Lionel messi Destroys Bayern in Champions league QF First Leg

Yah, he is back. He is surely back. He is surely back to his best. After a series of not so great performance, Lionel Messi produced what he knows best, exciting football to maul a very talented Bayern Munich side. Two first half goals from Messi, and one each from Eto and Henry all in the first half was enough for Barca to see off the German challenge. FC Barcelona virtually has assured of a semi-final spot courtesy of a splendid Messi performance who set up one and scored two goals. Now it is all for Barca to lose in the second leg. As I wrote in the preveiew - Barca vs Bayern Preview, the midfield dominated the possession and with the forwards in such form, there was no stopping of the Catalan goal machines. The only negative point was the sending off of Guardiola after protest for Messi being booked for diving. Maybe you can point the inability to score in the second half as another but then can't blame anyone. FC barcelona had 65% of possession; seven shorts on target to Bayern's one; 19 shots to Bayern's five and had 12 corners to Bayern's one. Those statistics show off the superiority of this Barcelona side and 93,219 Camp Nou faithfuls were enthralled by a display which could force once again the best in Europe to take notice. Guardiola started with a line up as predicted in the preview. Alves, Pique, Marquez and Puyol formed the defense ahead of Valdes. Xavi and Iniesta formed the attacking midfielders along side Yaya Toure. Messi, Eto and Henry formed the usual attacking trio.

FC Barcelona took some time to get their attack moving. In the sixth minute Henry had Barca's first shot forcing Demichelis to clear the ball off the line. Then in the ninth minute Messi put Barca in the lead. Iniesta played the ball to Eto who held the ball off drawing defenders and leaving Messi completely unmarked; Eto then slid the ball to Messi who fired a precision low shot past Goal keeper to the far left corner. Then in the 12th minute Messi received the ball on the left and ran towards centre; he then provided a great ball putting Eto ahead who finished the move with great precision through Goal Keepers leg. Eto was marginally offside but the linesman didn't call so the goal stood. Then in the 17th minute Messi shold have won a penalty when he turned inside and was brought down by the trailing leg of Christian Lell; but instead the Referee Howard Webb from England booked him for diving. Guardiola protested heavily with the fourth official and linesman which resulted in he being send off. In the 22nd minute Iniesta send in a fantastic ball to henry but his shot went wide of the far post. Then in the 38th minute Messi made it three nil when he slid ahead of the defenders to slot past the cross from Henry. Then in the 43rd minute Messi ran in from the right exchanged the ball with Alves and then laid the ball to Eto; Van Bommel stabbed at the ball to take it from Eto but unfortunately for Bommel it fell to Henry who curled the ball low past the Goal Keeper.

In the second half Barca looked more interested in keeping the possession. In the 59th minute Messi saw his low shot well saved by the Goal Keeper. In the 74th minute Henry was replaced with Keita. In the 81st minute Busquets was brought in for Toure and Eto was replaced in the 89th minute by Krkic. The second half didn't see mouch of Barca's attacking powers but plenty of possession powers. They managed to keep a clean sheet and that will be an added advantage for Barca when they play the second leg at Bayern. Messi was excellent but every player was more than good in their respective position. In the other match chelsea surprisingly sprung to life and defeated Liverpool 1-3 away from home. Liverpool had been the in form team in England at this moment but their Anfield fort was wrecked by Chelsea's aerial power. If we don't do any drastic mistakes in Germany there is a high chance we will meet Chelsea rather than Liverpool in the semi-final.
Highlights : FC Barcelona vs Bayern Goals

