FC Barcelona Player Ratings against Real Mallorca on 03/01/09

Valdes - 6 - Didn't have a good game. Made a number of mistakes, spilled the ball on many occasion. Looked confused when coming off the line and should thank Abidal for saving him twice.

Puyol - 8.5 - The best player on the pitch. Was good while going forward and was a constant treat upfront.

Marquez - 6.5 - Had an average game, did very well in defense but was caught out some times.

Sanchez - 3 - WAs nowhere to seen. Had to be blamed for the first goal. Then you can't blame, he is a centre midfielder who was slotted to play the centre defense role.

Abidal - 7 - Had a decent game in both attack and defense. Most importantly covered the defense well and made no mistake.

Xavi - 8 - Great performance with so many good passes and involvement in attack.

Toure - 8 - Another stellar performance which was capped with a better goal. May be blamed for the goal but then redeemed himself later on.

Gudjonsen - 7 - Wasn't any spectacular, but was involved in many move. Lost possession cheaply in many occasion.

Hleb - 7 - Like Gudjonsen had a decent game but nothing spectacular to show off.

Eto - 6.5 - Was missing for many time and missed some good chances.

Henry - 7.5 - Good game by the frenchman. He was the best attack minded player we had on the pitch.

Substitutes:

Alves (7), Iniesta (8) and Sylvinho (7)

Man Of The Match - Puyol

FC Barcelona Stroll On; FC Barcelona - 3, Mallorca - 1

FC Barcelona extended their winning streak with a not so convincing 3-1 victory against Real Mallorca. On a night when tempers where running pretty high on the pitch, Goals from Henry, Iniesta and Toure saw Barca overcome a determined Mallorca side who took the lead from an Aritz Aduriz goal early on. This is the second time in succession FC Barcelona is coming down from a goal down to win the match, that sounds very good as far as the rest of the season is considered. Mallorca boss prior to the match had said that they couldn't hope for a much betetr time to play the League Leaders; he was proven right with some scrappy play by Barca players, who all have yet to achieve the full flow. Guardiola also was to be blamed partially for going a goal down in the begining as he looked to have slotted Victor Sanchez in the central defense. Victor Valdes was at the goal. The line up showed Puyol and Marquez as centre defenders; Abidal as Left-back and Victor Sanchez as Right-Back. But during the game Victor Sanchez moved to the centre and Puyol to right. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Toure and Gudjonsen. Henry, Eto and Hleb formed the front three.

The match had a very cold start. Both team were struggling to create any good chance; particularly Barca were struggling to go through Mallorca defense. The first attack from Barca came in the 13th minute when Eto shot wide from a very promising cross by Toure. In the 15th minute Aritz put Mallorca in the lead stunning the Camp Nou faithfuls after Toure gave away the ball cheaply; Artiz got the ball in the half line, then got past Victor Sanchez with ease, ran past him and flicked the ball over Victor Valdes head.In the 27th minute Gudjonsen great strike from a Xavi corner hit the cross bar. In the 29th minute Mallorca goal keeper Lux produced a magnificient save to deny Toure. In the 31st minute Thierry Henry equalised for Barca from a Xavi corner; Puyol won the initial header which fell to Henry on the left side of post; Henry's first touch was excellent but his finish was much better. In the injury time of first half Lux produced another good save to deny Eto from a great ball from Xavi.
The second half started the same way like the first half. Both the team failed to take the initaitive early on. In the 49th minute Eto saw another of his shot blocked from a good Puyol cross. In the 52nd minute Puyol send in a great ball spotting Xavi's run but he couldn't control it properly, even then the ball went aganisingly close to goal. In the 56th minute Sanchez was replaced by Alves. In the 62nd minute Iniesta came in for Hleb. In the 76th minute Iniesta put Barca in lead after he finished well from a Gudjonsen cross. The build up had a bit of luck, the initial Xavi shot hit Eto and fell to Gudjonsen who crossed it to Iniesta who looked on level with Gudjonsen when the cross was made. In the 88th minute Henry's back flick from an excelelnt Alves cross went just wide of the goal. In the 92nd minute Toure completed the score-line with a finish which would have made Eto happy on any day. Toure skipped past three defenders in the box after receiving Eto pass and fired the ball to the right hand corner of the goal.
This may not be a very convincing victory for Barca, but still it retains the lead at the top. Secondly the players are only back from holiday and it will take some time before they hit the top gear. But they better hit the top gear as soon as possible as they have a mid week match against Athletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey competition.

