Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona | La Liga Matchday 26 | Sat March 2nd

CBarca wrote:9 AM central time?

WTF? Why so early?

Ugh. I'll have to miss it and download it after

Anyone know how quickly they have the games up on rojadirecta?

2 AM in Australia. Going to sleep early and wake up early...

Meh we are still going to field 9 players, so no problems for you even if you play with your C team.
As long as we have Pedro “the invisible man” Rodrigez and Cesc “the man who plays in the same 2 square meters with Iniesta” Fabregas you are going to be alrigh

19 players named to the squad ahead of tomorrow's match at the Bernabéu

www.fcbarcelona.cat

03/01/2013 18:01

Xavi will miss the match due to injury, while Abidal, Montoya and Dos Santos were left out of the team for technical reasons

Bartra and Alexis, both of whom didn't suit up against Madrid this Wednesday, return to the team

Jordi Roura has named a total of 19 players to FC Barcelona’s squad ahead of this Saturday’s showdown at the Bernabéu against Real Madrid (16.00, Canal+). Besides Xavi, who is injured, Abidal, Montoya and Dos Santos won’t feature for the Blaugrana. Therefore, Bartra and Alexis, both of whom didn’t suit up against Los Blancos on Wednesday, will travel with the team to the Spanish capital. On Saturday, before kick off, Roura will have to rule out one additional player.

Training session in the rain

This afternoon’s training session saw Leo Messi train with the team. The player missed yesterday’s training session due to fever. The session, the last before tomorrow’s match, was held on Field 2 of the Ciutat Esportiva. Xavi Hernández worked with the team physio.

Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Bartra, Puyol, Mascherano, Alba, Adriano, Song, Busquets, Iniesta, Thiago, Cesc, Pedro, Messi, Tello, Alexis and Villa.


__________________________

The Club’s Medical Services have announced that Xavi Hernández has sustained muscle tear in his left hamstring and will be out of action for 10 to 15 days. The midfielder finished this Wednesday’s match against Real Madrid with physical discomfort. Therefore, he will miss tomorrow’s Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu.

It’s worth noting that Xavi was given the medial all-clear on February 18 after he successfully recovered from a similar injury. The midfielder went on to play against Milan, Sevilla and Madrid (Cup).

_________________

Why did Xavi play the cup clasico if he was carrying an injury? Thiago makes the most sense to replace him but maybe a midfield of Cesc-Iniesta will play... the chances of Villa starting have just gone up astronomically.

Also Messi is now completely back from his "fever"

what are the chances of thiago starting over cesc?

with all due respect to cesc he is a turnover machine very high up the field (for us) which helps our game drastically. on the other hand he is the most experienced so it probably makes most sense to start him over thiago

Everything Barca related in terms of news just ticks me off...BC's post again does that...playing Xavi..Messi sick...

Anyway, from the copa del rey game here was the average positions.



Just FYI, will be intresting to compare to this game coming up should we make changes.

-------------Valdés-------------
--Alves---Piqué---??---Adriano--
-----------Busquets------------
-----Iniesta--------Thiago-----
---Sánchez---Messi---Villa-----

?? is the real question mark. With Mascherano in you'll be even more vulnerable at set pieces and that's not what you want against Stoke City's long balls but on the bright side you won't be speed raped as much.

I say Mascherano, just for the sake of change. To be fair, he hasnt made any glaring, huge error recently, so I cant criticise him for that.

I guarantee u 100 %, nothing will change except thiago for xavi. Villa will warm the bench as usual, iniesta will play on the wing etc.



---iniesta-------messi-------pedro----

------cesc------------------thiago----

----------------busquets---------

alba----pique----------puyol----alves


Prediction: Barca 1 - Real 2

gondov wrote:I guarantee u 100 %, nothing will change except thiago for xavi. Villa will warm the bench as usual, iniesta will play on the wing etc.



---iniesta-------messi-------pedro----

------cesc------------------thiago----

----------------busquets---------

alba----pique----------puyol----alves


Prediction: Barca 1 - Real 2

i am afraid this will happen

If we get beaten tomorrow with RM looking to rest players, then, I'm sorry but somebody has to go.

I believe Villa will start, it would be a crime not to let him
hoping for:
--Villa------Messi------Pedro
------Iniesta---Thiago
----------Buscuit
-Alba--Puyol---Pique---Alves
-----------Valdes

what we will prob get:
--Villa-------Messi------Sanchez
---------Cesc------Thiago
-------------Buscuit
-Alba--Masche---Pique--Alves
-------------Valdes

The Franchise wrote:Everything Barca related in terms of news just ticks me off...BC's post again does that...playing Xavi..Messi sick...

Anyway, from the copa del rey game here was the average positions.



Just FYI, will be intresting to compare to this game coming up should we make changes.

Iniesta and Cesc's bubbles are literally close enough where they are slightly combined together.

EDIT: So is Xavi and Busquets but that one I expect tbh.

The 9 AM time doesn't actually bother me that much (regarding it being 9 AM) I do prefer Barca typical times of 2-3 PM here, but 9 AM is more than fine. Problem is that I have a game at 10, which is why I'll have to download the second half

Does anyone know why LFP have started some games early this season?

danyjr wrote:Does anyone know why LFP have started some games early this season?

