FC Barcelona vs Paris SG (2nd leg CL)

RedOranje wrote:Please win.

Cex will score another hat trick just for you.

It isn’t our defense that worries me against PSG. It’s our pressing and midfield. If those two are up to par, our defense won’t have very much to worry about.

It isn’t the defense that is risk-heavy. It’s the entire team and the way it plays. It’s a tradeoff that Vilanova has chosen to make for this season. Our defense will almost certainly concede more goals this season than it did last season. And I’m sure someone will think of that while riding the bus in the Liga championship celebrations.

Alot of people saying how we lack height when it comes to set pieces including myself but when you realise the basics of defending I reliase that the two reasons why we concede goals at set pieces is because
1. Poor marking (all teams do that …. look at RM, who had Ramos, Varane, Casillas, etc, and still gave up set pieces). Marking on set pieces is no different (pardon the bouncieball analogy) to boxing out for rebounds. Dennis Rodman wasn’t the tallest player, and didn’t have the biggest jump, but he knew exactly how to position his body to mark out his man. Jordi Alba can defend set pieces if he gets his little butt on a man far enough outside the danger area where his header won’t have the necessary force. But he is too often a punk about marking, sometimes choosing to cover his head and fall down. That ain’t defending.
2. Physicality (can’t do anything about that) such as when Varane treated our markers like they didn’t exist, or when Wrongaldo skied for that header of his. Great plays happen. It explains Messi and his excellence.

Set piece defending isn’t about height. It’s about making sure that your marker isn’t in a position to hurt your club. Our defense does this often enough where I don’t worry at all about set pieces. I worry more about turned possession in midfield leading to jailbreak counters.

I probably haven't explained my post in enough detai but hopeful you have a vague idea of what I'm trying to say

I heard Messi will play the second half, is that true?

@Sanchez I think we'll press well. Judging by the players pre-match statements they're treating it like a final. If we press well they stand no chance.

I'm interested to see how Busquets will perform. In the first leg he was overrun and had too much to do.

Defending set pieces isn't all about height.

BUT the important distinction.

It is very, very hard to defend a set piece without proper height. Height doesn't mean you can defend a set piece well and lack of it doesn't mean you CAN'T defend a set piece.

But it becomes infinitely harder and it's a risk.

The Franchise wrote:I for some reason enjoyed this article the most of yours Kizz, my favourite so far I think.

Trying to comment on it but isnt connecting right now.

Anyway, good points and ill probably say more on the article once I get to it.

Cheers mate.

I also had a good feeling about this one. I think because I was able to discuss tactics a little more. Got a bit more confidence to ramble on those issues now and I thought after watching that first leg it was very clear-cut what the problems were.

I don't think we played badly first leg, but like I allude to, it was kind of like a Ferrari that couldn't get out of second gear.

Agree about Cesc... You'd be aware I've never been a fan of playing unfit players. If they aren't ready they shouldn't be in the squad, so I'd rather see Cesc than a 50% Messi who could aggravate his injury. We shouldn't need Messi to win this, we're good enough.

Didn't really like Villa in the right pocket, so I'd prefer him tucked in on the left and Cesc hovering behind. This means the other winger needs to stretch the play, but then the issue is that we'd need Alba pushing on, when it seems in recent weeks the preference is to have Alves more advanced and Alba conservative... I'm not sure what the solution is. Maybe we'll just see Villa stay right.

Alexis has made nice improvements but if we play Villa and Cesc I think we need someone who'll keep the width more... Issue is Pedro isn't 100% yet.

What would you suggest?

BTW. To anyone interested, I used FourFourTwo Stats Zone App to help find stats for my article... Its excellent. If you're interested, check it out. Very thorough and more visuals than WhoScored.

http://fourfourtwo.com/statszone/

I dont get why we would play Adriano. Its not as if the last time we tried this we did well, it was woeful, he doesnt have the positional sense for centerback, he doesnt know the position.

I think its a risk and Tito is opening himself up here.