To Start The New Year on the Right Note

FC Barcelona would be looking to start the new year in the same way in which they have ended the last year. With a huge ten point lead and a bigger fight between teams for the second spot, there is only one team which can prevent Barca from the Championship - i.e FC Barcelona itself. There is a high chance that players would become a bit complacent and would not focus on the pitch; but then with Guardiola in charge the chances of that happening now is very rare. FC Barcelona players have shown enough commitment on the field and on the training ground this season. The best example would be Eto and Keita cutting short their vacation to train early. Against Mallorca Iniesta is expected to start the match; how much the lack of match practice is going to affect him is yet to be seen. Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves both arrived late from vacation and it is very difficult to see them starting the line-up. As usual Guardiola has not yet named his squad. But there may be certain surprises in his mind.

Valdes would retain his position at goal. Abidal would be preferred as the Left-Back; but with the chances of Alves starting very remote, Puyol may be asked to fill the Right- Back role. In that case Marquez and Pique would join in the centre of defense. But I would prefer Puyol being pushed to centre and some one from B-Team making taking the position of Right-Back. The centre of defense would be ideally made up of Xavi, Toure and Iniesta. Up front Eto and Henry should be teaming with either Bojan or Pedro. Real Mallorca are no push-over; but still with the form displayed by FC Barcelona it is difficult to see him Mallorca taking anything out of this match. Mallorca would be using the usual style of ten men behind the ball to stop Barca; but how much they will succeed only time will tell. My prediction is FC Barcelona running away with the match with a 5-1 victory.

FC Barcelona Marches On; Villareal-1,Barca-2

Barcelona moved ten points clear of their nearest rival with a hard fought win at El Madrigal. Goals from Keita and Henry helped Barca to continue their unbeaten streak after Barca have gone behind from a goal from Cani. To make things worse Barca's Pique was sent off and had to hold off with ten men in the final ten minutes. But overall it was a very satisfying, tough and hard fought victory. Pep Guardiola chose Busquets ahead of Toure. Alves, Pique, Puyol and Alves formed the back four. The midfield as expected were packed with defensive players with Xavi partnering, Busquets and Keita. Henry, Messi and Eto formed front three. Messi had another quiet game by his standard but it was good to see Xavi hitting top form.

Barca as expected dominated possession from the beginining, but couldn't break an organised defense. Majority of the chances in the first half fell to Henry and he did waste a few of them. There were questioned raised about Barcelona's ability to respond after going behind against quality team; that should temporarily subsidise now. Just after the breakCani put Villareal forward with a neat finish afetr the defense failed to keep hold of him. Barca responded vigourously and was rewarded by the goal in the 54th minute when Keita lept bravely in front of Diego Lopez to head into the empty net. Then in the 66th minute Henry put Barca ahead with a great volley from a Xavi cross. Then in the 74th minute Pique was sent off picking his second card in a space of three minutes. Reduced to Ten men Guardiola brought Caceres for Henry and re-organised the defense. With the one man advantage Villareal started pressing in the final moments and should have equalised but Nihat and Franco wasted their chances.

Villareal vs FC Barcelona Preview

FC Barcelona would be playing their last match of 2008 against Villareal at El Madrigal. FC Barcelona enter this match clearly knowing the fact that a victory at Villareal's home would take them eleven points clear of their rival. Real Madrid continued with their recovery under Ramos with a hard fought home win against Valencia. That lose of Valencia means Athletico Madrid who won against espanyol hold the second spot. A victory for Villareal would take them to the second spot. Barcelona would love to end this 2008 in a great note with a victory against Villareal; that would do justice to the way they played and fought in recent matches. Traditionally FC barcelona have struggled at El Madrigal and would like to correct that here. This is going to be a really tough match for Guardiola and there were questions asked about the squad after the Real Madrid encounter. Especially Messi, after a not so brilliant Classico performance he wanted to get things right back on track.

