Athletic Bilbao - FC Barcelona | Sat Apr 27th | La Liga Matchday 33

Time: 12:00 EST 17:00 GMT 18:00 ECT

I'm expecting a team full of subs again, Messi not to start, Bilbao probably won't generate many problems for us, and even if they do their finishing is atrocious this season.

Alba is suspended for the Champions League match so here is my lineup

Abidal on for Pique
Pedro on for Villa

Nice lineup. I agree that Pique should play because he needs to practice his craft.

Our defense is a joke.

Great match to watch as a neutral. End to end, fast paced stuff.

Can someone tell me why Amorebieta hasn't been starting for a while?

Thiago's been absolutely mesmerising.

danyjr wrote:Thiago's been absolutely mesmerising.

He's been extraordinary

Messi coming on and making the difference. He's so decisive.

That's typical.

F*ck this game

Fair result imo.

At least the next few games will mean something since we are yet to clinch the title.

We need to buy at least 2 WC defenders this summer.

Makes you wonder, how much is the mangerial change affecting Barca?

In about a years worth of game time, they have gone through allot of changes at the helm

Pep -> Tito -> Roura -> Tito

I wonder if we are about to go through another rough patch like when Roura first took over and the team had to adjust to him. Since now they have to adjust to Tito again

Pretty disappointing and Ill do my detail analysis later when I have the time but I got to say it was disappointing to see that Tito has no trust in Bartra in the defense anyway. Adriano came on for Abidal, not Piqué and I doubt Bartra has been rested for the CL game. I think we will see Adriano being partnered up with Piqué with Montoya on the left hand side.
Thiago was brilliant as usual as was Alexis who will get the call up along with Villa midweek

I'll say it again. Tito needs to go. Simple as.

Why did you lot lose. Well aside from the fact that Bielsa's boys and Athletic as a whole step up their game vs Barcelona, when you are playing one of the final games in the Cathedral of Spanish football, you are bound to struggle.

Very happy by Athletic's performance today as frankly I feel they contended as the better team today. Why? Barca aren't reliant on Messi, yet it was hard not to see a coincidence on what happened when he came on. Why? Aside from the fact that this current Barcelona have abandoned almost everything what Pep created to make this side great, Messi has that presence.

Especially happy with the performances of Iker Muniain, Mikel San Jose, Aurtunexte (better LB than Alba) De Marcos, the ever talented Markel Susaeta and of course, Ander freaking Herrera who was alongside Thiago, MOTM for me today.

It didn't help that Aduriz missed a header that Llorente would have absolute hammered in yet it also shows that Barca are not accounting for their proneness in aerial threats.

Good game and great respect between fans today in the stadium alongside the players. Happy with a result and Barca's final game in San Mames. Enough to bring tears to my eyes

Arquitecto wrote:Aurtunexte (better LB than Alba)

Is it just me or every high ball in Barcelona's penalty area has the same chance to end up in the back of the net as a penalty kick.

Piqué, lost count of how many times he gets owned 1 on 1 by average players. Also want to reiterate how bad he is at heading. The guy can't direct a free header to save his life. Always thought he was slightly overrated but these past couple of seasons he's had too many poor matches, both in Spain NT and Barcelona. All I can say is I can foresee his potential partnership with Hummels ending up in a total disaster.

You can't blame Vilanova. It is Rosell and his team who need to go. When I look at Laporta's resume, he took over a club that'd consistently flop in La Liga and made them a real European power. He had a good understanding of football, got advice from the right people (Cruyff) and his right hand man Txiki did a very good job as the sporting director (bar the Ibrahimović-Eto'o disaster). What have Rosell and Zubizarreta done? They sold your shirt to Qatar, haven't made a single effective signing and put a man with pretty much no experience in coaching in charge because they thought it was easy. If the rumours about Neymar and Hummels are true, I suggest you throw in the towel already.

OMMMGGGGG Messi!

His goal was just amazing, just pure magic as usual!!!

My reaction was like Cesc's, holding my head with disbelief, that goal was almost impossible and he made it look easy

His effect when comnig on was so obvious again. His pace and burst of energy, seem to spur everyone on, everyone making the extra meter and being more hungry with believe it seems, whereas when he is not on the field, everything is just slower.

