Victor Valdes fights for a Better Contract

Victor Valdes attempt to get himself a new much improved contract is not new. Actually few weeks back he has kind of issued an ultimatum and that resulted in Barca looking for a decent option. But recently there were reports emerging that FC Barcelona were ready to offer him what he demands. Aparently the Catalan establishment has come to a decision that "Valdes is the best of the available lot". Many of Barca fans could be annoyed with such a finding, For the fans Valdes has been the weak-link in a near-perfect side. But I always believed that he is the best we can have. My previous post emphasise on that - Being Valdes. Nobody can dis-respect his contribution to the team - especially two one on one saves he pulled up against Henry in Champions League final and another splendid save against Real Madrid earlier this season. But between these remarkable feats he has performed unbelievable blunders and that worries the fans. With Valdes we all feel that we can be never sure about a low scoring victory.

There is no doubt that a club of Barcelona's stature needs a better Goal Keeper - Someone like Buffon, Iker, Cech, Van der Saar etc. But none of these exceptional goal keeper's are available. Once you take them out of the lot, we won't be surprised why Barcelona technical team came to the before-mentioned conclusion. Victor Valdes is one of the best available when you take the Buffon's out of the pool. But Valdes' agent Gines Carvajal does not agree with me. He rated the player with the likes of Buffon and Casillas - ""He has demonstrated over the years that he is at the same level as Iker Casillas, or [Gianluigi] Buffon, or any others. I have no doubts.” I have no doubts. " It will be quite difficult for me to find people or fans who would agree with that statement. He also has hinted a possibility of Valdes moving out of the club if the disagreements over the contract could not be resolved. What will be Barcelona's reaction to such a move is not yet clear. But I feel that the club would not be too sad seeing him leave. The club has made it clear that they would like to retain the service of their current shot stopper; but I believe they would like to do that in their own terms. If pushed much they would definitely prefer to let go off the player. For the club the immediate task would be to negotiate the contract terms of two African players - Eto and Toure. But in the eventuality of Valdes moving out I believe we can find many decent replacement - Diego Lopez, Sorensen, etc would definitely relish a chance to be with one of the best club in the world. As a fan what you guys think of Valdes - Should he be retained? If no, then who would be the ideal replacement?

Messi and Pique Star in Victories; International results

The first edition of international break has been partially over. Many of the Barcelona players emerged victorious with two of them scoring crucial goals in their team's victory. Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi scorted in their team's crucial victories. Samuel Eto was the only one whose national side was somehow surprisingly defeated. I will preferrably start with my favourite national side - Argentina. The match against Venezuela at Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti was the official debut of Diego Maradona as Argentinian coach. Maradona handed the honour of wearing the No.10 shirt to Lionel Messi. Argentina went ahead in the 26th minute from a goal from Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi received the ball on the left and placed the ball to Tevez in the middle. Tevez gave the ball back to Messi spotting Messi's run and messi curled a low shot past goal keeper. Tevez scored the second one for Argentina in the 47th minute after great work by Messi on the left. Maxi made it 3-0 in the 51st minute when his volley from a Aguerro cross was deflected into goal. Aguerro completed the score sheet in the 73rd minute with a great goal.

Spain won against Turkey at the Bernebeu courtesy of a Gerard Pique strike in the 60th minute. It was not a classical Spanish performance and it once again shows how crucial is Iniesta in the entire scheme of play. Pique is slowly establishing himself crucial to Spain's fortun3es. France also emerged victorious from a great strike from Frank Ribery. Thierry Henry starteed for the "The Blues" but was nowhere near his Barcelona form. Ribery showed his talent with a great long range strike. eturning back to South American Qualifiers - Martin Caceres team Uruguay emerged vitorious by two goals against Paraguay at home. Goals from Diego FORLAN and Diego LUGANO saw off the Paraguayan challenge. In Africa, Cameroon was defeated by Togo by courtesy of a goal from Emmanuel ADEBAYOR in the 11th minute. Samuel Eto started in the Cameroonian side butcould not prevent his side from going down. Seydou Keita featured in Mali's 1-1 draw against Sudan away from home. Frederic KANOUTE scored for Mali in the 20th minute but sudan equalised in the 24th minute through Tahir.

