Almería - Barça. Saturday 28 at 18:00

Cesc in for Mascherano.

I guess we will see:

VV
Alves - Pique - Bartra - Adriano

Iniesta - Busquets - Cesc

Alexis - Messi - Pedro

If neymar plays, probably Alexis will be dropped.

Our last encounter resulted in a 8-0 win. Expecting a big win here.

Hoping we rest Xavi this game, possibly Neymar.

free_cat wrote:Cesc in for Mascherano.

I guess we will see:

VV
Alves - Pique - Bartra - Adriano

Iniesta - Busquets - Cesc

Alexis - Messi - Pedro

If neymar plays, probably Alexis will be dropped.

I'd love to see this line up

I think Song should start as well, but other than I agree with Free's lineup

Messi saving Barça's ass again  

FFS Messi injured

Anyone saw the injury? I missed it. What happened?

Looks like thigh or hamstring.

I hope he makes it in time for Peru

Messi injured himself hard pressing Almeria's goalkeeper in a not dangerous play. Thanks tata. Three Messi injuries in two months. What's his plan, to get Messi injured 12 times a season?

You never run out of bull, do you?

PS: Why the hell is Song not playing?

I dont think he is really 'injured'. The same thing since the PSG game, it will never heal 100% when he keeps playing the minutes he is doing and the amount of training he is getting. Messi himself told Tata he wants to go off. Not suprised, he wants to play at 100% against Celtic at thursday, that being a important CL game.

Anyway, boring match. 3 points, all that counts. I really really really like Bartra, made 1 blatant mistake but other then that he did great!! Deserves more minutes for sure. Nobody in particular was very good today.

I am very impressed with Batra...we could have a gem in the making here.

I don't even recognize this team anymore. This Martino guy is a cancer spreading fast. Other than that, VV made yet another great save but almost gave away a goal later on, bringing back the horror memories from last season.

Nothing in the team seemed to be working. No communication, motivation or any type of brilliance we're used to. Pedro and Alexis were equally bad. Xavi was decent but nobody seemed to follow, not even Iniesta who's still out of form this season. Cesc managed to pull off another disappearing act in front of a full stadium soon as he got moved up front.

Only positive to take from this game is Bartra, who I'm really, really impressed by. Seemed composed, resolute, attack-minded and very technically gifted. Don't think it would be an exaggeration if I said that he could already by the most techincally adept central defender out there. Had a bit of Pique's flamboyancy and Puyol's determination combined. Very excited to see him again in the coming fixtures. (Hopefully under a different manager!)

Pique and bartra make big errors sometimes.. We got away with almeria but these mistakes will change the game against a big team.

The real-atletico match is a kind of win-win match for us in a way. Real loses, and the gap b/w us increases and atletico loses and we are on the top of the table with no one sharing the tie.

BTW, what was Valdez arguing with xavi??

true Pique and Bartra make mistakes, but Bartra is our only real CB besides Puyol and Pique, so he should get as much time as possible against the low teams. This way our two best CB (MAsche and Pique) could be saved from potential injuries, and Bartra becomes more ready in case those injuries happen before some important game.

Bartra had an outstanding game today. He finally got his confidence back after being ruined by tito. With Bartra at this level, it's not really cristal clear that pique and Mascherano are the better CB.

Mom Adriano, our second best player Bartra today.

About Bartra I agree he had a very good match, but his forward runs worry me. I think it's telling that when talking about his goal last week Martino said "We were telling him to drop deeper and then he ignored us and scored the goal" - he didn't say it as a criticism, and I can't tell how much of it is covered because of the angle of the camera - but today we saw him venture forward a lot too.

His forward runs are awesome, and as long someone covers for him (Busquets) are also very smart tactically and in a cruyffist system they would be used.

Yeah, I dont have any problem with Bartra bringing the ball forward and continuing his run aslong as the cover is there.

Games against compact teams, its only a bonus with very little in the way of risk.

free_cat wrote:Messi injured himself hard pressing Almeria's goalkeeper in a not dangerous play. Thanks tata. Three Messi injuries in two months. What's his plan, to get Messi injured 12 times a season?

Why's this Tata's fault?

Bartra should get more playing time... He's good enough to face most of Liga teams!
Really worried about Messi's injuries....

A5

I thought we played well.We are not going to smash every team out of the park.Considering the fact that Messi got injured early on and that Neymar was rested,it was a good win.
I am still not convinced by Iniesta and Cesc in midfield.Our midfield play was very poor with those 2 in midfield.Play improved significantly once Xavi came on.He had another good game continuing his excellent form this season.

Its Iniesta who is a bit worrying.Had another poor game.Sloppy passes and poor decision making.I think he is still not fully fit.
Messi scored a great goal but went off injured.These injuries are worrying.Give him a proper rest this time and dont rush him back in a week no matter what he says.
Thought both Pedro and Alexis played well.Alexis had a couple of nice dribbles.

Pique:facepalm: He is the worst header on the team despite being the tallest.Every single game,Xavi finds him perfectly from a corner only for Pique to head it 20 yards away from goal.Yesterday Messi finds him perfectly from a FK and he misses a simple tap in header.If he is poor at it,then he should practice.But no,he thinks he is Beckenbauer and doesnt need to put in the effort in training.
The less said about his bumbling efforts at tackling,the better.
Guy thinks he is Nesta at tackling.What a joke.Slides to the ground 5 seconds too early.The player sees him comoing from far off and simply takes the ball away making him look like a fool.
When will he get the message.There are poor tacklers and then there are the atrocious tacklers.Difference being that the poor tacklers dont get the ball and end up taking out the man.The atrocious tacklers end up swinging at air and looking like an idiot. Pique falls in the latter category.
He is a classic example of a player who ends up believing his own hype,stops putting in the effort and then becomes a joke.
If a good offer comes in the summer,I wouldnt mind selling him.That would mean buying 2 CB's.So be it.

Bartra had another encouraging game.Looks a good defender.And I dont think his forward runs a problem.Against teams that park the bus it can be a good weapon.Besides yesterday,the couple of times he went forward there was nobody in his path as everyone else was covering others or blocking off passing lanes.So it was a smart decision.he had an unhindered path to their box.As long as he picks his moments correctly and he is covered,there is nothing wrong with it.
When Masch gets back,pair him and Bartra together.