Valencia vs Barca Preview

FC Barcelona will be looking to continue their good run with a victory at Mestalla. Valencia is surely in great form and will be difficult to beat. But Barca players know that a defeat at tonight will make life worse in all friends. A defeat here will raise doubts of our chances in Europe and will give new lease of life to Real Madrid. Hence Guardiola has stated that this game will be the most important for Barca. Guardiola has left out Sylvinho and Caceres from the squad which travels to Valencia. The squad consists of Valdés, Jorquera, Alves, Abidal, Márquez, Piqué, Puyol, Touré, Sergio Busquets, Keita, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Hleb, Bojan, Eto'o, Messi, Henry. Mean while as I have mentioned in my last post, Valencia will be missing Joaquin and Albelda. There were earlier hopes that Guardiola will like to rest many of his players in this game. But with Real Madrid keeping up the pace he will be forced to field his best eleven.

For Barca most of the danger will come from the two Davids - Silva and Villa. Negotiating them will require our midfield to take control of the game and for that we should need Iniesta and Xavi in the midfield. Toure would be expected to join hands with them in the midfield. Messi, Eto and Henry should form the midfield. Alves, Abidal, Pique and Puyol should form the defense infront of Valdes. Once again Barca should look to finish off the game early so that some tiring legs can get some rest. BUt playing Valencia at Mestall is not going to be easy. Valencia went through a prolonged rough patch but now looked like have turned the corner. But still Barcelona's excellent form should take them through this challenge. More importantly Messi is fresh after being rested last game and Iniesta is getting into kind of form which is challenging Messi himself. I expect Barca to win by a margin of 0-3.

4 Reasons Why Eto Won't Leave in Summer

English Tabloid "The Daily Mirror" has reported that Samuel Eto has rejected a chance to move to cash rich Manchester City. Manchester City was reported to be ready to splash 39 million for the service of the Cameroonian striker. Samuel Eto has been in the midst of a contract negotiation and that has resulted in so many rumours. Samuel Eto's current contract ends up in 2010 and it is reported that FC Barcelona don't want a situation where they end up not making any money of the striker. At the start of the season Guardiola was not interested in the Cameroonian and tried every possibility to offload him. But now he has revamped himself as a essential part of Barca's plot. He is looking to get a better contract and all the time and that has lead to all these rumours. But I have reasons to believe that he will not make the shift:

1) La Liga is The Best:

I am not opening a debate of which league is better here. But for a striker like Eto, I think La Liga is the best. Every La Liga team emphasise more on attack rather than defense. Most of the league like EPL or Serie A emphasises more on defense. Eto is a poacher, 80% of his goals will be simple tappin or easy finishes. His vision and aggression makes those 80% chances. In Premier League or Serie A teams tend to be more organised in defense and will take more effort to score, especially the top four.

2) The Best Supply Chain:

No where in the world he will find a supply chain like Barca's. Iniesta and Xavi are world's best playmakers and creates tons of chances for Eto. Actually for every goal he scores he wastes 2, but that is the pace with which Barca play. Even Henry has been assisting him well for Goals.

3) Linking with Messi:

Messi undoubtedly is the best player in the world. Every striker's dream is to play with best player in the world. He already had the fortune of having Ronaldinho supplying him with assists early on, and his understanding with Messi makes everyone believe that he can surely recreate the same.

4) Competing In All Places:

At FC Barcelona he has a better chance of winning trophies than anywhere. Winning trophies at Manchester City could be very tough. Inter may be the Champions in Waiting in Italy, but their form in Europe is very poor. AC Milan may do well in Europe but then they are inconsistent in Italy. FC Barcelona will be a force to reckon with in every competition. They are always the first or second favourite of bookies.

Taking all these into consideration, it is difficult to believe that he will prefer to leave Barca. Barca will offer him a better contract this summer, and I am pretty sure he is going to take that. Do you think that Barca should sign a striker even when Eto decides to stay?

Antonio Banderas Impressed by Barca and Iniesta

Hollywood Actor Antonio Banderas was present in the Nou Camp VIP box during the FC Barcelona vs Sevilla match. The Desperado star has revealed his admiration for Barca and the way they played on the night. While talking to Barca TV he mentioned that Barca had a good chance of winning all three competitions – League, Cup and Champions League: “I can see Barça as champion in all three competitions. They’re unstoppable and I will risk saying they will win the three titles”. Banderas also singled out Andres Iniesta for special praise - "It was a beautiful game of football with a fundamental star - Andrés Iniesta. He’s surprising everyone. Whichever team you support you have to take your hat off to Barça. They’re making us enjoy the season and they’ll give the fans a lot of pleasure". Earlier Antonio Banderas met club president Joan Laporta who presented him with a FC Barcelona shirt bearing the actor's name. After the match against Sevilla, compliments are coming for Barca players from all the side. BUt they should be careful not to be complacent with the praises all around. We are well placed in three of the premier competition but there is still a huge possibility of us ending without a silverware.