FC Barcelona vs Malaga Pictures

Keeping Fingers Crossed with Inietsa's Injury

Andres Iniesta travelled to the Spanish capital for joining his national side mates eventhough he would not take part in the current international fixture. Iniesta is said to have informed the Spanish coach about the extend of his inury and did reveal about his apparent dissappointment with his recent spate of injuries. This is the third time he is getting injured recently and Barca fans are a bit worried with the frequency. He is definite to miss the clash against Real Valladolid but most probably will feature in the home leg of Champions League clash against Bayern Munich. The absence of Iniesta against Real Valladolid may not be troubling many of the fans but if he is set to miss the Bayern clash , then alarms bell would be ringing. But this rest could be a boon to him as he will have enough time to rest and re-coup once again.

The last time when he was injured we went down a downward spiral. At that time also he got injured before the crucial Lyon tie. But this time he should have enough time to get ready for Bayern tie. Actually we were in a downward fall at that point and Iniesta's injury seemed to accelerate it a bit. But this time we look more confident and are back to playing some great football once again. What we don't need a repeat of his injuries anymore down the line. Barca as a team is not heavily depended on Iniesta , but to dominate the proceeding we need Iniesta in the middle especially against well organised sides. Without Iniesta we have seen many times Xavi getting marginalised in the attacking front. It becomes easy for teams to double-mark Xavi and cut the supply. So as every Barca fan I am eagerly waiting with my fingers crossed. It also shed light to the need to buy a attacking midfielder player who can be a decent cover for these two. Maybe we can find some in our youth setup. What's your opinion?

The Champions League Contenders

What I am trying to do here is a round up of teams left in Champions League of this seasona nd their chances going forward. Ok, we will start with the defending champions Manchester United. Machester United is targetting an unprecedented five trophies this season. But their chase for the coveted five has received serious draw backs rercently. The signs were there in the second leg clash against Inter Milan. But an unambitious Inter side was brushed aside by ManU team with ease. But Liverpool dented a huge hole on their confidence with a 4-1 drubbing that too at Old Trafford. Add to that the 2-0 victory of Fulham against Manchester United at their home; that is the first time after 1964n Fulham has managed to upset ManU at their home ground. When Barcelona was brushing past sides at La Liga, the English media ridiculed us saying that we will never be able to do against a Manchester United defense. But now in two matches they have conceded six goals and scored once. The English media which made a fuss over Barca's recent blip is likely to term this as a mere lack of concentration. Alex Ferguson will be looking to have his team back on track as early as possible. Their recent catapulation at Fulham might have raised hopes at Porto but I don't see Porto beating ManU in Quarter finals. Manchester United should reach semi-finals with ease and that means they have time to pick up their form in Europe. But the same cannot be said about their challenge at EPL.

Liverpool is the in-form team at this moment. Their 4-0 and 4-1 drubbing of Real Madrid and Manchester United respectively has raised their prospect in Europe. In the last three matches they have score 13 goals and conceded once. Gerard looks to be in form of life and so does Torres. They could be our semi-final opponents if we get past Bayern. The key for Liverpool's recent victories against Manchester United and Real Madrid was that their opponents allowed them to dictate possession and speed. With Barca's possession football that would be difficult. But a Barca vs Liverpool semi-final is the most anticipated match at this moment. Chelsea's prospect of reaching the semi-final looked bright after the draw as it was revealed that they have to play second leg at home. But Liverpool's recent form and a lack of assertion from Chelsea's side have put them in serious doubt.

