Copa del Rey |Round 16 - 2nd leg: Osasuna vs FCBarcelona

~ FCBarcelona Squad vs Osausna [ Thursday @ 10PM Barcelona Time | +1 GMT]

Alves (precaution due to some discomfort), Iniesta (technical decision) and Maxwell [to PSG] aren't in the squad for Osasuna. Cuenca, Montoya and Sergi Roberto are called up.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/list-of-18-without-iniesta-alves-and-maxwell
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Line-up Predictions:

Pinto
Montoya Masche Fontas Adriano
Xavi Sergio Thiago
Cuenca Messi Pedro

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~ STATS:

- 1st leg result: FCBarcelona 4 - 0 Osasuna.

- In #Copa del Rey (History): Osasuna played 5 ties vs #FCBarcelona, won just once )on penalties).

- Osasuna needs to win by minimum 4 goals vs #FCBarcelona to qualify [ Last time Barca lost by 4 goals; vs. Getafe 2007 #Copa Semi |0-4].

Given that we won the first match by a 4 goal margin.... what's stopping us from fielding an entire Barca B side?

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Given that we won the first match by a 4 goal margin.... what's stopping us from fielding an entire Barca B side?

I agree...

Pinto
Montoya - Mascherano - Fontas - Adriano
Roberto - JDS - Thiago
Cuenca - Messi -Pedro

There is a limit to how many reserve players can be at the pitch in a game.

I think we should have at least 8 or 9 first team players in the pitch in Copa matches.

Can someone please confirm this?

Relatively easy task but nonetheless out of percussion i think we should have some first team players... just of few seasons ago Getafi hurt us in CDR when we thought were already through.. take it easy !

Also i kind of wonder... will pep play Pinto against Madrid ?.. i rather Pinto starts a few LA Liga matches, even big ones, against Sevilla, Valencia, Bilbao... but not against Madrid again to be safer. Lets not facilitate this title for them when they are ahead of us in another one..

there is a slight risk the game could be postponed due to the thick fog in Pamplona. Weird huh?

EDIT:

Wow haha, that's some freakish fog

Bad news for Fontas. Poor guy had not much playing time, and now looks like his season is over

Was not able to catch the match. Goal.com has Messi as the flop of the match, accurate?

Messi played? lol

I was watching up untill Alexi scored, then fell asleep.

I dont see how its possible, even if he came on, to be flop of the game.

The Franchise wrote:Messi played? lol

I was watching up untill Alexi scored, then fell asleep.

I dont see how its possible, even if he came on, to be flop of the game.

He wasn't.

He played like 30 minutes, made dangerous runs and passes as usual and assisted, although he did get dispossessed on a few occasions hence the flop shouts most likely

We barely did anything from before I feel asleep.

Most of our attacks were from wide rather then through the middle and our possession wasnt deep in their half, we didnt push them back so well.

If Messi came on and started playing passes in the middle, regardless of if he turned the ball over or not, it must of been an improvement over what I saw prior to that.

What injury did Fontas take? I knew it was bad as soon as I saw he was clutching his knee and took an awkward fall.

"On first examination it appears that Andreu Fontàs has injured his cruciate ligaments in his right knee - more tests will be done" #fcblive

fcblive @FCB_LJ Live
Official: Fontas has broken a ligament in his right knee and will undergo a surgery in the coming days.

Damn, what shame, poor guy, good luck to Fontas and I hope he recovers quickly!

Poor Fontas. First he gets "Pep's shunning" treatment, now when he plays gets a severe injury. Hope he recovers well and can continue improving as a player afterwards. Next season.

On the match, first half performance was awful and boring. In the second half we were much better, even before Messi came in. When Messi came in it was enough to turn the game around. Very well taken goal from Sergi Roberto who played as a fake 9 in the second half and did well.

Also sad to see Pedro injured. He was playing very well in the first half. The man who cannot drible, dribled 4-5 times and set up numerous counterattacks, but Cuenca and Sanchez were hopeless in the first half.
According to MD, it's a very minor injury and he could be back in 10 days, missing the league game and possibly the Cup game.

Anims Fonti!!! Damn I really like Fontas and I see that he's obviously a good guy because he's already become close friends with the Moc Moc trio and is well loved in the squad. I hate Pep's shunning treatment and I don't think its warranted for Fontas... He has shown a lot of potential and is perfect for a 3 man defence. He's also a very good defensive mid, and I'd prefer him there to Keita and Mascherano actually. He has a lot more DNA for that position.

I hope both him and Afellay can come back and fight their way into this team because they have had horrible luck. Anims Fonti!!!


And just sayin'.... I told you all so. Right again.

Some years ago I coached a U-14 football team. A friend of mine, who is also a football fan and ex-player, always recommended me that in order to impose myself I should pick up one kid, whoever, and shun him for the first day.
Treat him badly, not let him play much, punish him for any small misbehaviour, etc. He said that this esnures a good behaviour of the rest of the players. :D

I never used this technique, because they are just amateur kids, but I feel that Guardiola took a cue from my friend. In 2008/09 he threw the "shunning treatment" on Caceres, in 09/10 on Bojan, Henry and Chikitinsky, in 10/11 on Bojan and Milito. It worked well for him, hehe.

Another bad game bad Pedro, a lot of turnovers (11), mediocre by Sanchez, at least he scored and another injuries. Terrible first half, decent second, Messi shouldn't play, unnecessary appearance for him. Boring game overall.

It was Messi's appearance that changed the game. Even though it was unneccessary, it showed how much an impact he has in this Barcelona squad.