Date: Sunday 03/17/2013

Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Referee: González, Jose Luis

Puyol out injured for the rest of the season... Barta to start or even feature in the match?

---------------Pinto---------------
Alves--Piqué--Mascherano--Alba
-------------Busquests-----------
-----Fabregas----------Iniesta---
--Sanchez-----Messi------Pedro--

Adriano starting would be nice.

Cesc and Iniesta wont play together. I do expect Cesc to start after not playing at all vs Milan.

I see this lineup incoming:

---------- Pinto ----------
Alves--Pique--Masch--Adriano
-------- Busquets -------
---- Thiago ------ Cesc ----
Alexis --- Messi --- Tello

Iniesta should not be started after the extreme exertions of mid week. Thiago must start.

I just wish that we start Bartra.He has not played in a long while.
Ideally I want Bartra to play the CL games now that Puyol is out.Masch is just a disaster waiting to happen.Bartra cant be any worse and actually looks a good defender.
Plus with Puyol out,we need to keep Pique wrapped up in cotton wool.
Any news on Abidal.Can he play?I would trust a 50% Abidal over Masch any day of the week.

Good question, I wonder what the plan is with Abidal. I imagine its likely to be, bring him in at the end if/when its mathmatically over.

I doubt anyone with season appearance 4 will replace Mash in CL quarterfinal stage no matter how worse Mash is. So thinking about will be wasting of time.
But i am also curious to know about Abidal. how unfortunate his sudden illness and how great it would be had he been there all season i wonder.

I am very interested to see if Abidal has any capability of playing.

Cause I really would take a 50% Abidal over Masch as well.

Yeah I wish Bartra would play more too but it is what it is. A real shame

This should be a comfortable win.

At first I assumed there was something about Bartra, maybe in training or something, they see that we have not yet and thats why he isnt being used.

But when I also see Montoya not being used and to a lesser extent Tello, I am thinking its simply just not using the young guys because they want to keep using the the same 13-14 players game in game out.

With Puyol out the rest of the season, Abidal offers height and experience. They should start him in games like this one vs Rayo to see how he is holding up and what kinda form he has to offer still. Barta should also be given chances in games like this.

It's become painfully obvious Mascherano isn't cut out to be a center back and we should stop using him as one when he we have other options

Pinto, Adriano, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba, Sergio, Fàbregas, Iniesta, Alexis, Villa, Messi.



I guess Cesc and Iniesta will play together.

The Franchise wrote:At first I assumed there was something about Bartra, maybe in training or something, they see that we have not yet and thats why he isnt being used.

But when I also see Montoya not being used and to a lesser extent Tello, I am thinking its simply just not using the young guys because they want to keep using the the same 13-14 players game in game out.

...after the league has virtually been won and against..."less competitive" competition like Rayo.

At least Adriano is getting a start. At least we aren't putting Iniesta on the wings. Still no Bartra

Yeah, Villa starting, Adriano as well. This is good.

On the other hand, we've got young players who could use the minutes not getting any. Then we've got senior players who could use a break and only some are getting any.

And then how long has it taken to get the Villa fiasco sorted out?

I'm at least happy there are some good changes being made, but they are in baby steps. There isn't much harm here in giving some young players some minutes.

When are we going to call up Deulo for some minutes?

At least Barta made the bench. But he should of started over Masch. And Abidal needs to get a few mins some time

Why are we playing Pinto btw?

windkick wrote:Why are we playing Pinto btw?

Valdés is suspended. Remember his red card against Madrid?

Vintage Barcelona this performance. The only niggle is Busquets losing too many balls. Very unlike him.

Couple of other important notes:
Adriano getting injured again.
Good performance by Alexis so far.
Rayo have come to play football, and they are still in the game.

Raul Tamudo trolling the Camp Nou

Good performance considering the previous game.

Dat Villa-Messi combination

alexis missed some shots, but he has been more visible than pedro has been in months.

As LM said, for Alexis it's a confidence problem in terms of finishing. Pedro needs to step it up or else I feel Alexis should be given starting berth.

Dat Messi - Villa partnership

Other than that, our defense really needs something new for next season.

I feel sorry for Adriano. The guy just cant catch a break.

4-6 weeks

shinigami99 wrote:alexis missed some shots, but he has been more visible than pedro has been in months.

As LM said, for Alexis it's a confidence problem in terms of finishing. Pedro needs to step it up or else I feel Alexis should be given starting berth.

The only visible things I remember him doing were stuff-ups.

BarcaKizz wrote:

shinigami99 wrote:alexis missed some shots, but he has been more visible than pedro has been in months.

As LM said, for Alexis it's a confidence problem in terms of finishing. Pedro needs to step it up or else I feel Alexis should be given starting berth.

The only visible things I remember him doing were stuff-ups.

If you mean Alexis then yea, I agree. I never said he has been good. His finishing has been woeful. However, compared to Pedro, at least he gets into the position to screw up. Maybe there is a chance that some may go in.

Second half:

Alexis had a poor performance, missed an open goal and a great opportunity to score/create another afterwards. Regardless, his energetic performance can still be viewed as a good sign, coupled with showing some balls to take on a few players - successfully.

Mascherano played very well. His long balls should be a valuable asset to Barcelona.

Pressing high up the pitch certainly suits Alves and Alba, especially taking advantage of their endless energy and getting them less exposed to their defensive flaws (especially Alba).

Messi was class and worked quite hard (compared to his standards at least). Villa seems to be slowly getting back on form as well.

Not convinced by Busquets' performance. A match to forget for him. Fàbregas is still Fàbregas, but he showed terrific workrate. Give him a break

Very intense performance by Barcelona. It is quite amusing to see a team that only a couple of weeks ago was crumbling to pieces has gained such appetite once again, dare I say looking better than before their miserable week. Overall I think it was a very convincing performance by Barcelona, playing to their strengths and not giving the opposition much room to breathe. Will they pull off a performance like this against better teams?