All About FC Barcelona

Barca - 0, Villareal - 0, Barca's La Liga Defense Could be Over

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:11:00 +0000

FC Barcelona could have handed over the Liga title to Real Madrid unofficially after drawing away at 17th placed Villareal. The lead at the top of the summit is seven points which could be too much for our boys to climb. Already with a very depleted side, we weren't helped by Guardiola's decision making all night. And whatever he gives as excuse, he had to take teh majority of the blame for this performance. Leaders Real Madrid won earlier in the night and that took their lead at top to 8 points. With 14 first team players only available, Guardiola had not much choice to pick the first eleven. Victor Valdes came back a sthe keeper. The defense had Puyol, Pique, Mascherano and Abidal. Xavi, Busquets and Fabregas made up the midfield. And Adriano, Alves and Messi fromed the forward line. We were so stretched that we have to take Sanchez to the stadium eventhough he was injured, because Pedro picked up a late injury problem.

In the 3rd minute Alves forced a save from the keeper on the near post. In the 9th minute Cani had Villa real's first shot on target, but it was straight at Valdes. Once again in the early exchanges, we were trying to be too fanciful rather than efficient. In the 15th minute Barca forwards pressed the possession out of Villareal defense but Alves final shot was deflected. In the 17th minute Messi caught the Vilareal defense napping, but Messi's chip over the keeper went agonisingly close of the far post. In the 25th minute our defense was caught out but Abidal tracked back and cut the danger in time. In the 27th minute Valdes made a miss off clearing a free kick and it had to be cleared off the line. In the 36th minute Senna forced Valdes to make a save from outside the box. In the 41st minute Fabregas had the best chance of the frist half when Messi played him through with a reverse pass, but his first touch was too heavy allowing keeper to grab the ball.

Villareal once again starte the game pressing us well and forcing too many errors from us. In the 60th minute Guardiola brought in sanchex, who was supposed to be injured and took Pique off. In the 63rd minute Adriano tried to curl a ball into the far top corner from the edge of the box, but it went high over the bar. In teh 76th minute Guardiola finally decided to make some changes - Thiago and Tello coming in for Xavi and Adriano. It was quite a surprise to see Cesc fabregas, who was pathetic staying on the pitch. In the 79th minute Tello went in a great run through the left, squared the ball to Cesc whose shot was deflected on to the bar and there was an almighty scramble in the box to clear the rebound. In the 85th minute Thiago send in a wonderful free kick into the box, but Alexis was millimetres away from finding the contact. In the 87th minute Lionel Messi danced into the box but his shot was saved by keeper, Cesc who got hold off the rebound blasted high infront of an open goal. In the 89th minute Lionel Messi had another shot straight at the keeper.

FC Barcelona's La Liga title defense may have run over it's course following this draw. To overturn five points was looking difficult, but seven looks like an impossible number. What was going through Guardiola's mind while selecting the first eleven and when the game was on? He should have started with Thiago in the middle, but instead started with Cesc, who was the worse player over the Liga this weekend. Why he still persisted with him till the end God knows. Everyone would have been calling for him to be substituted but it was Xavi who went off. Of the Barca players Abidal was the best player on the pitch. He did brilliantly to cut off any danger and did well to go upfront also. Lionel Messi also looked like having an off-night. Why we try Alves upfront is till a big question? Guardiola have tried him upfront a number of times and he always screws up. The only positive from the night was the performance of Tello, boy he was fast.

El Clasico Review, A Day After

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:48:00 +0000

Thank God, It's over, that definitely was the reaction of every Barca fan once they heard the final whistle. I don't remember that in recent history we coming out with such a reaction towards the end of any match. That was the way we performed in this match, may be that's how they performed. From being a regular exercise of Barca winning Clasico matches, suddenly they were once again back to the promised intensity. It was once again back to being a contest between the best in the world, our complacent approach made that very much possible. No one in their ideal state of mind never thought Barca will haved to suffer this much to go through, but in the end they did precisely enough to hold on and maybe it's better to say Real Madrid didn't do enough infront of the goal. And precisely that what was the problem - When you play the best team in the world, you cannot afford to miss their chances. Barcelona at the same time made it all simple for Real Madrid with a defensive display, which would have made school boys embarassed. But then you cannot expect this team to be on top of their game all the time. We may feel a bit diasppointed by their display, but we have no right to complain. This team has given us so much that it's ungrateful to criticize the team for a minor blip, and that too a blip which never cost us. And that's what worrying for Mourinho - his team threw evrything at Barca but still couldn't win.

