The Franchise wrote:

No idea.

I think the game unfortantely became even more important.

If we lose or maybe even draw to you, I dont think we will beat Chelsea. I think it will be the end of the season for us. If we beat you, I think we will beat Chelsea.

And if you lose 2 games in a row, the amount of pressure on you will be immense, not only to somehow go and have the confidence to beat Bayern but also pick up results in the rest of the league.

This game just got twice as important imo.

By the end of it, it might just be the nail in the coffin for one of our season.

Both coaches have go work to do, both in fixing mentality and tactics.

Really interesting thoughts dani.

Is Sanchez out for this game ?

danyjr wrote:Btw, Alexis Sánchez is almost out of el clásico after picking up an injury against Chelsea.

So unlucky with Alexis!! I think he spent more time injured and getting back to 100% than actually playing at 100%. I mean I feel even Vila played more than him (know thats not true).

BarcaLearning wrote:Wouldnt be surpried if Ozil is dropped, becos he struggles physically vs us, although hes on good form, dont think Kaka will be given the chance... not sure if Mou will park it too, since last game they really had us in trouble towards the end...wonder if he will be brave and take the game to us...

Think I wont get time to watch the gmae live, grrr...oh well, this game and probably Chelsea second leg will be even more important though!

Ozil may struggle against us starting in the team but off the bench he is a threat/. Just look at the 1-1 draw at Madrid last season. Massive difference. He could be the difference this game imo

this game just became more important after the Chelsea result, moral wise...
damn...

Alexis is fit according to the latest reports.

I have a wild thought...
Play Messi and two other wingers with iniesta in the midfield...

Radical I know....

Marca is reporting the following team: Valdés; Alves, Mascherano, Puyol, Adriano; Busquets, Xavi, Thiago; Iniesta, Messi y Tello

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Alexis is fit according to the latest reports.

Why?Oh why?
Let him be unfit for the week so that we can actually start someone with guts instead of Mr Passback.

Y no Pique? Really wanna see him back. And not Iniesta on the wings please. Although I do like the inclusion of Thiago...

yes, y no pique?

Dont know to think about Tello.

Thiago I am happy with, I am confident in him. Epecially if he played with Xavi, Buquets and Iniesta.

Dani Alves providing width down the right.

Tello...I just dont know..Lets say it his chance to how he is more than just ripping already tired defender. I hope he doent play too predictably and is patient with the ball. Maybe not Sanchez afraid to attack, but not as aggresive as he sometimes can be because he borders on overdoing it.

Arbeloa is for the taking (I assume he playing, does anyone have their 11?) aslong as you dont oversell going on the outside.

This is it boys...it go time....apperent Cesc haters (myelf) and apperent Alexis haters (whomever) cant pin the blame for failure on those two.

Lets see what we are made of!

Iniesta on the wings again. OHHH

I now dub Tello Mr. Should-Passback

I miss a certain David Villa

To concentrate on the CL. It's a must win game.

And I'm honestly not too mad about the game tonight. There were no uncalled penalties, no game-changing bookings, even their tactics were to be expected. Madrid were simply better. This is what happens when our forward line is not up to par with the quality found in the rest of the team. I agree with Bazinga, we dearly miss Villa. And Pedrazo. Where is that guy?

I'd like to know why Pique, Alexis and (somewhat less) Cesc did not start, is Pep saving them for the Chelsea game or was it a tactical decision? How serious are Pique's and Alexis' knocks, still?

Maybe our game has become too predictable now? What will Guardiola do if we don't get to the final of CL? We may win the Copa but this team deserves more.

Even if we didn't win the league, beating madrid would have given me greater satisfaction.

I think all in all, our team has won too much, and their mentality to keep winning is low (since we think that we're on top of the world)

However, madrid has been getting owned this entire season..I expect they would WANT it more.

Iniesta, Xavi had bad games tbh. Madrid defended well. Messi has lost some form against madrid and it seems Madrid's defenders have acquired some kind of "immunity" against leo(like how bacteria eventually get resistant to anti-biotics). Or it could just be that he had a bad game.

Oh well, at least we will get some of the focus and pressure off us now.

As for the goals against us..Puyol and valdes should have done better against Khedira. Masch and puyol were completely beaten by ronaldo for the 2nd. However Ozil should have never been allowed to make that pass. Adriano fell asleep there

BarrileteCosmico wrote:To concentrate on the CL. It's a must win game.

And I'm honestly not too mad about the game tonight. There were no uncalled penalties, no game-changing bookings, even their tactics were to be expected. Madrid were simply better. This is what happens when our forward line is not up to par with the quality found in the rest of the team. I agree with Bazinga, we dearly miss Villa. And Pedrazo. Where is that guy?

I'd like to know why Pique, Alexis and (somewhat less) Cesc did not start, is Pep saving them for the Chelsea game or was it a tactical decision? How serious are Pique's and Alexis' knocks, still?

You are so right about that part. The whole team's finishing is appalling to say the least

I think Barcelona played a fantastic game overall, nothing much to complain at. I was right saying that Pep should have brought decent backups when certain key members of the starting eleven were injured for a long time and Pep replaced them with youth players....

BarrileteCosmico wrote:To concentrate on the CL. It's a must win game.

And I'm honestly not too mad about the game tonight. There were no uncalled penalties, no game-changing bookings, even their tactics were to be expected. Madrid were simply better. This is what happens when our forward line is not up to par with the quality found in the rest of the team. I agree with Bazinga, we dearly miss Villa. And Pedrazo. Where is that guy?

I'd like to know why Pique, Alexis and (somewhat less) Cesc did not start, is Pep saving them for the Chelsea game or was it a tactical decision? How serious are Pique's and Alexis' knocks, still?

Great ref but I'm still wondering why people think Madrid played better than us.

They defended better (predictable, they had 8 men + gk behind ball), and they put their chances away, but that's about it.

Tello... he's young so I forgive him but...just an awful match. Don't know why it took so long to take him off.

Iniesta played well but made too many bad forward passes and Xavi was alright. Should have put his chance away but didn't. Didn't find a way through Madrids airplane.

Oh well. Heads up guys. Realistically the title was lost a while ago, we only ever had a fool's hope. I don't think it would be fair to criticise one player for this loss. There were mistakes, but at the end of the day it just summed up our season. We weren't inferior but they had the killer instinct and won the game. Like I've said, priority is the UCL.

Oh and Alexis is not just Mr Passback and showed again he can be influential in an big game. Not too sure why he can play with fire in this game but not against Chelsea. I'm sure he'll have a better 2nd leg.

Thiago was immense, great selection.

Thiago was immense, great selection

Had a few bad passes but Thiago was immense as you said. Barca MOTM easy.

Thiago was very good in the 2nd half. In the first he was pretty poor. He gave away the ball several times.

It almost looked like he was playing in a new position in the 2nd half. Thoughts?

Our finishing has been pathetic...who is our shooting coach lmao

Thiago was great in the second half. In the first half, Busi was ging forward and Thiago was the anchorman, they swapped in the second half and it made an instant impact.