Matchday 31: Zaragoza - Barcelona 20:00 CET/14:00 ET Sat, Apr 7

Discuss the upcoming match here.

The game that should see Afellay come on for 5-15 minutes hopefully as he is ready to play matches. A lineup of Valdes, Alves, Mascherano, Puyol, Adriano, Busquests/Kieta, Thiago, Inestia, Sanchez, Messi, Pedro/Cesc

I wholeheartedly agree with Afellay making his comeback here. Zaragoza are in the relegation zone and play some of the worst football of the league, I'd like to see the match done and dusted and then rotate some second string players in the second half.

As Pep said this game are one of those tough ones even though they may weak opponents. We also need to think of our away record as well and how we drop points. If were up 2-0 or even more and dominating the game there is no really reason why Pep won't use a reserve player. Kieta will probably come on as usual and hopefully Afellay but we should see someone like Montoya or Muniesa come on for Adriano on that left flank as I fear that Adriano might get an injury.

Valdes
Alves Mascherano Puyol Adriano/Muniesa
Busquets
Thiago Iniesta
Pedro Messi Alexis

Muniesa --> Adri
Tello --> Pedro
Cesc --> Iniesta

Its about f**ing time the real Pedro stood up... I want a big game from him tonight. We need him to find his form in the next month sooooo badly...

Most likely Cesc would be in Xavi's role. I would love to see Muniesa have a run though its up to Pep. Bad news, Afellay hasn't got the green light, though maybe for Getafe game hopefully.

Match squad: Valdés, Pinto, Adriano, Alves, Fàbregas, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Sanchez, Messi, Thiago, Mascherano, Keita, Busquets, Pedro, Cuenca, Muniesa, Montoya, Tello.

My starting XI would be: VV- Alves - Mascherano - Puyol - Adriano - Fàbregas - Busquets - Thiago - Sanchez - Messi - Pedro

I would leave Muniesa out of the squad. I'm sure though that Keita will start in this game. Xavi must rest, bring him in the second half if we will struggle.

I think Keita will start unfortunately. I think we will see something like this.

Valdes - Alves Puyol Mascherano Adriano - Iniesta Busquets Keita - Alexis Messi Pedro

Albiceleste wrote:I think Keita will start unfortunately.

Barcelona starting line up:: Valdés; Dani Alves, Mascherano, Puyol, Adriano; Cesc, Thiago, Keita; Alexis, Messi y Pedro

:vagi:

I have no idea if this is true but apparently this is the pitch in la Romareda.




This time there are even flowers on the pitch ffs

Xavi apparently asked if they were joking when they showed him the pictures....

That cant be serious....its like a small forest, all thats missing is wildlife lol

Anyway, thats a good 11..though if I saw JDS instead of Keita I wouldnt be upset. Wasnt ever going to happen but still.

The penalty that zaragoza got was identical to the one that Abbiati did on sanchez, the only difference was that this time the ref gave the penalty..

Valdes

Valdes

Nice bit of luck for Puyol to score and a great counter attack and finish by Messi for the second.


The pitch

btw wasn't aranda offside when he the pass was made for his goal?

ffs TAKE KEITA OFF!!!!!

Their penalty was not a penalty and aranda was possibly offside. Zaragoza have been milking the fouls and injuries all night too. Refcelona!

Nah imho their penalty was a penalty and they could have had another one but then again we should have another one as well(the thiago one)

What a game by Alexis

Yeah, I agree. The Penalty was a penalty but it was indeed an offside goal. It doesn't matter though. Good to see Pedro grabbing a goal but he could've had at least one assist on his name if he had passed better. Cesc was very unlucky with those two epicly big chances. Could've scored 2 with the head if his team mate(s) (was the second almost header also Pedro, or Alexis?) had been more accurate.

Busquets changed the game, we could not control the midfield with Fabriago and Keita playing, this worries me.

First thing I will say is I only saw the 2nd half, however what I saw I was VERY proud of the team and thought they did excellent given some very hard circumstances.

The pics of the pitch, I now believe, it was horrible..a shocking pitch..the grass was VERY long and you could see so many of our passes slow down far too much as they approach the target.

As for our opponants...you will rarely hear me say this, but I hope they get relegated. Constant fouling...that foul on Pedro was filth and he wasnt alone.

Thier sportsmanship was equally poor..Thiago puts the ball out at the hlaf way line with noone around him because on of their players was rolling on the floor. He didnt even have to put it out seeing as it wasnt a head injury, but he did anyway. And what do they do? Give it back to us deep in our defence half and then press full!!

Then you get the big bully Aranda being tough and physical, but as soon as he doesnt come away with the ball he throws himself on the ground lol

Postiga comes on and his first action is to burst into the box and have his legs collapse under him..

Just 60mins on the clock and I was already disgusted by their approch, from their actions to the condition of the pitch. I really hope they get relegated.

Given these situations, I was very proud of the way we played and I felt everyone did well. I wont single anyone out too much, but I really feel everyone did very well. I am glad Pedro got his goal, he didnt do much, but it was good to see him finish well and with confidence.

Messi's run to the left, cut back, second cut back and then through pass to Pedro or Adriano (I couldnt tell) was playground stuff...I was off my feet.

Sanchez is a strange man..he really is..one of the worst pitches and now he thinks its a good time to show his trademark aggression I am used to seeing..this was the Chile Sanchez I know..great performance and effort. His crosses and pass for Messi were fantastic, he took people on without a second thought and worked his tail off.

I know it will come up, so I will get the only negative thing connected to him out the way now.

He shot when he was in on goal from a bit of an angle...Cesc thought he should of recieved a square ball and Messi indicated he should of squared to Cesc too...I disagree..I think.

I saw the reverse angle and I felt that pass was on, for perhaps a split second at best..it was a difficult ball with a defender right there. Maybe he could of tried it, maybe not..but I felt it a big harsh for them to sort of berate him for not squaring it...Perhaps I need to see it again, but the reply I saw, I felt that pass wasnt on like they seemed to think.

And I did sort of laugh at the irony of Messi saying he should square it, like Messi would of done it himself lol

As of this match Barca now has 161 goals. In 08-09 we had 158 total, in 09-10 we had 138 and in 10-11 it was 152. Record breaking.

Yes, I agree Busquets changed the game..relieved the pressure big time.

And I did forget to add, Pedro's attempt of a pass to Cesc was horrible..but it wasnt a easy ball to be fair.

Alexis put on an excellent effort, he's a real fighter ! Messi had one of those nights where he creates magic from nothing then misses the easy chances.

Really happy with the Pedro goal, not to mention it was brilliant!

The way we let Zaragoza get into the game was scary, mostly due to loosing the ball in the center and miss passing more then usual, which is generally the case when both our maestro's are not on the pitch.

Would love to see a Montoya solid RB and Alves on the pitch as RMF, an Alves that is not required to defend but keep his efforts for attack would be real headache for opponents.