Barca vs Celta

Barcelona line-up (official): Bravo - Alves Pique Mathieu Adriano - Rafinha Busquets Iniesta - Messi Suarez Neymar

strange to see rakitic out, probably for rest.
messi playing despite injury?
iniesta will need to do his work today.

Good to see Busquets starting but would rather Xavi in these games than Rafinha, especially against an energetic team like Celta at home. Would rather the extra control in the midfield.

Well, let's see what happens.

Definitely a dangerous game, especially after international break.

We look HORRIBLE

Awful, just terrible.

Like I said, get Xavi in the game. Rafinha isn't good enough here, we have absolutely no control over this game.

Neymar is swimming in some deep waters currently, haven't offered anything and again missed a sitter. Hopefully celta will get tired soon as they are fighting and winning every ball.

Xavi needs to be subbed in, he has been rested the whole international week.

dani alves is terrible idk how people keep rating this guy

neymar.. christ but we can't really do anything about him... its either him or pedro.. and right now idk who is better lmao

we meed to bring in Pedro

Stokecelona

Mathieu again making it look more likely that Mascherano might be on the way to losing his starting spot on his height alone.

Well celta really tired out, perfect result considering FIFA virus. I think this was tougher game than Sevilla will be.

would of been a much easier game if the neymar goal rightfully counted.

I feel there has been a lot of bad offside calls against barca lately, i will probablyhave to start following certain linesmen to see IF there's a pattern there.

what is the role of  snailesta in this enrique setup ? Rafina ?? Celta should have won this match if not for some glorious misses . bravo and pique were superb

celta had misses
but so did barca..
neymar goal disallowed, open net miss, messi easy chance missed.
etc etc.

Harmonica wrote:I feel there has been a lot of bad offside calls against barca lately, i will probablyhave to start following certain linesmen to see IF there's a pattern there.

what do you mean 'following'? Follow them in a car, see where they go?

We got the win and that's what is most important here.

Still, what an awful performance.

Most important thing is the win. It's not like the team didn't step up in big games recently. They should have done better ( Rafinha, Neymar especially ) but I won't expect the team to play great every game considering it's the end of the season.

i dont wanna see rafinha and iniesta together again, just wont work

i am not disappointed.. yes we weren't great but there is a stat somewhere saying that every away game after international week for us results in a 65% loss or something like that.

3 points are all that matter for us now, not how we won it.

Rafinha doesn't work with Rakitic either. He is not a CM, he drifts forward too much and his defensive contribution is questionable. But we don't have anywhere else to fit him.

i understand that from now on i need to watch every game with a lot of anxiety. 4 points seems a lot when the match is won but during the game it does not give any comfort. glad we won. its after intl. break anyway.
but what a boring game to be honest. nothing interesting. simply nothing. very flat game.
few points:
1. i wish Messi does not stop scoring just because Pichichi looks too far now.
2. Pique did some fantastic blocks and tackles and Matheiu what a goal that was. i have started liking him. the english commentator was saying something like barca has never been such a threat in set pieces. liked it too...
3. missed alba, no doubt. Adriano at times was too slow which is surprising since he had a break.
4. Suarez needs to stop crying. dont see any difference with him and the other so called crybaby. he is becoming such a whinner i am afraid the refs will stop giving us the legit penalities.
5. Bravo with another great save. I can remember many argued in the first half of the season that Bravo was never tested. I hope by now he has been tested enough. Dont know his tackle on Nolito was correct or not, need to check it again. the commentator was saying that we were lucky there not to recieve a red and concede a penalty.

Nothing wrong with Bravo's tackle in my opinion. He clearly got the ball and got alot of it, first too.

Not a penalty at all. Its only a question in this softy league where any physical contact might be considered a foul.

Bénin wrote:Most important thing is the win. It's not like the team didn't step up in big games recently. They should have done better ( Rafinha, Neymar especially ) but I won't expect the team to play great every game considering it's the end of the season.

How about "any" game.

Our performances are so tepid, on a consistent basis. We play some boring football at times.