FC Barcelona vs Bayern Munich Preview - Champions League Quarter Final

The fact that Bayern were thrashed by Wolfsburg is no comfort for Barcelona to the build up of this match. As some of the Bayern players revealed, both are different type of games. Gerrard Pique pointed out the important of keeping a clean sheet against Bayern to progress to the next stage. But realistically speaking that could be one hell of a task. No one disagrees to the fact that we need to win this match really well. And to do that Barca's midfield needs to dominate the entire game. The duo of Iniesta and Xavi has to start in the middle and we need all our players to be on top of their game. Bayern was in excellent form in the first knock-out stage scoring 12 goals against a hapless Sporting Lisbon team. FC Barcelona start this game as clear favourite but seeing what happened in Old Trafford last night there is no room for complecency. Bayern is facing a crisis in the defensive department. Their main defender Lucio is expected to miss this game due to the injury he picked up against Wolfsburg. Already Klose was declared unfit for this game. But still the likes of Lahm and Ribery on the left could give Dani Alves a torrid time defending. Everyone expect Toni and Podolski to start the match up front.

Guardiola has named a 19 member squad for tonight's clash. Hleb and Toure returns back into the squad. The squad list - Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Marquez, Piqué, Caceres, Sylvinho, Toure, Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Hleb, Messi, Bojan, Eto'o, Henry. There may not be any surprise in the line-up for tonight's match. Guardiola is expected to line-up a defensive formation of Alves, Marquez, Pique and Puyol ahead of Valdes. The midfield which will be the most crucial in Barca's plan has to be Iniesta, Toure and Xavi. Messi, Eto and Henry should form the attacking trio. It's been some time we have seen Messi in full flow. The style of Bayern's game will give him space to showcase his skills. It is very much important for Barca to atatck Bayern from the word go. If we succeed in dominating possession we will definitely come through the Bayern challenge. I expect a very competitive game with Barca emerging victorious with a margin of 3-1.

Andres Iniesta vs Xavi Hernandez; The Dangerous Duo

So, the debate rages on; who is better Xavi or Iniesta. Nic from FCBNews did a poll to find the second best Barca player after Messi; not surprisingly that soon become a head-on clash between two of Barca's little midfield brains. Iniesta emerged victorious ahead of Xavi but with a narrow margin. There is no doubt that FC Barcelona has been blessed with two of the world's best midfielders in Xavi and Iniesta; no soccer fans will deny that. But picking one of them is the toughest job in hand. Xavi Hernandez is the midfield General of the side. He controls and drives the midfield and there is no doubt that he is also the captain in waiting for both club and the national side. After Guardiola took over he has improved a lot in the scoring section. He regularly finds himself in the scoresheet and no one can forget the number of assists he got. Andres Iniesta is fondly called "The Choir Boy" by media and fans. That name suggests his humble and unassuming nature. He is indeed an exception in an era where the most average of football players vie for media attention. He does his job day in, day out with not much fuss. He is an excellent dribbler and his dribbles have unsettled the best of defensive opponents. His inability to get into score sheet is always pinned against him but no one can deny the fact that many of his teammates get into scoresheet courtesy of his skills. He needs to be a bit more aggressive as I have written earlier - Time For Iniesta To Be Aggressive. He is more versatile that Xavi; actually than anyone in the side. He has played in more position that any in the history of the game and actually did very well in all those positions. Guardiola started using his front left and that has already started a debate about "Whether to Have Henry or Iniesta in the front". I will come to that in a later post.

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Valladolid - 0, Barca - 1

A late first half strike from Eto made sure that FC Barcelona gave up any momentum in the La Liga chase. FC Barcelona were made to work over time by a gritty Valladolid side and towards the second half looked in more trouble. This was no classic Barca performance but it is still a very valuable win. We always have a high chance to drop points after an international break but this time we kicked the habit. Guardiola as expected decided to omit his Latin American players - Messi and Alves from the starting line up. Henry was also given the rest. Valdes once again guarded the goal. Puyol was slotted in as the Right Back but had to play the left back role after Alves came in the second half. Marquez and Pique agains combined to form the centre of defense and Sylvinho took his loeft back position. The midfield was very defensive with Keita and Busquets playing along with Xavi. Iniesta, Eto and Pedro formed the attack line.

