FC Barcelona vs Malaga Preview

Albert Jorquerra has been given the green signal for tonight's match, but Barca is definite to miss Gerard Pique for tonight's encounter. Gerard Pique is suffering from fever and the press reports suggests that he has been send home in a bid to recover as early as possible. This means that our defense will be stretched completely with alreasy Puyol, Milito and Abidal injured. Barca Atletic defender Alberto Botía has been called up to train with the first team and is expected to make the squad along with Sanchez. FC Barcelona will be looking to continue theirn ruthless form which was refound in the recent matches. Last time these two team mets it was Barca who came on top at a wet pitch in Malaga by a scoreline of 4-1. Malaga has been impressive since then taking themselves to sixth position in the table. But a trip to Nou Camp is not the easiest one to make for them. Barca has an impressive record against Malaga at Camp Nou winning 24 of 27 games. But still the lack of defenders will be something for Guardiola to worry on.

Guardiola will be expected to call on Caceres to do the defensive duties along with Marquez at the centre. Sylvinho who has been impressive in recent matches once again is expected to fill the left-back position whereas Alves should occupy his usual position. At Camp Nou with a fragile defensive line-up it is essential for the midfield to retain possession for most part of the game. Hence there is a necessity to have both Xavi and Iniesta playing alongside with Toure. The front three has to be unchanged with Henry, Eto and Messi. The midfield battle will be crucial for tonight's match. We cannot give any hope to Real Madrid so we have to be at our clinical best. Messi looked like coming back to a bit of his early form in recent matches. But one man I will be eagerly watching would be Dani Alves, he had a decent second half last week so we expect him to build on it. Malaga may be lying sixth with troubling everyone, but we can expect Barca to see off them easily. My prediction would be a Barca victory with a scoreline of 3-0.

It's a Trip To Munich for Barca

FC Barcelona is drawn to face Bayern Munich in the Quarter-finals of this season's Champions League. The draw happened hours ago at Nyon, Switzerland. Everyone expected FC Barcelona to line-up against one of the English Giants; but they are drawn against the German giant, Bayern Munich. English Premier League fans dream of an all English semi-finals has been dashed off as Liverpool meet Chelsea in the Quarter finals. These two teams met each other last year but at the semi-final where Chelsea emerged the winner. Chelsea once again hold the upper hand having to play the second leg at home. The other spanish side Villareal has been drawn against Arsenal. These two teams met at the semi-finals of Champions League 2006 with Arsenal emerging the winner. The defending Champion Manchester United were handed down the easiest of draws - against FC Porto. But they still have to travel to Porto for the second leg.

The semi-final draws has been also made with the winner of Barcelona vs Bayern facing the winner of Liverpool vs Chelsea match. The first leg of quarter finals will be hel on Aril 7th and 8th; the return leg will be on 14th and 15th. The semi-finals date are April 28 and 29; the return leg will be on May 5th and 6th. Many of FC Barcelona supporters will be happy with the fact that we avoided facing any English opponents. But Bayern Munich will be a tough opponent; they destroyed Sporting Lisbon in the knock-out by scoring twelve goals altogether. The likes of Podolski, Klose, Schweinsteiger, Ribery, and Lahm will send shivers through any line-up and to make matters worse Barca has to play the tricky second leg away from home. But Bayern can be expected to play a bit more attacking style of play giving FC barcelona players enough space to manoeuvre. Klose very much is likely to miss the Quarter-finals with injury. Bayern's season has been erratic to an high extend this year. Eventhough we have to play the second leg away from Camp Nou, the current form of players and team should see us through. Plus we might have our Captain back shortly and can hope to count on the service of Abidal also against Bayern atleast in the second leg. There were reports of Milito also returning abck to training. Everything looks pleasant for the moment; let's keep our fingers crossed.