Mourinho screws up with tactics, Once Again!

Mourinho's reaction to his side's elimination was a predicted one. He said "he congratulate Barca for the match at Bernebeu, but not tonight". Once again he showed his true character. It's too much to ask for Mourinho to be graceful in defeat. But whatever he say he cannot take the blame away from himself. Even kids will tell you that Karim Benzema was Real Madrid's best player this season. So the big question is why would you start without your in form player in such a crucial match. And that did cost them a lot. Had Benzema was on in the initial moments, the entire outcome of the match would have been different. But why did Mourinho start without Benzema could be a crucial question for Madrid media? That question will revolve around whether he actually was trying to win this match or not. The preence of Kaka and Ozil in the line-up looked quite foolish at the start of the match, but emerged to be the best tactic. there was no doubt that Kaka and Ozil, the best player on the pitch bossed the proceeding. And for once Real Madrid played the best football, not trying to run everything through Ronaldo. Like Guardiola said, Madrid had nothing to lose, so they were doubly dangerous.

There was no doubt that Madrid gave their heart out yesternight at Camp Nou. But it was assisted in no small measure by our complacent defending. I have never seen our defense being so disjointed. It wasn't like that Madrid put enormous pressure. The mistake from Pique with hardly 50 seconds on the clock came without any pressure from Real Madrid. Four minutes later the same player was once again at fault when dealing with a Xabi Alonso free kick. Pique has been a bit out of form lately and Guardiola may do well with resting him for some matches. The problem for us last night was that our midfield was getting over-run by Madrid. We were giving away possession very cheaply and most of them were done by playing some fanciful skills and tricks, which were rather unnecessary. At times it looked like the players believed that we just have to turn up to finish off the tie. The only player who stood tall in the first half was Messi, who was a handful for Real Madrid. His constant runs were a menance and that resulted in the first goal. How he managed to lift the ball to Pedro when five defenders surrounded him was still not clear, but then normal things he does is not easily understandable by mere mortals like us.

The second half performance was a disgrace. We started well and then just simply switched off. The midfield was more interested in playing fancy tricks than maintaining possession. We seriously missed Iniesta at that phase of the match. Cesc Fabregas does not have the ball possession and winning skills of Iniesta and was virtually a non-player in the whole proceeding. Surprisingly even Messi did not drop back as much as in the first half. It was only after the scoreline became 2-2, he switched himself back on. To an extent it resembled our performance against real betis in Copa Del rey of last season. We almost did the same that time also. But these kind of shaky results are necessary to shake off Barca from being a bit complacent.From a positive side the team did learn the necessary to keep their focus always on. For Real madrid also there are serious positives from this match. This match sets up for a great second half of teh season. The only negative side was the injury to Iniesta and Sanchez. Sanchez is set to miss atleast two weeks of action and Iniesta may be a bit more. With so many injuries the squad is very much stretched now, exactly like last season. But the players have in them to see through the trouble times.

FC Barcelona -2, Real Madrid -2 Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:44:00 +0000

FC Barcelona holds off Madrid Comeback to Proceed to semi Final; FC Barcelona -2, Real Madrid -2

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:20:00 +0000

FC Barcelona secured a semi-final birth in this season's Copa Del Rey after knocking out holders Real Madrid with a sensational 2-2 draw. Barcelona who went into the break with a 2-0 lead had to hold off a sensational fightback from Mourinho's boys to secure the semi-final birth. To an extent we had to say that we were lucky after putting up the worst defensive display of the season, and courtesy of the fact that Madrid missed a number of chances. Mourinho's boys were all in crisis coming into this match. But as I said in the preview they came out like a roaring, but they were a bit hasty in front of goal and that resulted in all those missing chances. Guardiola went with an unchanged side which featured in the 2-1 away victory at Santiago Bernebeu. Pinto, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Cesc, Messi and Sanchez all started as expected. As I wrote in in the preview, Pepe started for Mourinho at centre back partnering Ramos, Arbeloa and Coentrao in defense. The midfield had Diarra, Alonso and Kaka. Ozil, Higuain and Ronaldo formed the attacking trio.