Arsenal maenwhile have found their footing back and playing some delightful football. But they will be deprived of the service of Andrei Arshavin in Europe and has to see how they cope without him in Europe. They didn't give a good account for themselves against Roma. Villareal has been written off by English media; I have no idea why. The truth is that Villareal is a very organised team and will be out for revenge for their earlier semi-final final defeat. They are pretty strong at home and have a very high chance of holding on their own at Emirates Stadium. Bayern who is Barca's opponent is having an Up-down season. Their form in Europe has been excellent but cannot be said of their domestic form. Barcelona has not beaten Bayern in Europe till now and that record has to be broken to proceed to the next round. To make matters worse we are going to play second leg away from home. Whatever Bayern vs Barcelona will produce the best football of all the Quarter final draws. FC Porto, the surprise quater-finalist has an uphill task of eliminating Manchester United. The fact that they have to play the second leg at home and Manchester United's recent form should give some hope.

Overall the draws look pretty balanced. Arsenal can write off Villareal on their own risk; they should remember Villareal's performance against Manchester United in the group stage. Manchester United looks to have one foot in the semi-fianls but if they can't pick up their Premier League form then they might become more vulnerable. Liverpool's drubbing of Aston Villa made sure that they now lie with just 1 point drift of Champions ManU. At this moment FC Barcelona and Liverpool are the best bet to lift the cup. Then we can't predict anything when it comes to Chamipons League, can we? Remember Porto's triumph. Aston Villa who opted out of UEFA cup to qualify for Champions League looks like have blown everything away. Martin O'Neil should have remembered the saying - "A Bird in Hand is Worth Two In BUsh".

Barca Player Rating against Malaga

Valdes - 8 - Didn't have anything to do in the first half. But made three crucial intervention in the second half to make sure that a clean sheet has been kept. There were reports suggesting that he would be presented with a new contract and this performance will surely speed up things.

Alves - 8 - Great performance offensively on the right flank. Defensively he might have left spaces but it is necessay for us to have this gentleman in great form. Took his goal really well.

Marquez - 7 - Good performance, Was calm and confident throughout the match.

Caceres - 7.5 - Questions were raised about his ability. Did really well and was the better of both the centre backs.

Sylvinho - 8 - Great performance on the left flank. He is constantly defying his age and improving with each game. Guardiola could think of retaining his when Puyol comes back. Played a part in two goals.

Xavi - 9 - Sensationa Performance!!! He was back to his best. Took his goal well, produced a gem of passes to creat Henry's goal, put Eto ahead in Eto's first goal; What can we ask for now?

Toure - 6 - Was taken off very early.

Iniesta - 8.5 - Continuied his great recent form. Greta pass to create Alves goal. Only downside would be the injury and may be the fact that he failed to get into the scoresheet.

Messi - 8 - Good performance. What a goal, simply out of this world. But wasted some pretty easy chances. Was involved in most of attacks.

Eto - 8 - Linked deep in attack. Was involved well. Great finish for the first goal and took the second goal well.

Henry - 8.5 - Another great perfomance from the Frenchman. Scored one, created one and had shots saved by goal keeper. Went deep to help the defense too.

Substitutes:

Keita - 7 - Good performance. He needed to be solid whne others are going forward and did just that.

Gudjohnsen - 6 - NOthing spectacular.

Bojan - 6.5 - Had a shot saved by goal keeper.

Man Of The Match - Xavi Hernandez

The Boat Cruises On; FC Barcelona-6, Malaga-0

In a sensational display which could be sending shivers across Europe, FC Barcelona destroyed the visiting Malaga team by half a dozen goals. The display was so phenomenol that a 6-0 final scoreline was indeed injustice to Barca. Barca was also helped with the Malaga team's attitude and plans which saw them defending deep and trying to crowd Barca out of the box. Then you can't blame them either as it could be suicidal for them to come and attack Barca and leave spaces all over the place. Once again our brilliant attacking midfield pair of Xavi and Iniesta set up this vitory. There were some concerns with injury picked up by Xavi, Iniesta and Toure. But the good news is that they all are set to recover well in ten days time. Iniesta now will not be available for Spain's match against Turkey. Barca were 4-0 ahead by half time with goals from Xavi, Messi, Henry and Eto; after the break Eto and Alves struk to complete the tally. Guardiola lined-up a starting eleven as expected - Alves, Marquez, Caceres and Sylvinho formed the defense infornt of Valdes. Xavi, Toure and Iniesta formed the midfield. Messi, Eto and Henry formed the usual front three.