Necessity to Proceed with Caution

FC Barcelona seemed to have put behind their recent stumble, which saw many fans raising quetions about the Treble chances. But the recent recovery was so assuring that once again Barca fans have started dreaming about a treble. FC Barcelona's recent form has been good one, and does give considerable hope for a silverware this season. But the chance of achieving a treble is quite distant at this moment. The best silverware we can hope is the Copa Del Rey at this moment. La Liga is a very much bright possibility but there are enough rounds to go into the final lap and Real Madrid had showed no sign of easing down. So La Liga and Champions League is at the moment a distant possibility. Therefore it is necessary for the team and fans to go slow in the Euphoria surrounding the re-emergence of the team from the slump. The truth simply is that another stumble could be round the corner; especially if another pair of main team members get injured. Secondly it is clear that in Europe we have to negotiate tough English challenges to go forward; to make matter worse Real Madrid has only one trophy to aim at and they would whole heartedly go for the defnse of their title. That means a slight miss in concentration and focus we could be in serious trouble in La Liga and we already have a habit of taking the confidence of one competition to another competition. So it's better to be cautious as the truth still is that we are trophyless for last three year till now.

Now that's all the bad news that could happend and should not happen. Now time for some good news to lean upon. It looks like Iniesta has hit his top form, or is close to his best. Xavi, Eto, Messi, Henry all have not rediscovered their pre-december form. But everyone of them looks like returning back to their form. Especially Messi; he was a bit on-off in recent matches but when he was in on mode he destroyed the opposition. Xavi when partnering Iniesta at the middle looks very close to getting back to his best. Eto still may be goal starved by his standard, but he did look so good in last two matches he started. Henry meanwhile has looked to have found a new heart these days. Toure after a small blip (surpisingly that coincided with the team's blip) have looked more composed and solid in the middle of midfield. Alves, who has been very poor in last few matches also did produce a good second half display. But for Barca's quest at Europe we want this guy at full form and force. Puyol and Abidal should return shortly and that should add some more stability to defense. So, in short there is still a big hope for more than two silverware this season but a treble could require some fortune and form.

Almeria vs Barca Pictures, 15/03/09

Barcelona Player Rating against Almeria, 15/03/09

Valdes - 6 - Nothing much to do. Came out and sniffed out the danger when bot Marquez and Pique was compromised. I would have given him a higher score if he hasn't given that stupid pass which put Pique in danger.

Alves - 7 - Wasn't much effective in the first half. But woke up and did some damage in the second. Played a good part in the second goal. Overall a better performance than his recent matches.

Pique - 8 - Rarely troubled in the match. Did well to draw the foul when Valdes put him under pressure. Was clam and composed throughout the match.

Marquez - 7.5 - Like his partner was composed throughout the match.

Sylvinho - 7.5 - Did well defying his age. His crosses still has that venom. Worked really hard.

Xavi - 8 - Defensively he was master. Controlled the defense. In attack he was kind of subdued. He was suppoesed to provide the attacking instinct from middle and to a larger part failed in that.

Toure - 8.5 - Majestic. He was a defensive czar. Cut down any pass and move from all over the field.

Keita - 6 - Was practically ineffective. But he has this habit of getting into box and that almost paid in the 10th minute.

Messi - 7.5 - Was good in parts. Played a part in both the goals and that says for his talent.

Bojan - 6.5 - Was quite throughout the match. But took his chances well.

Iniesta - 9 - Brilliant! Absolutely Briliant. He is back to his best after the injury. Like Messi played a part in both goals. He was a constant threat all over the place.

Substitutions:
Gudjohnsen(6), Hleb(5) and Eto(5).

Man Of The Match - Andres Iniesta

Keeping It Steady; Almeria-0, Barca-2

FC Barcelona successfully kept a second consecutive clean sheet with a 2-0 victory at Almeria. Courtesy of this win Barca has restored the lead at the top to six points. The 2-0 victory does not necessarily tell the entire story of the match. But it is a testimony of the desperate defending of Almeria who were well assisted by Diego Alves, their Goal Keeper. If it was not for Diego, Barca would have scored half a dozen goals by half time. Bojan who was given a rare start ahead of Eto and Henry, repaid his coach with two match winning goals. This would have reduced lot of pressure on the youngster. Guardiola decided to reshuffle his attacking options for the Almeria match. The front three was made up of Messi, Iniesta and Bojan. The midfield was more physical with Keita, and Toure partnering Xavi. The defense lined up as expected with Sylvinho and Alves playing the full back roles and Pique and Marquez at the centre of defense ahead of Valdes.