I'd imagine to get more watchers in Eastern markets. Evening time in the Middle East and prime time in places like China.

Asian viewers Very happy with the time

Haven't been posting here much, but there are a few major problems exposed by teams of late.

1) Jordi Alba

Excellent on attack and provides us with width and outlet down the left flank. However, against a quality, organised team his runs can be stopped and we can be caught exposed at the back on the counter.

Pique and Puyol were left far too exposed to fast counters, and that duo showed they are unable to deal with it without sufficient help. In the past we relied on Abidal shifting across to form a back three (or we played a back three), but 2 attacking fullbacks do not allow for this.

Solution? Play Adriano in the big games until Abidal is fit. He's shown he can balance his responsibilities much better, while Alba knows no other way of playing.

2) Cesc/Iniesta

I'm glad Dani showed that pitch map, that is something I tweeted earlier this week to show the proximity of these two players.

Again this is a problem which teams with organised defences can exposed. Cesc and Iniesta don't move to compliment each other, because naturally they are both used to playing the same role. When teams frustrate us, Iniesta drifts further in field and virtually plays a similar role to what he usually does. This simply leaves Cesc in no man's land. In both big games we could have done without one of them.

3) Width in final third

Its funny that all these issues are interconnected. Alba normally gives us our lateral width down the left for example. And the Cesc/Iniesta problem means we have no width in the final third (unless Alba can do his 2 man job).

We are all quite aware of it, so I won't go on about it. Tonight and more importantly, against Milan, we must play Villa and/or Tello to stretch the opposition in the final third.

Its also worth noting that Villa and even Sanchez's off-ball movement gives the opposition something different to think about. Neither Iniesta or Cesc naturally make those movements.


---

Tonight for me:


Changes need to be made to invigorate the side, but they are not for the sake of it.

Adriano and Villa must come in to address the problems I mentioned.

Mascherano can offer more pace than Puyol, who should get a rest anyway.

Thiago is clearly the natural replacement for Xavi. He dictates tempo well and needs to start shouldering more responsibility. Personally, I would not be happy with Cesc and Iniesta in there together.

Finally... I wouldn't be surprised to see a tactical changed. Maybe a back three...

Marca are saying these will be the two line ups:


----------------------D.Lopez------------------------
Arbeloa--------Pepe----Ramos-------Marcelo---
-----------------Essien-------Modric---------------
Callejon--------------Kaka------------Ronaldo---
-----------------------Benzema----------------------

--------Villa------------Messi------------Pedro---
---------Iniesta-----Busquets------Cesc--------
Alba---------Mascherano---Pique---D.Alves--
---------------------Valdes-------------------------


From a Madrid point of view us not having Pipa/Rafa/Sami/Xabi/Angel could be huge for you because they are arguably the reason we've been able to defend so well against you.

Our lineup is naturally more offensive with Kaka, Marcelo and Benzema. Cris starting is no surprise but I think he'll be subbed depending on the score.

Hoping to see Morata get some minutes

Just saw who the ref is going to be. Perez Lasa is probably one of the worst high profile refs in Spain. He's shown 24 cards in his last three games, including 9 yellows in just one contest.

I don't think it'll be a scrappy game like it was in the past but still, Lasa could basically kill the flow of this game by blowing for every small challenge.

Kizz (or anyone minus BC who's opinion is very clear) what do you think about Pedro?

He is no longer making those runs as we talked about before, he plays much deeper and is actually in Dani Alves way at times. Would you still have him starting?

I am not sure what he offers if he isnt going to make those runs, I think I would rather play Tello.

Marca guessing at lineups is worse than anyone in GL guessing at them... they pull it right out of their arse lol.

The Franchise wrote:Kizz (or anyone minus BC who's opinion is very clear) what do you think about Pedro?

He is no longer making those runs as we talked about before, he plays much deeper and is actually in Dani Alves way at times. Would you still have him starting?

I am not sure what he offers if he isnt going to make those runs, I think I would rather play Tello.

I agree, though I don't see them making 2 changes to the frontline. Villa? Maybe. Villa and Tello? It just seems toe extreme for a team that seems insistent on playing the same players and not experimenting.

I also have some hope that if Iniesta and Cesc aren't crammed together and Villa plays, the attack will just generally operate better. Villa stretching the defence on one side should hopefully help Pedro as well as Messi.

All this being said, I get what you mean, and I'll be the first to call for more time for Tello. Personally I think the bigger issue is he must play against Milan. We need his pace and width.

Barca team to face Real Madrid: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba, Sergio, Thiago, Iniesta; Villa, Messi, Pedro


This team should have started on wed

RealGunner wrote:Barca team to face Real Madrid: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba, Sergio, Thiago, Iniesta; Villa, Messi, Pedro


This team should have started on wed

Nice team minus Alba, but yes, we should of started this team in Milan, let alone Madrid.

Now confidence is at low and I dont even know if changing it to this now will be enough.

Why aren't SKY showing this live?

Get Aljazeera instead

I don't like Roura very much