Champions League (matchday #4): Viktoria vs FCBarcelona

`Champions League (matchday #4): Viktoria vs FCBarcelona
Tuesday, 1-11-2011 @ 8:45 PM Barcelona Time

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`Full Squad:

Barça B’s Cuenca and Oier. Of these, Alexis Sánchez is the only one who has not yet been given medical clearance to play.

- GKs: Valdes, Pinto, Oier
- Defence: Pique, Puyol, Mascherano, Fontas, Abidal, Alves, Maxwell & Adriano
- Midfielders: Busquets, Kieta, Xavi, Iniesta, Thiago & Fabregas
- Forwards: David Villa, Messi, Cuenca & Alexis

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada11-12/10/31/n111031120056.html

`Injuried Players: Pedro & Afellay.

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~ STATS ~

► FC Barcelona have played five games on Czech soil in the past. They have won twice, drawn once and lost twice.

` FCBarcelona Record vs Czech Republic teams in Champions League.

8 matches ( 5W, 1 D, 2L) scored 17 goals & conceeded 7.
@Home (3W, 0D, 1L) scored 12 goals & conceeded 4.
Away (2W,1D, 1L) scored 5 goals & conceeded 4.

► Guardiola’s side has won their last three away games in Europe: 0-1 in Donetsk, 0-2 in Madrid and 0-5 in Minsk. They beat Porto 2-0 in Monaco.

► Barça have let in 395 goals in all European ties in the past.

► No team has scored more goals than Barça in this year’s edition (9). The Catalans have also won the highest number of corners (29).

► David Villa is the only player that has scored in all three group games played to date.

► Leo Messi has had the most shots on targets (8 ).

► Viktoria Plzen are unbeaten at home this season. In their four European fixtures they have won three (all in the preliminary rounds) and drew with BATE (1-1).

► Dani Alves is one yellow card away from a suspension.

► Barça have not lost an official game for 22 matches, the last time being on April 30 away to Real Societat, 2-1).

► Tonight’s referee is Austria’s Robert Schörgenhofer, who is in charge of his third ever game in the competition. He has never officiated in a game involving either Viktoria Plzen or Barça.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada11-12/11/01/n111101120059.html

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So What is your Line-up/ Formation & Score Predictions?

` Taking into consideration that:
- Dani Alves is one yellow card away from suspension ( he has 2YCs in CL)
- Alves needs some rest,played 15/16 matches.
- Xavi has a small injury on Saturday, this is why he didn't play ( may he needs more rest?)
- Viktoria will park the bus.

IMO,

3-4-3

---------------Valdes----------------
--- Pique ----- Puyol ------- Abidal---
------------- Busquets---------------
---Thiago------------------Iniesta---
-------------- Fabregas -------------
Cuenca/Adriano--Messi-------- Villa

Villa was dropped!!!!

Serious quality on the bench!

Guardiola gives Villa, Xavi & Iniesta some rest.. but Alves is starting :S
Villa is not even on the bench!
Pique & Puyol Back!!
Messi, Pique & Fabregas playing together!


Valdes
Alves Pique Puyol Abidal
Thiago Busquets Fabregas
Cuenca Messi Adriano

Bench: Pinto Mascherano Maxwell Kieta Xavi Ineista & ALEXIS

2 goals from messi already

Messi hat trick at the last minute , back to back hat tricks, what a way to come back from a "crisis"

Shoddy play when it was 11 v 11, lots of crap passes and stagnant movement.

Second half improvement, but they obviously parked the bus and with Xavi and Iniesta it was difficult.


Cesc, dont want to pick on him but he annoys me. In the first half especially, he refused to come get the ball from Busquets, either of the centerbacks or Adriano..Forcing them, especially Busquets and Pique into passes they didnt want to make , longer and harder into difficult areas. Too often Busi went straight to Messi because Cesc wasnt close.

Cesc was a little better in the 2nd half, come to the ball a bit more, but he is still too Lampard-ish.

I like Cuenca, but for this game it was a little difficult for him because he likes to stay wide and get croses in or beat him man 1 v 1. Didnt see much movement diagonal.

Adriano, Alves, Busi, Pique all misplacing balls and doing bad touches and to a lesser extent Cesc, Thiago and then Keita when he came on.

But the result was great and an important win with many players rested.

