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Mar 11, 2013

“Som un Equip” (“We are a team”) will be the slogan featuring on the huge Camp Nou mosaic ahead of the Milan clash. And it's quite apt. We need the players to fire as a team and which was very evident from the first leg at San Siro. The 2-0 scoreline shocked the entire team and fan base. What really humiliated us was the fact that Milan never had to work hard to neutralize us. That sense of humiliation became much harder with the double loss to big rival's Real Madrid. There were signs of a recovery at the weekend against Deportivo. One may argue that a game against Deportivo is no match to judge against Milan. But with Barca everything depend on the way we play. So there were enough positives with our first half display, also there were some worrying negatives also(I will get back to that later). So with a deficit of 2-0, the equation is pretty clear - we may need an offensive and defensive display of the likes we haven't seen in the recent weeks to turn this around. The situation is pretty difficult - a goal from AC Milan - then we have to score four goals to go through. In these circumstances it is usual to write off the chances of our team, especially when we have never in recent memory staged a come back like this against a team which will defend deep. But as Xavi very well said after the Milan defeat - the only thing lacking in this team's portfolio is a "Tremendous Comeback in Europe". The signs were there against Deportivo, so what the team needs now is our full and earnest support.

Mar 10, 2013

FC Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga to fourteen points with a fighting 2-0 victory against Deportivo at the Camp Nou. A first half goal from Alexis and another one from Messi late in second half secured us the all three points. Messi has now scored 40 times in the league this season.The match may have been a usual La Liga encounter, but there was no denial of the fact that everyone's thoughts were on the Milan clash on Tuesday. Considering the importance of the task ahead on Tuesday against Milan it wasn't much of a surprise to see a lot of important players being rested. So the first eleven which was picked to face Deportivo were Pinto, (who replaced Valdes who is suspended for four matches), Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Adriano, Cesc, Song, Thiago, Alexis, Villa and Tello. The bench had Masip, Pique, Alba, Busquets, Iniesta, Pedro and Messi. The fact that both Villa and Puyol started was a source of encouragement, but I had my doubts whether this is an indication whether they will not start against Milan?

Mar 7, 2013

  • With consecutive defeats to Milan, Real Madrid and again Real Madrid, Barca has endured the most difficult week in recent times.
  • With innovation coming from strategy or tactics, the team appeared completely lost on the field.

When Adriano was brought down by Ramos in the penalty box in the dying moments of the La Liga encounter at Santiago Bernebeu, every Barca fan shouted Penalty. But that wasn't the case to be. The referee Miguel Perez waved off the penalty claims. That was a penalty, a stone cold penalty. But every Barca fan should stop shouting and thank Miguel Perez for denying that. One could measure a bit of injustice in the decision(hence the Valdes reaction), but how our season will shape this season and may be coming season depended on that decision. Thank God for not giving that penalty. Had it been given, Cules would have gone back justifying the 2-2 draw as a just result. The bottom line was that not even in a single one of the recent defeats - 2-0 against Milan, 3-1 against Real in Copa and 2-1 against Real in League, we looked like a team which can claim as the "Best in the World". We looked static, tired, devoid of ideas and passion and more dangerously looked seriously disinterested. A 2-2 result would have masked all these problems once again. Many were dismissive of the Copa defeat, saying that Copa was a not so important cup. The danger signs were already there but we failed to see it, or simply put Messi was masking the entire fault by his own virtuoso Performance.

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