The start was horrible with Alves giving a bad back pass, Pique stood their ball watching and suddenly Higuain was through on goal; luckily for us he shot wide. In the 3rd minute Pinto produced a brilliant save to deny another Higuain header. It was a point blank range save. Real Madrid were off from the start and pressurising us like hell. Then in the 6th minute Ronaldo flashed a shot wide from a very tight angle. In the Messi went in a brilliant run through the middle and was brought down outside the box winning a free kick. Suprisingly Alves took the free kick and slammed it on the wall. In the 10th minute Fabregas sent in a great ball spotting Sanchez run, but he was a bit unlucky not to control it. In the 11th minute Real Madrid sets on a greater counter but Pinto made a brilliant save off Ronaldo. In the 14th minute Cesc wins the ball in midfield and sets off in a brilliant counter but his square to Messi was a little behind. For Real Madrid Ozil and Kaka were dominating the midfield. In the 25th minute Mesut Ozil struck the woodwork from long range and we were lucky not to have conceded there. In the 28th minute Pinto gave away the ball to Higuain but once again he was able to make the save. Then to make matters worse Iniesta got injured in the 30th minute and had to be replaced by Pedro. In the 35th minute Xavi curled a ball to Sanchez in the box, Pepe somehow clear it. Then in the 43rd minute Pedro scored from a brilliant counter atatck. Alves robbed the ball off Ronaldo in Barcelona half and found Messi in centre, who sets in a brilliant run drawing every defender on him and lifted the ball to Pedro on the left who make no mistake. In the injury time of half time Lassan Diarra took down Messi at the edge of the box, that should have been a second yellow card; but as expected to the referee decided not to. From the resulting free kick Alves scored with a brilliant strike after Xavi's free kick rebounded off the wall. That was an almighty strike. Real Madri would have been cursing their stars as they had 4 clear cut chance to score. Till the time the goal came we had only some serious half chances. But we turned the screw after that with Messi running riot and Madrid was lucky not to be reduced to 10 men.

Real Madrid defense were having handsfull with Messi's running. In the 50th minute Messi was brought down just outside of the box by Ramos. Xavi's free kick went just high of the right corner. Mourinho brought in Granero for Diarra in the 52nd minute to make it a complete attacking formation. In the 53rd minute Ramos headed past Pinto but the goal was correctly ruled out for a foul on Alves by Ramos. In the 60th minute Mourinho brought in Benzema for Higuain, who missed three golden chances in the first half. And also brought in Callejon for Kaka. In the 68th minute Ronaldo pulled one back after Ozil put him through. That goal put the tie back to akind of tense final minutes. In the 70th minute Fabregas was taken off and Thiago came in. Then in the 72nd minute Real madrid equalised through Benzema after launching a counter after we gave the ball away unnecessarily. We were absolutely getting killed in the midfield. In the 75th minute Ronaldo had another brilliant chabce but could not make the connection. In the 78th minute Benzema was put through with a great ball from Coentrao catching Puyol off, but his touch desert him and Pinto was able to connect. In the 82nd minute Messi won a free kick after he was brought down by Caoentrao, but Messi's free kick went just high. In the 84th minute Messi shoots just wide of near post. In the 85th minute Pedro gets past Pepe on the left and square the ball to Mesi in the box, but Ramos stepped in just in time to intercept it. In the 86th minute Ronaldo headed wide from a corner. In the 88th minute Ramos got red carded after he received a yellow card for a elbow on Busquets. I thought that was a bit harsh. In the 91st minute Pedro headed a free header straight at Casillas.