I swear Cesc only lifted two (maybe 3 max) passes the whole game, not saying it matters. But you'd expect him to spray the ball around more w/ more effort but nah, he just wants to push forward for the most part.

His DNA structure must be more altered than I thought.

`Champions League (Week 4): Viktoria 0 - 4 FCBarcelona FT
Goals: Messi 24' (Pen. won by Messi) 45+2' (assist by Adriano) & 90+2' (GREAT assist by PIQUE), Fabregas 72' (assist by CUENCA)

~ @1victorvaldes hasn't allowed a goal for 877 consecutive minutes. [Previous Club Record: for 824 M.Reina]. VALDES

Champions League (Group H) Standings: 1-Barcelona 10 pts | Milan 8 pts | Bate 2 pts | Viktoria 1 pt #fcblive

~ Messi Stats (2011/2012): 22 Goals & 12 Assists in 17 matches (16 starts)

~ Messi Stats (Champions League):42 Goals + 17 Assists in 60 matches, Messi equals Del Piero's Record [CL Record goals for Raul]

~ Messi Stats at Barca (Career): 202 Goals + 96 Assists in 287 Matches (Minutes played: 21,252).

~ Just one more stat for Messi Today he scored his 14th Hattrick (3 goals ->13 times, 4 goals once vs ARSENAL!)

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Great win, great 4 goals, new records, happy for VALDES but some miss passes/plaus some defensive mistakes :S were annoying to watch..
Happy to see Pique & Puyol starting again.. we need them this month..
Bilbao (Away), ACMilan (Away), Madrid (Away) & finally Clubs World cup ( maybe vs Santos?)

lets hope they stay fit.. Visca el Barca <3

Oh forgot to say, Valdes 1 v 1 save was sensational.

- Thiago 89 passes (97% success) Zero TunOvers.
- Puyol 62 (100%)
- Cuenca 34 (100%)

- Lionel Messi with most passes 98 ( 93%) / one TO.
- Fabregas 96 (90%)/ 2 TO.

I was at work for most of this game, but I saw the first 20.

I read Cuenca had a great game... How good is this kid! He seems to be quality, I wonder how good he can really get.

My dad tells me Sanchez was brilliant when he came on, which suggests to me he'll take the place of Pedro and Villa before the end of the season. I really like Sanchez, great player.

Valdes' save 1v1 The man is a phenomenon 1v1. Generally when a forward goes through on the goalkeeper, they are expected to score 8/10 times and yet against Valdes, strikers have only around a 20% success rate. Criminally underrated as a keeper simply because we are so dominant. IMO Valdes' standard 2 gamesaving saves per game are more important than the average goalies 6 or so standard saves.

Cesc is really frustrating... I don't understand why he struggles so much to control the midfield in a 11v10 situation playing for Barca. I mean wasn't he considered one of the best in the world at Arsenal doing just that and in less favourable conditions?

Alexis was brilliant when he came on btw!

Messi was absolutely brilliant. Let's hope we get to say this many more times in the future.

However right now there is only one central thought in my mind. Iniesta has not been started for three consecutive games. I would like to know what is going on !!!

messixaviesta wrote:Messi was absolutely brilliant. Let's hope we get to say this many more times in the future.

However right now there is only one central thought in my mind. Iniesta has not been started for three consecutive games. I would like to know what is going on !!!

According to Pep, he was very tired after Sevilla's game. I'm pretty sure he'll be back against Bilbao and ready to face Madrid.

Really glad that Xavi and Iniesta got rest.Would have done them a world of good.
BTW what the hell is Messi made of?From the injury plagued kid in his first few seasons he has now turned into Mr.Ironman.
He must have learnt something from that other freak of nature Dani Alves when they were both on vacation.

alexjanosik wrote:Really glad that Xavi and Iniesta got rest.Would have done them a world of good.
BTW what the hell is Messi made of?From the injury plagued kid in his first few seasons he has now turned into Mr.Ironman.
He must have learnt something from that other freak of nature Dani Alves when they were both on vacation.

He learned to eat fish and have a healthy diet, have its own rehabilitator and to be the player that runs the least on the pitch every match.

V wrote:Cesc is really frustrating... I don't understand why he struggles so much to control the midfield in a 11v10 situation playing for Barca. I mean wasn't he considered one of the best in the world at Arsenal doing just that and in less favourable conditions?