The game started slowly and Barca's first attack came in the 12th minute with Pedro forcing a save from Asenjo. In the 35th minute Eto took the ball to right and pulled the ball back to Xavi who shot high. Then in the 40th minute Eto put Barca ahead with a delicate chip over an advancing Asenjo's head. The move started with Eto passing the ball to Xavi and continuing with his run, Xavi then played a delightful chipped cross over defense to find Eto who chipped the ball over Asenjo's head. In the 42nd minute Iniesta produced a great dribble into the box, skipped past two defenders but his final curling shot did not had the power to beat Asenjo. Barca went to the lead with a goal lead and was hoping to dominate possession more in the second half. But Valladolid came after the break more determined and did force many silly passing mistakes from barca's midfield.

In the 50th minute Eto shot over from an Iniesta pass. But Valladolid was getting back to the match. In the 55th minute Valdes was tested for the first time. Then in the 58th minute Valdes made a decent save to deny Escudero who got past Puyol and Marquez with ease. In the 59th minute Guardiola took off Pedro and Sylvinho and brought in Messi and Alves. Puyol moved to the left. In the 67th minute Alves did well to clear danger from a dangerous cross from the left. In the 72st minute Keita heads wide from an excellent Alves cross. Then in the 75th minute Iniesta produced a great moment of magic. He grabbed the ball from a defenders leg and skips past defender to get into area but another defender stuck his foot and send the ball wide. In the 79th minute Alves looked as if he was going to send in a cross to centre instead shot staright into the goal; Asenjo did well to block but theball fell to Eto who despite reacting quickly couldn't direct it properly.

As I said earlier this victory is a very good one as we were able to shut the door firmly on Madrid. Now the entire concentration shifts to Munich clash. Bayern lost yesterday to VfL Wolfsburg by 5-1. There are many who think Iniesta should replace Henry on the left. It is a very good argument; but the truth simply is that without Iniesta our midfiedl doesn't dominate as much as we want. So for me he is more important in the midfield that up front.

Real Valladolid vs Barca Preview

After two weeks break La Liga will be back in action from tonight. FC barcelona is making the trip to Valladolid tonight to take their quest for La Liga title forward. Barca finds themselves in quite trickly situation. The south American players joined the squad late compare to the Europe based players. We have failed to win consistently this season after an international break, that puts Barca in a tricky situation. Real Madrid will be on our heels looking for any weakness. Guardiola would be hard done by the fact that he had most of his squad on international duties and he also got a crusial Champions League tie coming up. Instead of blaming FIFA for the tight schedule the big clubs in Europe should persuade UEFA to re-arrange their Champions League fixtures so that it does not fall in a week after Internationa duties. Valladolid lies ninth in the table and would be a difficult place for Barca to travel especially after an international break. They have been pretty inconsistent with their form at home. They have beaten the likes of Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Real Madrid at home; but then they have gone down to teams like Racing, Betis, Malaga etc at home. The last time FC Barcelona met them at Camp Nou, Barca scored six past them withoout any reply.

Guardiola has nnounced his travelling squad ahead of the clash. Alexanded Hleb has been left out as a precaution after he suffered a knock while on international duties. Yaya Toure and Abidal both are still out with injury. But Iniesta and Puyol has recovered from their injuries and has made it into the squad. The squad is Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Márquez, Piqué, Cáceres, Puyol, Sylvinho, Sergio Busquets, Keita, Xavi, Iniesta, Gudjohnsen, Henry, Eto'o, Messi, Bojan, Pedro. It is still not clear whether Guardiola will start with Messi in the starting line up. I see only a substitute role for him. Valdes has been in the media for his contract negiotiations with Barca, but he is sure to guard Barca's goal. Puyol, Pique, Marquez and Sylvinho could form the defense. Guardiola would do Alves a favour by resting him as he is back from his trip to South America. Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta would form the midfield. Henry and Eto should form the front trio along with Pedro. Again it would be better to rest Messi and bring him in the second half only if the situation demands it. Iniesta need s to have quality playing time as we cannot afford for him to be rusty in Bayern match. Xavi has been over working but I don't think we can afford to start with him on the bench. True to our form after International break we could struggle here; but as Busquets pointed out that should not be an excuse. This could be a tight game but Barca could see home due to their exceptional players.
My prediction : Vallodolid - 1, Barca - 3.

