Date: Saturday, 09/22/2012 22:00

Competition: League

Stadium: Camp Nou

City: Barcelona

Referee: Del Cerro Grande

Player News

Marc Muniesa, Isaac Cuenca, Eric Abidal, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique will all miss out on tomorrow evenings match. Gerard Pique will miss 2 to 3 games with a sprained foot therefore he will not be taking part for tomorrow, meaning either Marc Barta, Sergio Busquests, Andres Fontas or Alex Song will take up his position alonside most likely Javier Mascherano.
Carles Puyol was told he was to miss 4-6 weeks because of pulled ligaments in his left knee however he trained separately from the squad in todays training session.
Alexis Sanchez was given the green medical light before kick off against Spartak Moscow and has named in the 21 man squad. Jordi Alba has recovered from the flu and will be able to participate in the game against Granada.

Predicting Lineups and Scoreline

With Pique out of this game, the key question is who will start at centreback... Would like to see Marc Barta to have a go ahead of Song tbh as I do see him successfully succeeding Puyol. He knows the Barca system better than Song and well he is an actual centreback who imo is better tactically positioning wise than Song as a centreback. Both are inexperienced and this is the perfect opportunity to test them out as centrebacks. Adriano imo will start at leftback even though Alba is back from the flu though I can see Alba featuring in some part of the game.
If Song does not feature in the defense then I can expect him to play as holding mid tomorrow with Thiago and Fabrgeas alongside him. Xavi needs a rest from the constant game time otherwise I can see him getting an injury soon... Obviously this midfield will not keep possession better than waht we can hope when Xavi is in midfield though against Granada, we can take the risks and well Tito likes to take risks as we have already seen.
Up front, Sanchez is back and maybe we will see him feature as a starting forward. I can see Pedro dropping to the bench with the constant game time he has had and Villa to take his place instead... If I wa Tito, he should really start Villa tomorrow. He needs game time, match fitness and easy games like these tomorrow is a perfect way to get back to full match fitness. Messi will most likely play as at false nine...

-------------Valdes--------------
Alves--Barta--Mascherano--Adriano
----------------Song-------------
------ThiaGOAT-------Fabregas---
Sanchez-----Messi-----Villa-------

Im predicting that Barca will win and if our midfield keep possession we will win comfortably. 3-1 is my final prediction...

I like your line-up, hope it happens.

All I know is Tellooo will start!!!!!!!!!

Possibly Alba instead of Adriano.

no matter what i'd like to see villa start.
I'd be even fine with a alexis villa pedro front line and messi to enter as a super ultra hyper sub

Please play Batra

If he cant handle Ganada at the Camp Nou, then we really need to send him on loan to toughen him up.

Preferably the Afghan Premier league (Its a real league btw)

Is Iniesta still injured?

free_cat wrote:Is Iniesta still injured?

Marc Muniesa, Isaac Cuenca, Eric Abidal, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique will all miss out on tomorrow evenings match.

First full sentence in OP lol, anyway, yes I believe so.

Should be a fairly easy win, looking forward to a good game.

Barcelona line-up (official): Valdés, Alves, Song, Mascherano, Adriano, Thiago, Busquets, Fàbregas, Sánchez, Messi, Villa.

Bench: Pinto, Alba, Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Xavi, Pedro, Tello.

It seems like Bartra will have to wait for his chance. He will probably play his first game of this season in 1/16 of Copa del Rey. It's fantastic that Xavi finally will get some rest.

WTF, Messi acting like a c.u.nt

Lovely defending from Granada, such determination. This is a team fighting relegation playing at the leader's turf.

Barcelona look flat. Poor scenes from Villa and Messi. Never seen Barcelona this frustrated under Guardiola. Looks like Rijkaard all over again, and I can see this getting worse if Tito doesn't boss the changing room.

Playing Alexis on the wing, you might as well play with 10 men. Bring the man to the centre, take a midfielder out and get Pedro on the wing. It's not like Granada attack at all.