Ok, it is not that easy to look back into this match as the last quarter of the match was teh most tense. The possession statistics of the match said Barca had 60% and Madrid 40%. And that was the key in this match. They were really playing from their heart. They had the chance to score atleast three goals in the first half but wasy wayward with their finishing. We then thought we oput the game past them scoring two goals. But after the break we just simply switched off. There was no attempt to maintain the passing football or holding teh formation. The defense were all over the place. the way we conceded two goals in span of four minutes said it all. the defense were all over the place. Guardiola did teh right thing by bringing on Mascherano immediately. He and Thiago was instrumental in holding Real Madrid back. If it wasn't for Lionel Messi we would have been out of this tie. Everything good for us happened through him. The rest of the team played really poor. It was like they never expected Real Madrid to come out like that, after what they have gone through this week. In the defense everyone was poor including Abidal and Puyol. Pique was the worst, his mistake in the opening minute could have killed us. There were some doubts over Pinto's performance from last weeek. But he could hold his head high with a performance where he saved atleast four chances. Busquets who usually used to be calm when the midfield gets crowded was seriously struggling to push off the pressure.

FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid Copa Del Rey QF 2nd Leg Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:52:00 +0000

FC Barcelona would be looking to finish off the good job done at the Santiago Bernebeu last Wednesday when they meet Real Madrid at the Fotress Camp Nou. In the league Camp Nou has been an un-penetrable fotress till Betis broke it a week before. This season Barca has scored 67 goals at Camp Nou and conceded just 6(2 in Super Copa, 2 in La Liga and 2 in Champions League). So naturally that's not a great place to visit for Real Madrid, especially when they are trying to overturn a delicate 2-1 deficit. There is a certain sense in media and among fans that this tie is long over. The way we easily over turned the one goal deficit at bernebeu definitely give a psychological advantage to us over the bitter rivals and also we have been simply excellent at home this season. Despite of all these, I beg to differ and that's why I called it a very delicate situation. There is no doubt that Real Madrid had to come out blazing but it no way beyond them to turn the tie. An early goal would complicate matters very much for us and could rejuvinate the real Madrid side. The problem for us is that in the last two Clasico we conceded early goals. Guardiola would be hoping that his team produce a performance similar to the 1-1 draw in the 2nd leg of UEFA Champions League Semi-Final last season. That night we kept Real Madrid at bay for majority of the night and saw them off easily. That will be once again the key tomorrow - to keep Real Madrid from scoring in the first half an hour, after that I firmly believe they will wilt down to pieces.

In the whole history of Clasico clashes, there never has been a period similar to the one we are enjoying now. I don't think there has been a time when the Real Madrid fans and players prepared for a Clasico with an abject feeling and sense of failure or the inevitable. This Barca side has been a huge mental barrier for this Real madrid side, one of the costliest squad ever assembled. To make matters worse they come to Camp Nou with rumors of internal conflicts and back stabbing. There are reported bust up between Spanish players and Mourinho, which surprisingly is been played up by Madrid based newspaper,AS and Marca. This is the biggest test in Mourinho's career. A win at Camp Nou will see him once again hailed as the savior, but it won't be that rosy if it is going to be yet another failure.

In normal situations, a team in turmoil is kind of God send for an opponent fan, but not for me. We had a pretty bad history with those teams. Remember the Liverpool side which came to Camp Nou with players attacking each other. We eventually got kicked out by that same side. That's the problem with a team in turmoil. A team which is pushed against the wall will normally find strength to bounce back and there is a bigger danger of the opposition taking them lightly. That's something Guardiola needs to prepare his boys against - complacency; that should not be a big task for him. There has been never a lack of motivation for our boys when facing Madrid, especially the one mamaged by Mourinho. But in a Cup tie Complacency can kill, because by the time you realise what went wrong you may be out of the competition. So the bottom line is , there is a job to do and it has to be done inch perfectly.