Argentina Humiliated, Spain Marches On; International Results

The second leg of world cup qualification has just gotten over. There were some extremely surprising result. Again I will start with my favourite, Argentina. Argentina equalled their worst ever defeat at the high altitude of Bolivia by a score line of 6-1. Yup, you read that right! It is six goals against one. This is Maradona's first defeat as the national team coach. Maradona's after match comments reveals the extend of dissappointment - "“There are no excuses. They thoroughly beat us and there is nothing else to say except to give credit to Bolivia. Whenever they attacked, they scored. And each goal that they scored was like a dagger through my heart." Bolivia lies 9th in the table and did a world of good to their qualification quest by this victory. This lose coulkd be good for Barca as Messi would be eager to forget that with some sensational performance. With Brazil winning against Peru by 3-0, Argentina now moved to fourth in the table. Dani Alves started in the Brazilian line-up and did provide the assist for Fabiano's and Brazil's second goal. Luis Fabiano struck twice in the first half and another goal from Felipe Melo completed a comfortable victory for Brazil. Martin Caceres' side Uruguay held on to a valuable goalless draw against Chile away from home. Chile lies third in the table while Uruguay lies fifth.

Mexico minus Marquez (who is suspended) lost to Honduras 3-1 away from home. This defeat has raised more questions about their chance of qualification and also on Errickson's future. While in Europe, Spain continued their relentless march with a late victorty againt Turkey. Semih SENTURK put Turkey ahead in the first half but Xabi Alonso equalised just after the hour mark from a spot kick; Riera then grabbed the winner late in the injury time. FC Barcelona players Xavi and Pique started in the line-up, while Busquets made a second half entry. In another match Hleb's Belarus overwhelmed Kazakhstan by 5-1. Kazak's opened the scoring through Renat but Hleb equalised in the 47th minute. After that two goals from Kalachev and one each from Stasevich and Rodionov sealed the match for Belarus. Meanwhile a solitory goal from inform Ribery gave France a valuable victory against Lithuania.

FC Barcelona may go after Peter Cech

In my last post Victor Valdes fights for a Better Contract I have mentioned that in all this contract fight Victor Valdes could be the biggest loser. With a chance of Valdes moving out, there are reports emerging about FC Barcelona looking seriously for a replacement. And the first named to be linked is not some small one - it is Peter Cech, the current Chelsea custodian. FC Barcelona was interested in signing the Czech some years back; but if the MundoDeportivo is to be believed, they have not yet given up on the pursuit of him. Peter Cech is widely regarded as one of the best in Europe. Currently he is 26 years old and has so much playing time left in his career. But it is still difficult to imagine Chelsea letting him go. In 2007 when quizzed about a move to Barcelona, Cech did sound a bit positive and that fact should give hope for FC Barcelona establishment. But the chances of signing him at this moment remains very slight and cannot see the bosses going all out after him. FC Barcelona management would like to keep their pursuit as secretive as possible, true to their management style.

Peter Cech could be one of rare goalies who has some kind of record in wherever he played. He holds the Czech professional league record of not conceding a goal in 855 competitive minutes. He also has a club record at his former team Sparta Praha, having gone 928 minutes unbeaten in all competitions in 2001—2002. During the 2004-05 season, Cech went 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal - a former Premier League record until Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United bettered it. Wikipedia says that "Cech started out as a midfielder/striker for the youth team of his hometown club Viktoria Plzen, occasionally taking the centre forward position in games.He started playing in goal when there main goalkeeper couldn't come anymore." Now that's going to make Barca fans more happy. But as I mentioned earlier - he would be a great signing, but difficult one to complete. In other news The doctor who performed operation on Milito's Knee sounded confident of about Milito's return to competitive football this season. It's almost a year since he played last. He has slowly returned to normal training but when he will get to play is still a mystery.