Hard match, very frustrating in the first half with Alves and Thiago losing a lot of losing possession. In the end a fantastic goal by Xavi which finally pulled us across that gap. But man, those chances Messi, Cesc and Xavi got, should've gone in. I hate these battles against the clock.

What a shot by Xavi! Stunning!

Feel sorry for Granada, it seemed like they weren't going to let Barça put a goal passed them and were close to causing a massive upset by scoring on the break just before Barcelona scored.

Fábregas, couple of poor pass backs, he sometimes doesn't even look when he passes. Another good chance missed by him too.

Alexis in the middle. I've been saying it since god knows when. As a winger he is 100% useless with Barcelona's tactics. Play him in the middle and he at least contributes something to the team. Once Tello came and he switched to the middle he was involved in those 15 minutes more than he was in the previous 75 minutes.

Song, seriously he gets beaten too easily by pretty much everyone. He doesn't even understand defending basics of covering goal-side and has the turning speed of a steamboat. And his positioning was poor again and if you can't see it then you need to get a pair of glasses, or two.

Well, at least people can't complain that it is not exciting to watch Barça anymore.
I love to win games towards the end, ala Madrid. It's a rush of adrenaline.

Pedro is crucial to this team currently. Valdes MOTM with his two one-on-one saves.

dissapointed at messi... seem's he's developing some ronaldoesque manners.
Xavi was the difference in the midfield once again an tello gave us the spark we needed. anyway tyough game. i feel relived to win the 3 points

I agree about Messi. What the *bleep* was that argument with Villa and Thiago?
Shameful. Hope his father/mommy/Tito/someone takes him down to earth.

Messi is sad

Why;??

a). Under stress having to be father soon and all.

b). Wants more money

c). Just doesnt like villa

d). Is losing motivation like dinho did at the end of his barca career

e). Misses Pep

Which is it??

Messi's fine. He didn't have a great game and so I think he was just upset with himself, no big deal.

Good and bad things to take away from this game overall. But what a match (at the end), that's entertainment man. Glad to see we pulled out the win, Xavi is a true god, that shot was sick.

Mostly glad for 3 points. Let's keep it up!

iniesta proves yet again how important he is and that he deserved his award. damn it granada... how hard is it to defend with 11 for 5 minutes?

Damm it City, how hard is it to defend with 11 men for 4 minutes, being able to concede one.

Xavi what a boss, dictating the game like general Franco (joking).

Congratz on the win guys.

It's just me or is Iniesta Barca's most important player, the one with the magic ?

This is what happens when Xavi and Iniesta doesn't play. Messi feels more pressure to lead the team in the absence of those leaders and it gets to him, which makes him frustrated easily. As his Argentina experience shows, his best performances and attitude come when the responsibility is shared. Anyways, not his first spout with Villa, and Thiago was wrong to shoot.

I'm getting concerned that out of the last five games or so we've only won one or two convincingly. Not against Granada, Osasuna, Valencia, Spartak... only Getafe really. I'm glad we have 15/15, but the performances haven't impressed me.

The best thing about the match was keeping a clean sheet. Only the second one of the season.

Congratulations Barcelona! really commendable on the last few minutes.... It was intense and i thought i'm gonna lose my bet on the total goals scored. good thing you didn't score more than 3.. Safe bet for me. Money in.

Im just Glad you won with only two goals.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:This is what happens when Xavi and Iniesta doesn't play. Messi feels more pressure to lead the team in the absence of those leaders and it gets to him. As his Argentina experience shows, his best performances and attitude come when the responsibility is shared. Anyways, not his first spout with Villa, and Thiago was wrong to shoot.

I'm getting concerned that out of the last five games or so we've only won one or two convincingly. Not against Granada, Osasuna, Valencia, Spartak... only Getafe really. I'm glad we have 15/15, but the performances haven't impressed me.

The best thing about the match was keeping a clean sheet. Only the second one of the season.

Yeah... the pressure was observable from Messi.. Usually i put my money on OVER in the total number of goals but since Barca is not scoring well recently, i put it on UNDER... it was worth it.

Still, congratulations Barcelona for keeping a clean sheet. I hope you do even well in the next games or else this season might not go well in your way.