In other news, Valencia has reportedly suffered another set back in their preparation to take on Barca at Mestalla. Valencia's influential winger, Joaquin has been ruled out from the clash between Barca and Valencia. This is in addition to the absence of David Albelda who also is sidelined with injuries. Meanwhile the squad trained on Thursday at the Joan Gamper complex. The only absentees were Milito and Caceres. Caceres missed training due to laryngitis, which is inflammation of the larynx. Subhankar Mondal, from Goal.com has taken his love for Real Madrid to another level. He wrote an article asking Whether Pepe Should Be Forgiven for HIs Deeds? Actually it is more like he is pointing out reasons and excuses for forgiving Pepe. According to him, since Pepe didn't hurt Casquero that much, he could be forgotten. It is in the same line of "If someone shoots you and misses, he should be forgotten and if he didn't misses he shouldn't".

FC Barcelona vs Sevilla Pictures on 22/04/09

FC Barcelona Player Rating against Sevilla on 22/04/09

Valdes - 6.5 - Had a decent night. Kept another clean sheet. Now he has not conceded a goal for 632 minutes in the league. Looked a bgit more nervous in the end but was sloid otherwise.

Abidal - 7 - Was solid throughout the match. It's true that capel did get past him at some time. But that's ok. Otherwise did very well in defense and did contribute somewhat upfront.

Marquez - 6.5 - Another confident display. Did well throughout the match. Was the culprit in leaving Kone free for the header, luckily for him Kone wasted the chance. Had a long range shot brushing the bar.

Pique - 7 - Was better than his counterpart. Did well throughout except in some occasion against Capel. Had a great chance to enter the scoresheet but wasted it.

Alves - 7.5 - Left lots of spaces in defense but linked really well in attack. May be he was missing messi a bit.

Xavi - 9 - Another brilliant performance from the General. His understanding with Iniesta is out of this world. Took his goal really well. Was involved in most of Barca attack.

Toure - 8 - Great performance. Never noticed him in the entire match but was solid in cutting most of Sevilla moves. He gave Xavi the freedom to venture forward.

Keita - 7 - Had a decent game. Had a blocked shot. He has no problem going forward.

Iniesta - 9.5 - One goal and three assist, what can we say more. May be we will still demand more from him. Actuall he should had three more assist if xavi, Eto and Pique took their easy chances well. The best thing is he is improving in every match. This performance will force Barca fans to recognise that he is as good as Messi.

Eto - 8 - Wasted some chances but took his goal.Was involved very much in attack. It was good to see he getting involved after a couple of poor matches.

Henry - 8.5 - Two of the goals came after Henry stole the ball and that said everything about his performance. Converted his goal well from a tight angle.

Substitutes : Hleb (6), Bojan (6) and Sylvinho (6)

Man Of The Match - Andres Iniesta

Iniesta's day Out; Fc barcelona-4, Sevilla-0

FC Barcelona restored their lead on top with an emphatic victory over the Andulucian side, Sevilla at home. Barca scored 4 goals within an hour mark to completely rout a sorry looking Sevilla side, who were condemned to their third straight league defeat. Real Madrid player Marcelo has last week claimed that we will draw against Sevilla and Valencia and also will lose against Real Madrid and Deportivo. With Sevilla victory now Marcelo would be forced to change his plans. It was indeed Iniesta's day out. Everyone knew how talented Iniesta was but everyone doubted his ability to lead the attack. He undone those doubters with a magnificent display scoring one and assisting three goals in a 4-0 victory. Iniesta scored the first one and Eto the second in the first half; Xavi and Henry scored in the second half to take it 4-0. Guardiola decided to rest Messi and Iniest aplayed in that position. As expected Eto and Henry joined him upfront. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Toure and Keita. The defense was formed by Alves, Pique, Marquez and Abidal. As usual Valdes kept the goal.