If he plays Bartra and he had a bad game, you cant blame him. He is the only centerback we have.

Play Adriano and he sucks, I know at least will say, stupid, hes not a centerback.


@Kizz. I think we will require Alexis work rate..Tello is a possibilty because he does provide that width and he has that speed in the 1 v 1. But at the same time, as you said in your article, we didnt win many balls in their half and I think colective pressing is required. Thats not saying Tello cant do this, its just Alexis wins alot of balls when he plays, or at least causes errors from the opponant.

Yeah its a good point... Its a difficult choice, because Villa isn't pressing like he used to, Pedro isn't 100% and been ordinary, Alexis doesn't bring a good deal more than his workrate and Tello can be useless when he's not getting his game right.

Each player has a useful quality we may need, but also each player has the potential to have a useless game.

Definitely a challenge of weighing up exactly what we want.

I agree. The thing is, if Alexis sucks he still at least has work rate and pressing. He has scored goals recently and won a penalty vs them last time. So its possible he can bring some production where is easier to see than his runs and pressing.

If Tello has a bad game, I am not sure what he provides...though, I think Jallet could really be destroyed if you attack him, he seems very weak.

Agree on Jallet... thats what was disappointing in first leg. Nobody took advantage of him. At least wouldn't mind seeing Villa there maybe. He USED to take on players lol.

We dont take advantage of poor fullbacks generally, its so dissapointing.

Madrid played Essien...and not once did we pass it out wide to someone, move out his way and said..okay, go beat him.

As I said at the time, I could play rightback for most teams against Barca.

And yeah, I think Villa is capable. Not in the 1 v 1 at the half way line, but if we force them back and they get set, Villa in a shooting position on the left attracts at least 2 players. The rightback and nearest midfieder. They are scared to death of him checking inside and letting off a shot. That alone as a threat is about as good as we have.

I hope Messi plays. Even if he is just out there as a decoy for a half. He demands so much attention from the defenders that it opens up the play for everyone around him to work.

We don't have anyone with the balls to dribble thats why lol.

Re pics: Was wondering what that disgusting bruise was on his leg. Then I realised its that heinous tattoo. Whats up with all our players and their horrid tattoos? Don't think I've seen one I liked.

Well Dani Alves got so many its hard to see them individually untill up close, so I cant really say.

I agree obviously about noone dribbling. But I think we set up conditions for players to not want to do it. You could dribble someone 3 times at Barca, but if you lose just once..people say something. Possession is so much part of our game, when someone loses it, its magnified by 100.

Still, if we had someone who didnt give a shit and did it anyway, it would work out.

Niyameddin wrote:but i think the key is busquets. he controls the midfield and defense as much as xavi

I'd say it's our entire midfield - Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta. It's likely the greatest midfield football has ever seen.

Barca's USP is Messi and the midfield and if I just have to choose which is our top USP, at least I for one would say the midfield as a whole just edges out Messi in terms of being our biggest difference maker.

My game plan for this match is to score one goal as quickly as possible and then try to maintain a vice like grip on the ball for the rest of the match letting the game bleed to its end. The problem is that any time we lower down the intensity we become vulnerable. A couple of years back with Xavi in his prime we could have played a slow game to our advantage just keeping hold of the ball but for a long time that just hasn't worked. Hence we will have to keep up the tempo and intensity for the entire ninety minutes. This means that even after scoring the first goal we have to keep searching for more goals. The difference though could be that after scoring the first goal we cut down on risks and play a little more cautiously.