The squad selected for the Villareal travel is Valdés, Henry, Xavi, Piqué, Puyol, Cáceres, Sylvinho, Bojan, Eto'o, Messi, Hleb, Dani Alves, Abidal, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Touré, Pinto, Sergio Busquets and Víctor Sánchez. Marquez is injured and hence rested; there were reports of Iniesta being given green signal by Medical staff but he is also rested. The side should be similiar to the recent starting eleven. Valdes should start at the Goal. Abidal, Puyol, Pique and Alves should make the defense. Xavi, Toure and Busquets would be making up a very tough midfield. Eto, Henry and Messi would be the attacking trio. Messi has to lift his game as the midfield would be packed with more defensive minded players. This would be a tough match and expect a tough Barcelona victory with a score line of 1-2.

Xavi Extends Contract till 2014

Xavi Hernandez has signed a new deal which would keep him with the club till 2014. And if some club manage to convince him to move away they would have to sell out a whooping 80 million Euros as buyout clause. This ia a welcome relief for Barca who took sometime to ready this contract. This also effectively ends the rumours of Xavi moving out of Barca. Actually Guardiola had made it clear from the onset that Xavi is the most important part in his puzzle. Exact contract compensation is not known but it is rumoured that Xavi will become the third highest paid player in barca after Messi and Eto. Xavi has reitered his dream to retire at Barca. I know one person who would not be happy with handing out lengthy contract to players is Cryuff. But with the tough competition out there FC Barcelona have to shell out a deal which is better or on par with others can offer. It is rumoured that he will make 7.5 million Euros per year.

Xavi Hernandez is one of the most prized outout of Barca's excellent youth system. Xavi made his debut in first team on August 18,1998 against RCD Mallorca. He quicly went to become an essential part of FC barcelona's title team. Xavi is considered an ideal replacement for Guardiola, the current Catalan coach. Xavi has become a essential part of the Spanish national team. He was elected as the player of the Tournament at the Euro-2008 when an under achieveing Spanish side fianlly won a trophy. He has scored 29 goals for Barcelona and 8 for Spain; and created numerous goals for his team mates.

FC Barcelona to Face Lyon In Champions League

FC Barcelona once again got an easy draw compared to their opponents in the Champions League second round. FC Barcelona has been drawn against the French Champions Olympique Lyonnais. Like FC Barcelona Lyon is on the top of their respective League. When I say that Lyon would be an easy draw, it just mean that out of the all possible opponents Lyon would be the easiest (no insult to Lyonis meant here). It would be a Herculean task for Barcelona to get past the French Champion. They got quality players like Benzema, Juninho, Govou in their line-up. But I already metioned in my previous post Champions League Opponent that I would prefer to play Lyon compared to an Inter or Chelsea. Lyon would be playing a much more open game rather than the other two opponents and that increases FC Barcelona's chances of proceeding to the next round.Last season FC Barcelona and Lyon met in the group stage; Barca won the home leg comfortaby but drew in the away leg. FC barcelona has scored 18 goals in their Champions League campaign and Lyon are not far behind scoring 14 goal; that makes this the most exciting tie of the second round.

Fc barcelona would be playing the second leg at home and that would be a serious advantage. The other tie ups are:

Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

There are some serious rivals being joined once again in thos ties, like the Mourinho vs Ferguson rivalry, Madrid would be facing Liverpool and to make things worse would be playing the second leg away; Villareal looks to have got a much easier draw - but when you put this into perspective that Panathinaikos quialified ahead of Inter; that makes thing tricky. Athletico Madird also looks to have a good draw against Porto but plays the second leg away.