The game started with Barca completely in control. In the 3rd minute Iniesta's shot was vlocked by Malaga goal Keeper, Goitia after a neat one-two between Iniesta and Eto. In the 14th minute Henry headed wide from a great Alves cross. Alves seemed to have found his form back and was a revelation in attack in the right flank. Eto was linking deep and that was causing all kind of havoc for Malaga. Then in the 19th minute Xavi took Barca deseringly ahead with a low shoot past after receiving a pass from Eto. Then in the 25th minute , Messi showed again why he is way ahead of other in the world at this moment. Xavi sent in a long aerial cross to Messi, what happened after that was purely magical. Messi chested the ball ahead of the defender and sets of on another magical Messi run into the box; inside the box he played a magical little dribble to take away the ball from the two defenders; but then I thought he might have miscontrolled it but he still found the upper right corner of the goal with a great right foot shot. The little dribble he did was so magical that my friends (one is a ManU fan and other a Chelse fan) was silenced. Here on it was clear that Malaga has to endure a long and tough night. In the 32nd minute Xavi produced a defense splitting pass putting Henry ahead, who rounded off the Goitia and slotted the ball into the goal with inside of his foot. In the 39th minute Eto saw his shot blocked after being fed by Iniesta after a great run into the box. In the 40th minute Henry saw his good shot from outside the box tipped over by Goitia. In the 42nd minute Messi saw his shot saved by Goitia; the defenders gave the ball away to Messi who had only the Goal Keeper to beat. That was just an unbelievabl miss and the reaction of Guardiola to that miss was simply awesome. In the 43rd minute Eto entered the scoresheet after a great move. Iniesta laid the ball to Sylvinho on the left; Sylvinho send the ball to Messi through a defenders leg; Messi played the ball to Xavi who gave the ball to Eto on the right inside the box; Eto clamly slotted the ball home with a fierce shoy through Goitia legs. Then in the 45th minute Messi saw his fierce shot blocked off Eto.

Barca was again the first one to take the initaiative in the second half. In the 47th minute Messi wasted another easy chance when he allowed Goitia time to make a save after he has earlier blocked off Xavi's effort. Then in the 49th minute against run of play Valdes was called into action. Valdes pulled out a great one hand diving save to deny Salva's header. Then in the 51st minute Iniesta send in a beautiful chipped cross ahead of the defense on to an advancing Alves; Alves produced a neat header over the keeper to register Barca's fifth of the night. In the 54th minute Valdes pulled off another save to keep a clean sheet intact. In the 57th minute Eto scored his second of the night. Sylvinho who is improving with more matches he is playing blasted a great shot from 25 yards out; Goitia saved it but the rebound fell to Henry who unselfishly squared the ball to Eto for a simple finish. It was surprising to see Barca not able to increase the lead even with half an hour left. Soon after the goal Guardiola took off both Iniesta and Xavi. Camp Nou faithfuls gave both the players a deserving standing ovation when they were taken off and was replaced with Bojan and Gudjohnsen. That substitution put almost five starikers on the pitch. The tempo of the game dropped after that and the only decent chance was for Bojan who shot his shot saved by Goitia off a great Messi pass.

Iniesta is said to be out for ten to fifteen days. That means he will not be available for International duties; but should be back in the squad for Barca's next match. Eventhough the performance at attack was great but we were troubled at times at the defense. But credit to Caceres and Marquez for holding firm. Keita who filled in for Toure played well; but it also showed that Toure is the best option we have in that position. Overall this was great result and a great step forward. We have clearly gotten over the little slump we had and what we need now is to have our players to escape any injuries.