The game started in the perfect way for Barca with Iniesta scoring in the third minute. Henry robbed the ball from Sevilla player and played it to Iniesta, Iniesta continued his run and curled his shot past goal keeper into the top right corner. In the 5th minute Iniesta won the ball, runs at defender and was brought down just outside the box. Alves took the resultant free kick but was deflected just high off the bar by the wall. In the 8th minute Iniesta played the ball to Eto, Eto took a clever touch inside the box taking the ball away from the defenders and making space but his final shot went high. In the 12th minute Sevilla's Capel send in a great cross from the right, Alves was guilty of leaving a Sevilla player unmarked on the left, luckily he put his shot wide off goal. In the 14th minute Alves send in a great shot but went wide off near post. Then in the 17th minute Eto put Barca 2-0 ahead. It was a classic Barca move with almost all of the team getting involved. As expected the goal was made by the little geniuses of Xavi and Iniesta. Iniesta played the ball to xavi and continued his run into box; Xavi immediately played the ball bact to Iniesta who squared it to Eto for an easy finish. Then in the 24th minute Henry's low shoft was defelcted for a corner. Xavi took a short corner placing the ball to Iniesta, who send in a great cross which found Pique infront of the goal but he shot high. Then in the 35th minute in a rare counter Capel send in a great cross into the centre but luckily Kone send the header wide. The defending for that cross was pretty poor and that would give enough hope to Chelsea. Then in the 37th minute Xavi wasted an excellent oppurtunity to go 3-0 ahead. Iniesta send in a great ball to Xavi who was unmarked in the box, but his chip over Goalie went wide. Then in the 44th minute Iniesta gave the ball to Eto, Eto did well to turn and shoot forcing a save from goalie; the rebound fell to Henry buit Goal Keeper, Varas did well to save that too.

FC Barcelona went 3-0 ahead early in the second half. In the 49th minute Henry robbe the ball and surged forward; he passed the ball to Eto in the centre who gave it to Iniest on the right, Iniesta placed the ball to Xavi who send in a great shot into the right corner of the goal. In the 52nd minute Marquez saw his long range shot from 30 yards out brushing the crossbar. In the 54th minute Barca completed the tally when Henry slotted the ball past Varas from a very tight angle in the left and once again Iniesta played a delightful ball to Henry. In the 60th minute Guardiola decided to bring on Hleb to give Iniesta some deserving rest. The Camp Nou faithfuls gave him a standing ovation. In the 66th minute Keita had a shot blocked by Goal Keeper, Varas. In the 74th minute Xavi was taken off and Bojan was brought in. In the 82nd minute Marquez was replaced by Sylvinho. The game neded with Eto seeing his shot blocked by Varas after the defender gave the ball away with a stupid backpass.

Sevilla with their quality wingers was supposed to be a danger for Barca. But we negotiated them well. Capal did trouble our defense but that was on very few occasions. The good thing was that we won well against a quality opponent and that without Messi. We once again managed to shut down Real Madrid's chances. Messi was successful in getting some rest ahead of some gruelling schedule and that is good for FC Barcelona. The only negative was the yellow card for Alves and Abidal. Abidal looked very good in the left flank and I have to say that he is finally showing his true qualities.

FC Barcelona vs Sevilla Preview

Latest Update : Messi Misses Training due to Stomach Pain, but still is expected to make the squad.
FC Barcelona would be knowing exactly what result need to get against Sevilla to maintain or increase their lead at top. Real Madrid is playing tonight and according to Marcelo, he expects Barcelona to drop points in this fixture. Sevilla meanwhile is in a losing streak first losing to Getafe and now losing to Valencia on Sunday. Earlier this season FC Barcelona destroyed Sevilla at their home ground by a scoreline of 0-3. Lionel Messi scored twice and Eto once to seal that encounter. Sevilla surely would be up for revenge in this leg but their task is going to be a real tough one. FC Barcelona showed an uncharacteristic slopiness infront of goal in last week encounter against Getafe. A repeat of the same attitude infront of goal could be costly in this leg. Even though this is a tough encounter, we need to win it as early as possible for giving some essential players some rest. Iniesta, Pique and Xavi has been playing non-stop for sometime and they need to rest their legs before other crucial encounters.

GUardiola is expected to name the squad pretty late, but then that has been in the case with every home match. But I don't see any reason why we will not name our strongest squad against Sevilla. Kanoute and Fabiano is very much the danger and we don't have the privilage to relax against them. Valdes is expected to guard the goal and will be looking to extend the clean sheet record to seventh consecutive match. For that he need hell lot of help from his defense which most probably would feature Alves, Pique, Puyol and Abidal. Yaya Toure is expected to return as the defensive midfielder after being rested for the match against Getafe. Iniesta and Xavi for me should start in the midfield. And against Sevilla we should have our best atatck line, which is Messi, Eto and Henry. I am expecting a Barca to cruise through this match. Iniesta looked in top form last week and surprisingly he is still improving, and that's a better news. Messi, for the last two matches looked really good but wasn't helped by slopiness from Eto. By the way Eto cannot have three bad games in a row and hence I expect him to do well in this match. Ok, my prediction is a 2-0 victory for Barca.