torres, Oier Olazabal and Pedro. Barca went ahead with a goal from Eto in the tenth minute but wasted a flurry of chances to end the game, especially Eto. In the end it came back to haunt Barca as goals from Arango and Santana in the 73rd and 77th minute sealed a home win for the Mallorca side. This is not a result which Guardiola will not be unhappy with but performance of Eto will give him some worries. Guardiola decided to give Oier Olazabal his first start in Barca goal. Alves, Caceres, Abidal and Sylvinho formed the defense. Xavi Torres was slotted in to play the defnsive midfielder role. Gudjohnsen and Hleb provided the attacking option in the midfield. Pedro, Eto and Bojan formed the front trio.

Mallorca players honoured the new league champions with a Guard of Honour. Mallorca started the game on a more positive not than Barca. For the first ten minutes they controlled the proceeding without much success. Then in the 10th minute Barca went ahead with their first notable attack of the night. Bojan chipped a lovely cross to Eto playing him ahead of defense, Eto headed the ball above goal keeper Moya into the far corner of the goal. After the goal Barca took the control of the game from Mallorca with constant raids into Mallorca's box. In the 20th minute Gudjohnsen played Eto ahead of defense with a great pass, but Eto's first touch was heavy allowing Moya to grab the ball. Then in the 28th minute Alves picks up the ball in his box and storms out with a great run, he then passes the ball to Eto whose first shot is blocked by Moya, eto picks up the rebound but Josemi prevents him from finding the back of net. In the 42nd minute Hleb saw his shot being saved by Moya. In the 44th minute Eto wasted another golden chance after being put ahead by Gudjohnsen neat flick, but again he shot too close to goal keeper.

The second half started with Barca lacking determination and will to crack Mallorca defense. In the 49th minute Hleb played ina great ball to Eto; Eto skips past a defender but again shot too close to Moya. In the 57th minute Bojan put Eto through on the left but he blasted the shot over the bar. In the 72nd minute Oier Olazabal spills a long range shot from Ayoze but produces a great save to deny Arango from rebound. Then in the 73rd minute Mallorca equalised with a great free kick from Arango. Oier Olazabal should have got to that. Guardiola brough in Thiago in place of Gudjohnsen. Then in the 78th minute Mallorca went ahead as a result of the relentless pressure applied by their side. Cleber Santana headed home froma great cross from left by Jurado. In the 86th minute Pedro was replaced by Jeffren. Then to sum up the night Eto was awarded a penalty in the 3rd minute of injury time only for him to shoot at the post.

Guardiola will lose no sleep with the team's performance. There were some positives to look at. Oier Olazabal may be termed responsible for the first goal but he looked so good throughout the match. Bojan looked lively and for me was the ebst player on pitch. Caceres also looked fine apart from some struggle in the last minutes. But the worrisome is with Eto's form. He should had a minimum of four goal tonight but missed everything. The worst thing was that he was trying to score thee goals the same way again and again.

FC Barcelona wins The La Liga Title

Real Mallorca vs Barca Preview

FC Barcelona finally became the Champions. As Eto said last week, we didn't have to play again win the title. Real Madrid's last night 3-2 defeat to Villareal means we will have two weeks ahead to focus clearly on Champions League final in Rome. Manchester United, Barca's rival in Rome also grabbed their title last night with a draw against Arsenal. This is the first time FC Barcelona have done the domestic double after their double in the 1998-98 season. No team ever managed to do that in the same period is a testimony of how hard is the two competition in Spain. Ok, now coming back to the task at hand. FC Barcelona would be playing Real Mallorca at Ono Estadi tonight in a dead rubber. The only point of interest would be to see whether Eto get the Pichichi title. Guardiola announced a strong squad to travel to Mallorca prior to last night's Real Madrid match. The squad list is Valdés, Pinto, Oier, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal, Sylvinho, Caceres, Victor Sanchez, Toure, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Hleb, Messi, Eto'o, Bojan, Pedro. There is some injury concern with Pinto and he may not field on the pitch this weekend.

With already securing the league title, Guardiola would be hoping to give majority of stars some rest. But we can expect the players who will be missing the Rome night and who has a chance to play in Rome to get a start. Oier or Pinto will be at Goal giving Valdes some time for rest. Alves, Sanchez, Caceres and Sylvinho should form the defense. Pique should get some well deserved rest. The midfield should see Busquets playing the defensive midfielder role and Gudjohnsen and Hleb playing the creative role. Upfront I would prefer to go with Bojan on the left, Eto in centre and Pedro on the right. Bojan should be motivated as he has a serious chance of making a start at Rome. With such a second-tier team, Barca would be hard pressed to win the game. But this side if they play well should be able to get past Mallorca. I predict a highly goal scoring encounter with Barca winning 4-3.