Not sure why Abidal subbed at HT, Adriano didnt look comfortable in CB although unlucky with some decisions...

Still worried about the team overall....just not firing atm... Pique getting owned for the first goal wasnt a sight I enjoyed

BarcaLearning wrote:OMMMGGGGG Messi!

His effect when comnig on was so obvious again. His pace and burst of energy, seem to spur everyone on, everyone making the extra meter and being more hungry with believe it seems, whereas when he is not on the field, everything is just slower.

this is what is. everyone can see how much this team is reliant on him. however you will not find many ppl accepting it, anyway.
i feel extremely lucky now that we are going to win the league(don think there is enough games to loose so many points). other than the crappy defense, look at the coach transition phase as windkick mentioned.

futbol wrote:I'll say it again. Tito needs to go. Simple as.

He won the league practically in the first three months, he's performed very well for his first year, and then had a serious illness which clearly affected him.
He has things to work on but getting rid of him wont do any good, we are not going to be Chelsea 2.0 switching managers too frequently may damage the team for good.

Did he win it the first 3 months....or was that Pep's influence that was still strong that carried over that won him the league those 3 months? Plus first half of the season R Madrid practically gave it away, with the drama in the locker room players vs Mou crap. We didn't have allot of pressure until Tito went down. Ever since then we have been riding on XAVIESTMESSI power and a TON of luck in the Champions

I don't know if you remember but we had a La Liga winning streak and record first half points, I think it's silly to say it was all due to Pep, otherwise he would of done that himself when he was in charge for those three years, Madrid did bottle it but we had a nearly perfect season and there was nothing they could do to change that.

Messi makes the team faster. I start to believe that possession makes this team worse and predictable. Fast play, high technique , great understanding and of course messi factor won this team so many titles not possession

People sometimes misunderstand possession.

Playing fast and positively doesn't mean sacrificing possession. The quality of possession matters, and we just have to play faster with the ball, move more and create and capitalise on more 1v1s in the final third.

Possession for one is our defensive mechanism. So its important there, and also in controlling the tempo of the game and facilitating our fast, attacking play.

When we play well, we can slow the tempo, then speed it up at will. Thats why commentators often comment on us going up through the gears.

We haven't got out of first gear for a while, and thats why our play has been pretty poor. Against Bayern, we didn't even control the tempo.

futbol wrote:I'll say it again. Pique needs to go. Simple as.

FTFY.

BarcaKizz wrote:People sometimes misunderstand possession.

Playing fast and positively doesn't mean sacrificing possession. The quality of possession matters, and we just have to play faster with the ball, move more and create and capitalise on more 1v1s in the final third.

Possession for one is our defensive mechanism. So its important there, and also in controlling the tempo of the game and facilitating our fast, attacking play.

When we play well, we can slow the tempo, then speed it up at will. Thats why commentators often comment on us going up through the gears.

We haven't got out of first gear for a while, and thats why our play has been pretty poor. Against Bayern, we didn't even control the tempo.

Kizz ur probably right, but that is the problem, we cant seem to get it to 3rd or 4th gear etc. most of the time without Messi. Without him, we have to play it so safe and patient, waiting for an opening in the opposition defense while we pass it around and try to create openings, but the movement, the speed of the runs and passes, etc., are just not good enough for a while vs top opponents.

Messi have played in almost all games bar a few due to injuries, and this season became so essential, we struggle to fill his void if hes missing.

Lucky for us Messi is so strong and should continue for us for years. But I just think the the team needs to be good enough and be flexible enough to play well even if hes not available at times.

Maybe its too much to ask, but its more ideal.

BarcaLearning wrote:

Maybe its too much to ask, but its more ideal.

Thats not too much of asking, that is the necessity. Its a shame that a team of this caliber totally play different level without him. Its not a mid level team dependent on a star player. Its Barcelona that has talent in every department. playing clueless when he is missing is a really shame for us. So the problem needs to be solved immediately.
And not him getting injured is not a solution. the opponent tactics also become easier. Shut Messi, Shut Barcelona may not be easy for lower/mid level teams but for big teams having the right player its not difficult as we have seen few times.