Alexis was brilliant when he came on btw!

That is the biggest myth in football that Cesc controlled arsenals MF, he didn't. He played in the hole behind the striker and controlled the ATTACKING PHASE, ala ozil and David Silva. He didn't dictate the tempo of the mf. If Barca wanted another Xavi they really should have gotten Modrictbh, he is the closest player in Europe to Xavi's style of play. Fabregas will never be a Xavi, he lacks the discipline, and is more interested in scoring goals. Pep even called him an anarchist, when Barcelona press he looks lost soimetimes as well. He can fit into Barcelona like a glove indeed...

free_cat wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:Really glad that Xavi and Iniesta got rest.Would have done them a world of good.
BTW what the hell is Messi made of?From the injury plagued kid in his first few seasons he has now turned into Mr.Ironman.
He must have learnt something from that other freak of nature Dani Alves when they were both on vacation.

He learned to eat fish and have a healthy diet, have its own rehabilitator and to be the player that runs the least on the pitch every match.

Didnt know he had his own rehabilitator.
Is he a Barca staff or someone Messi employs personally?
The last part is true.Most of the time he just walks.Still it cant be disputed that he is supremely fit and injury resistant.

alexjanosik wrote:

free_cat wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:Really glad that Xavi and Iniesta got rest.Would have done them a world of good.
BTW what the hell is Messi made of?From the injury plagued kid in his first few seasons he has now turned into Mr.Ironman.
He must have learnt something from that other freak of nature Dani Alves when they were both on vacation.

He learned to eat fish and have a healthy diet, have its own rehabilitator and to be the player that runs the least on the pitch every match.

Didnt know he had his own rehabilitator.
Is he a Barca staff or someone Messi employs personally?
The last part is true.Most of the time he just walks.Still it cant be disputed that he is supremely fit and injury resistant.

A Barça fisio called Juanjo Brau. He is Messi's personal fisio and he even travels with him when he plays with Argentina sometimes.
We owe this injury free Messi to Pep.

free_cat wrote:
According to Pep, he was very tired after Sevilla's game. I'm pretty sure he'll be back against Bilbao and ready to face Madrid.

cat, thanks a lot for the reply. It makes some sense but being rested for three straight games seems a bit too much to me. Heaven forbid, unless something untoward happens, if I don't see Iniesta in the starting lineup vs. Bilbao, I won't like it at all.

BTW El Classico might have to be postponed due to the Club World Cup.

jibers wrote:
That is the biggest myth in football that Cesc controlled arsenals MF, he didn't. He played in the hole behind the striker and controlled the ATTACKING PHASE, ala ozil and David Silva. He didn't dictate the tempo of the mf. If Barca wanted another Xavi they really should have gotten Modrictbh, he is the closest player in Europe to Xavi's style of play. Fabregas will never be a Xavi, he lacks the discipline, and is more interested in scoring goals. Pep even called him an anarchist, when Barcelona press he looks lost soimetimes as well. He can fit into Barcelona like a glove indeed...

I see... I guess I was expecting the wrong things from him. If I were to judge him as a free role AM, he has been doing very well in the goalscoring department but his passing and movement needs to improve. Perhaps he just isn't used to facing so many tightly packed defenses compared to games with Arsenal in the PL? (just an assumption, I welcome other more experienced opinions on this)

free_cat wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

free_cat wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:Really glad that Xavi and Iniesta got rest.Would have done them a world of good.
BTW what the hell is Messi made of?From the injury plagued kid in his first few seasons he has now turned into Mr.Ironman.
He must have learnt something from that other freak of nature Dani Alves when they were both on vacation.

He learned to eat fish and have a healthy diet, have its own rehabilitator and to be the player that runs the least on the pitch every match.

Didnt know he had his own rehabilitator.
Is he a Barca staff or someone Messi employs personally?
The last part is true.Most of the time he just walks.Still it cant be disputed that he is supremely fit and injury resistant.

A Barça fisio called Juanjo Brau. He is Messi's personal fisio and he even travels with him when he plays with Argentina sometimes.
We owe this injury free Messi to Pep.

I actually met him in a hotel once when I was going to see Argentina play, pretty nice guy, probably doesn't get recognized much.