Jan 19, 2012
Barca win at Bernebeu, yet again; Barca - 2, Real Madrid - 1
It has become something like a routine for this team - to go to the home of their arch-rivals and win in the most difficult circumstances. Guardiola's men has launched up many style of victroies over here - this one was also a bit different from teh other one. In this edition they decided to concede a lead at half time and then turned it completely over. This edition will be remembered as the the one in which the least expected guys scored. For Barca it was the two defenders, Puyol and Abidal who scored after Christiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid put the host ahead in the first half. Ronaldo may have scored tons of goals but no one actually expected him to score against FC Barcelona, even that happened tonight. MOurinho might be tearing his head apart by now - he has tried everything to beat this Barca side but nothing seems to work. This time he went with a starnge line up - Altintop who is a midfielder was used as a right back, Carvalho who last played in Sepetember came into center of defense partnering Ramos and Coentrao formed the left back. The midfield had the thug named Pepe, Diarra and Alonso. The front trio was Higuain, Benzema and Ronaldo. Guardiola meanwhile fielded a much expected line-up of Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Iniesta, Busquets, xavi, Fabregas, Sanchez and Messi.
Jan 17, 2012
FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid Copa Del Rey QF First Leg Preview
Yet another Clasico is upon us, infact the fourth of this season and the first of 2012. When it was confirmed that this years Copa Del Rey will see both Barca and Madrid taking on one another, the reaction of both set of fans were classic. For the fiirst time in history they all greeted with a collective sigh of "Not Again, Lord". As Madrid Captain, Iker Casillas pointed out there was a serious danger of Clasicos losing their tarditional shine with so much meetings between the two and also a bigger danger of boredom creeping into the fans. But there is something in these Clasicos that makes it worth while to have as many as can. we may have been worried about being bored about them when they were announced, but two days before the match the familar nervousness, excitement, self beliefs, self doubts all come back in full flow. Like a Barca player said recently, you can never get tired of Clasicos and on the ev of yet another that rings absolutely true. That is the beauty of a Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona clash isn't it? It is not only a clash between the two of the World's best teams, but also one between two cities, maybe some say between two nations, two footballing philosophies, clash between the world's best players. So indeed one cannot get tired of Clasicos.
Eric Abidal Contract Renewed
Barca fans across the globe were given a very happy news ahead of the first leg of Copa del Rey clasico - King Abidal will be extending his stay at Barca. Abidal's current contract wiould have ended in this June and a lot of Barca fans were quiet worried at the delay in tying up the Frenchman at Camp Nou. Abidal enjoys a heroic status followed by his performances of last two season and also by the will and spirit he shown when he was diagnosed with tumor last season. For Guardiola, Abidal has been a very essential player as his pace in defense was very vital while trying the three man defense. As I understand, Abidal will extend his contract for one year with a clause to further extend it for another two year. So guys rejoice, the "KING is here to STAY".
Jan 16, 2012
FC Barcelona - 4, Real Betis - 2
FC Barcelona continued with their winning streak at home in La Liga with a very hard fought 4-2 victory against an inspired Real betis side. The match started very brightly for us going 2-0 up within 12 minute, then turned into a nightmare when Real Betis equalised early into second half. But the players showed enough character to come back from that set back and finish off the game. Lionel Messi who had a rather poor night by his standard scored twice, Xavi and Sanchez completed the goal tally for Barca. For Real Betis it was Castro and Santacruz who scored. FC Barcelona started the match with a eight point gap between league leaders Real Madrid, who managed to organise a spectacular 2-1 coming from behind victory(thanks to the linesman who ruled a perfectly legitimate goal from Mallorca as offside when the score was 1-0 to the host favour) against Real Mallorca. Guardiola once again decided to employ the 3-4-3 formation. We had Puyol, Abidal and Mascherano in defense. The midfield had Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas. Messi, Cuenca and Sanchez formed the attacking trio.
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