Normally I would have predicted a 2-0 in our favour but due to this terrible situation defensively where no matter who you pick he seems a worse choice than the other, I am predicting a 3-1 in our favour.

with messi playing i would have never worried of this game...Home vs PSG with 2 away goals. However without him i am really worried and its now 50-50. Its because with him playing attitude changes both in our team and opponent. I am sure PSG is more confident just because Messi is not playing.
I wish Cesc really steps up. This is the chance for him to show his worth. If he cant lead in absense of any of our trio, then i dont what he has to contribute to this team.
I also wish Alexis plays his best game. No doubt he will get the chances as he always gets for his hardworking but i wish him to put on target.
@messixaviesta,Other than Messi and Villa(on his day) there is no clinical finisher in our team. thats why i personally believe missing Messi is more worrying than missing midfield. With midfield we can create numerous chances but who is to put them in. Whereas there are goals that is created and scored by Messi. But no way we can separate any of them in terms importance.

so who is on a Yellow and in danger of missing Semis??

messixaviesta wrote:

Niyameddin wrote:but i think the key is busquets. he controls the midfield and defense as much as xavi

I'd say it's our entire midfield - Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta. It's likely the greatest midfield football has ever seen.

Barca's USP is Messi and the midfield and if I just have to choose which is our top USP, at least I for one would say the midfield as a whole just edges out Messi in terms of being our biggest difference maker.

Yeah he put Messi in the same sentence with Bartra and told that Messi and Bartra is not the key. Xavi is the key. I told him Busquets is the key as much as Xavi. its entire midfield (xavi busquets iniesta together) who keeps possession and dominate game. You can replace one man from the trio but you can not replace the main attack force.

As for Midfeld USP vs Messi.I think its not right comparison. Midfield contains 3 players but Messi is one player. In most comparisons people see the midfield is only Xavi. thats wrong

neuro11 wrote:@messixaviesta,Other than Messi and Villa(on his day) there is no clinical finisher in our team. thats why i personally believe missing Messi is more worrying than missing midfield. With midfield we can create numerous chances but who is to put them in. Whereas there are goals that is created and scored by Messi. But no way we can separate any of them in terms importance.

Fair enough. I just continue to fight the claim that we are a one man team. Even without Messi if we have one quality finisher we are a fantastic team. Still Messi is the best player in the world, a peerless genius who any team in football history would have missed. One important point here. Our midfield isn't only about creating chances. That is something some other midfields do as well. It's about control and domination where we are without equal.

Niyameddin wrote:Yeah he put Messi in the same sentence with Bartra and told that Messi and Bartra is not the key. Xavi is the key. I told him Busquets is the key as much as Xavi. its entire midfield (xavi busquets iniesta together) who keeps possession and dominate game. You can replace one man from the trio but you can not replace the main attack force.

As for Midfeld USP vs Messi.I think its not right comparison. Midfield contains 3 players but Messi is one player. In most comparisons people see the midfield is only Xavi. thats wrong

Well I could agree with you that one out of the midfield trio we can live without but if two are missing then it can be fatal. As for who out of the trip is the most important, if Xavi is fully fit and completely on his game then I agree with kizz that he is still the most important.

Also I would say that when we are talking about one player against three what it shows above all is the immense amount of respect and adulation that the player commands. Like if I ask what is better - Zidane or XavIesta, the answer quite obviously is XavIesta but it's actually an immense honour for Zidane that he is so special as to be compared to a combination of two fantastic players.

Official lineups:

Valdés; Alves, Piqué, Adriano, Alba; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Cesc, Villa

Sirigu; Jallet, Thiago Silva, Alex, Maxwell; Tiago Motta, Verratti; Lucas Moura, Pastore, Lavezzi; Ibrahimovic

Tello not even in the bench. :S

free_cat wrote:Official lineups:

Valdés; Alves, Piqué, Adriano, Alba; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Cesc, Villa

Sirigu; Jallet, Thiago Silva, Alex, Maxwell; Tiago Motta, Verratti; Lucas Moura, Pastore, Lavezzi; Ibrahimovic

Tello not even in the bench. :S

Tello not even on the bench.

Motta and Veratti for them, pretty decent.

All of a sudden, not so happy.

The Franchise wrote:

Tello not even on the bench.

Motta and Veratti for them, pretty decent.

All of a sudden, not so happy.

Who would you remove from the bench dani - Song or Montoya?