The match started in a sub-dued pace. In the 7th mnute Messi spotted Keita's advancing run and played a great ball but Diego Alves rushed out of his line to clear the danger. In the 10th minute Keita had Barca's first shot on target; the move started with Iniesta picking up Alves run with a great cross; Alves shot cum cross was deflected to Keita but Diego brought out a one hand save of the strong Keita shot. In the 19th minute Xavi headed wide from Iniesta cross. These two have great understanding with each other. Then came a phase where Barca look least interested in penetrating Almeria defense; the only player who was looking really good in attack was Andres Iniesta. Then in the 35th minute Messi saw his shot from a Xavi cross blocked. With half time approaching there was a serious push by Barca to break the dead lock. They pounded Almeria defense one after other and Diego Alves great goal keeping saved Almeria for the half. As expected it was Iniesta who tested him first; Iniesta in the 42nd minute saw his shotb saved after great trickery in the box. Then in the 44th minute a great free kick by the "World Player of the Year in Waiting" Messi was well saved by Diego. Then in the 44th minute Pique saw his header being saved by Diego from a great Xavi cross.

It was clear that if Barca played the game at the tempo which they stopped the first half a goal would eventually come. The dead lock was finally broken when Iniesta and Messi combined together and Bojan was the beneficiarry. In the 53rd minute Messi gave the ball to Iniesta who held on the ball for a second and placed the ball back to Messi's path in the box; Messi's resultant shot hit the post but the rebound fell to Bojan who neatly obliged. Almeira knew that they have a herculean task ahead; but their task was made an impossible one in three minutes. In the 56th minute Bojan scored his second of the night to seal the match. The goal did have a touch of fortune but the build up was exquisite. Alves sets up on a great run into the box and passes the ball to Messi; Messi back heeled the ball to Iniesta who flicked it back to Alves who fed Bojan; Bojan looked to have wasted a great chance when he took a few touch more but his shot looped up into the goal from a defenders deflection. After that it was Barca teaching the Almeria players a new lesson in possession football. The Almeria players never saw the ball for long spells. In the 65th minute Valdes comes out of his line to clear danger from a through ball which split bot Marquez and Pique. In the 67th minute Guardiola replaced the goal scorer Bojan with Eto. Then in the 77th minute Valdes showed again that he can do the most stupid of stuffs with no pressure on him. Valdes seemed to have held on to a pass for more time; then he gave a non-sense kind of pass to Pique; the ball bounced awkardly for Pique putting him under pressure but he handled it well. Then in the 81st minute Keita was replaced by Gudjohnsen. Then in the 83rd minute Iniesta was taken off to bring on Hleb. Iniesta received huge applause from both visiting and home team fans.

This was a great result. We completely dominated the match. It was good to see Pep giving Bojan a start. Many may not agree but we should have our back-ups in good form so that they can take over when somebody gets injured. Iniesta once again was the best player on the pitch. Messi looks like getting back to his best. Toure was great once again. But this match also showed one fact that it is always best to have Iniesta in the middle if Henry is fit and in form. Without him we miss the creativity in the centre.

Almeria vs Barca Preview

With Real Madrid's win at Bilbao, FC barcelona's lead at the top has been cut to three points. That means FC Barcelona have the continue there good works of last game. Alemria is a tough place for Barca to travel; but they have to keep history aside and win convincingly to avoid any resurgence of defending champion. With FC Barcelona slowly finding their form back there is no reason to think that they will fail to win at Almeria. The last time when these two teams met at Camp Nou, Barca routed Almeria by five goals to nil. Barca is still without their captain Puyol and left back Abidal. Guardiola has announced a 19 man squad consisting of Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Marquez, Caceres, Sylvinho, Victor Sanchez, Toure, Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Hleb, Messi, Bojan, Eto'o, Henry. But how he will line-up the starting eleven is not clear.

First of all we have to see whether he will have Caceres at Left back instead of Sylvinho. There could be a chance of that happening as Guardiola don't want to tire his old left back especially with Puyol absent. That could see a defensive formation of Alves, Marquez, Pique and Abidal infront of Valdes. Guardiola might opt for a more physical midfiedl with Busquets and Toure partnering Xavi. This could ba a rare match where Henry gets a rest. So I expect Iniesta to fill the wide left position forming the attacking pair with Eto and Messi. This one would be pretty tough for Barca, especially with Real winning yesterday. But Barca's excellent form which took them past Lyon should again show them the way through this challenge.

My Prediction : Almeria -0 : 4- Barca