Preseason Friendly: Hamburg SVvs FC Barcelona

I know its a long time, 9 days in fact though I thought it was neccessary.
Match Details
Venue:Imtech Arena Hamburg, Germany
Date:Tuesday, 07/24/2012 18:00

Fourteen first team members are due back on Monday, while Carles Puyol will start training on the 23rd

Training starts on Tuesday, for which the players will be joining Barça B sessions

The first team will be back at work from Monday July 16, when they will take medical tests. Due back at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper that day are fourteen players: Dani Alves, Villa, Alexis, Messi, Thiago, Pinto, Mascherano, Afellay, Adriano, Cuenca, Fontàs, Bartra, Dos Santos and Muniesa. Carles Puyol, after several weeks of recovery, will be back a week later on the 23rd.

They take to the pitch for the first time on Tuesday 17, and will be working in unison with Barça B.

The following is the first team schedule for next week:

Monday July 16

8.30 Medical tests at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper

Tuesday July 17

9.00 Training

12.00 approx. Press conference with Tito Vilanova and Andoni Zubizarreta in Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper pressroom.

19.00 Training

Wednesday July 18

9.00 Training

11.30 Player press conference

19.00 Training

Monday July 19

9.00 Training

11.30 Player press conference

19.00 Training

Friday July 20

9.00 Training

11.30 Player press conference

19.00 Training

Saturday July 21

9.00 Training

11.30 Player press conference

Atlast the long break is nearly finished....
I don watch bundesliga and so have no idea of how good this Hamburg team is. Can you shed some light about this team.

I want to see afellay get some minutes

neuro11 wrote:Atlast the long break is nearly finished....
I don watch bundesliga and so have no idea of how good this Hamburg team is. Can you shed some light about this team.

IF Khaled come online, Im sure he will!

This would be my starting eleven:
-------------Pinto-------------
Alves-Pique-Barta-Adriano
----------Dos Santos--------
----Fabregas---Roberto
Afellay---Rafinha---Tello

6 subs coming on: Gomez/Fontas (if he is fit), Messi, Sanchez, Planas, Rodri, Oier

Can't imagine Messi in the bench :p

Ah well, thats what I hope for...

This is my most likely lineup:
------------------Pinto------------------
Alves--Barta--Mascherano--Adriano
-------------Dos Santos----------------
-----Roberto------------Afellay--------
Gerard------Messi------Sanchez-----

Thoughts?

It depends on how Tito approaches preseason matches. Pep always gave players 45 mins each. Considering its out first match, I expect the same. He's selected 22 players. So I think it'll pretty much be 10 + Pinto, then another 10 + Oier.

Here's the 22:
Pinto (13)
Oier (25)
Dani Alves (2)
Bartra (3)
Ilie (4)
Muniesa (5)
Sergi Roberto (6)
Deulofeu (7)
Dos Santos (
Alexis (9)
Messi (10)
Rafinha (12)
Mascherano (14)
Joan Àngel Román (15)
Sergi Gómez (16)
Lobato (17)
Patric (18)
Planas (19)
Afellay (20)
Adriano (21)
Balliu (23)
Espinosa (24)

So to break it down:


Without our Spaniards... our midfield is lacking quite a bit, so some players might get some extra responsibility.

BAD BAD NEWS: Lionel Messi is injuried and will not be participating for the game... He strained his right calf and will have scans soon though he should be definately back before the SuperCopa games...

some including Hamburg (their media actually) think he is not injured actually . just avoiding the match. don know though why would barca do this. hope he is ok though....

Shoot I missed the first 17 minutes, who scored?

Shoot I jinxed us

Our passing has been very average, even JDS and Sergi Roberto missing some.

Deulofeu scores a rebound on somewhat a severe angle, 2-1!

Ordinary football atm... that only 1 or 2 of our starters are on the field is showing.

Only had about 55% possession and they've been playing far more direct. Why so little ball? We keep giving it away cheaply. Deulofeu dribbling, stopping, turning and passing straight to the opposition summed it up. Just lazy passing at times.

The short-passing game looks forced, not silky like it should be.

Verdict on Pinto holds, he's not good enough.

All this said, its only the first game, can't be too critical.

i think......almost all of our player's first touch was pretty bad....
Defolou was ok but don think great...... interestingly he looked more like CR7 inside the penalty box where he dribbled both from left and right but failed to even ending up cross or minus. nice finish and good pace though for the second goal

Only had about 55% possession and they've been playing far more direct. Why so little ball?

The short-passing game looks forced, not silky like it should be.

Just lazy passing at times.

I think these three quotes sum it up well. The passing is very direct and not really like Barca, as well the passing just being very average sometimes. That being said, first game, only a couple starters, and we're leading, but many things could be better. And as more friendlies are played I'm sure it will get better.

CBarca wrote:

Only had about 55% possession and they've been playing far more direct. Why so little ball?

The short-passing game looks forced, not silky like it should be.

Just lazy passing at times.

I think these three quotes sum it up well. The passing is very direct and not really like Barca, as well the passing just being very average sometimes. That being said, first game, only a couple starters, and we're leading, but many things could be better. And as more friendlies are played I'm sure it will get better.

Sorry, I actually meant the opposition is playing direct, and yet still are having lots of ball. The reason is because we keep losing it. The passing on our side isn't direct, its aimless at times. We always play possession with a purpose, looks more like a training session to me.

Youngsters all on now... lets see how they go. Looking forward to Rafinha.

Ah alright. I still have a feeling that we are playing more direct than usual. I know whenever I watch the B team they seem to play more directly than the first team, and that's the feeling I get regarding watching this friendly.

Passing overall this half so far I feel is a bit better in terms of accuracy but we're lacking any bite up front it seems, most of the passing is between the defense and midfield.

What a miss.

Rafinha is impressing me.

I would say i really enjoyed the second half. ..... more accuracy and sense in passing. defenders and midfielders looked very confident which is impressive considering their age. we were lacking finishers though....some really good buildup that could end up scoring....

i thought Affelay played really well as a cm

Looks like Muniesa has torn cruciate ligament. I forsee a lengthy injury for the boy.