How will Real Madrid line-up? Will Mourinho bring Pepe, the stamping thug to Camp Noue? Will Pepe find a place in starting eleven? Will Mourinho go for ultra-attacking or ultra-defensive formation? So many questions is left to be answered to the build up. Honestly speaking, no one knows. Going by Mourinho's history for trouble making I would not be surprised seeing Pepe in the starting eleven. If he features, then he will have only one job to do - carry on with his "UNINTENTIONAL" assault of Lionel Messi. In the match against us and Atletic, Mourinho came up line-up which were from the two extremes. Considering the fact that he will have to look for a win, he will have to go for a kind of attacking formation. That's always the problem with Mourinho. I don't think he has ever come to Nou Camp needing a win and actually achievbing it. He tried it with chelsea, never suceeded. With Madrid he had tried it in Champions League and also in the Super Copa. We most probably see a back four of Marcelo, Ramos, Pepe and Arbeloa. The midfield most probably will see a double pivot of Xabi Alonso and Diarra with Ozil playing infront of them. The front trio could see Ronaldo, Benzema and Higuain competition. Now that's a wild guess. With things going in Madrid and how Mourinho's crazy mind works we may see a completely different line-up.

Meanwhile for Guardiola there is not much to change from the line-up which featured in Santiago Benrnebeu. He was able to rest Xavi, Puyol and Cesc Fabregas for this tie on the weekend. Moreover Lionel Messi fired in all cyclinder and looked like have regained his goal scoring form. It wasn't like he failed to score for one month, but still there was a bit of sharpness missing recently. But the match against Malaga was perfect and the three goals were total class and would be surprised if we they don't feature in Goals of the Season. So our line-up will have Pinto on goal, Alves, Pique, Puyol and Abidal, Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Cesc, Messi and Sanchez. This one could be hell of a test for Pinto, as there is no doubt that Madrid players will try to put as much as pressure on him. So tight up. Pique, Puyol and Abidal will have a bigger role in protecting their keeper.

There is no doubt that Real Madrid comes to Nou Camp with enough arsenal to beat us. But their recent performances has not justified the talent they had. They tried throwing everything at us, but we threw them all back with ten times the strength. If Mourinho comes to play an aggresive style pressurising pretty high, then we may have the plus point of having five midfielders who could over-run them. The presence of Cesc and Messi in the frontline gives us more option in midfield. If we stay on our feet this could prove out to be a very tough task for Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho arrives at Camp Nou facing a serious crisis in his managerial career, this would be a make or break match for him. Barca fans and players would love to make sure that it's the latter one. And I think the script will all go horribly wrong for Jose Mourinho tomorrow night. I am going with a bold prediction of 5-1 victory for us.

Malaga vs Barca HD Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:01:00 +0000

Malaga - 1 : 4 - Barca All Goals Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Messi hat-trick sinks Malaga; Barca - 4, Malaga - 1

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:17:00 +0000

Lionel Messi scored his first away hat-trick of the season to give Barca a comfortable 4-1 victory over Malaga. The match wasn't as comfortable as the score-line suggest. In the first half Malaga had some serious chances and ended as 1-0. Rondon scored the consolation goal for Malaga. All the goal in tonight's match were scored by South American players. But Barca came out roaring after the half and finished off the game. Guardiola rested some serious stalwarts ahead of the Clasico clash on Wednesday. Puyol started from the bench with Abidal, Pique, Mascherano and Alves forming the defense. The midfield saw Thiago, Iniesta and Busquets. The frontr trio also had a different look with Messi and Sanchez partnering Adriano. Victor Valdes captained the side with both Puyol and Xavi absent from the starting eleven.

Malaga started being compact in the midfield and closed down the space available for Barca midfield players. But soon they realised it's not a simple task to do. In the 8th minute Thiago floated ina cross from the right to be met by Sanchez in the middle, but he could direct his header only to the keeper's hand. In the 15th minute the 19 year old Malaga player, Isco curled the ball into the far corner but Valdes went full stretch to deny that. From the resulting corner Valdes made another two brilliant saves (both off the goal line) to keep the score nil-nil. We were struggling to penetrate the Malaga back four and most of our shots came from outside the box. In the 32nd minute Van Nistelrooy missed a good chance from the corss. The very next minute Barca went 1-0 ahead with Messi heading the ball past the keeper from a floted cross from Adriano. That was Messi's second goal away from home. Apart from that we didn't see anymore chances at both end till half time. A 1-0 scoreline was too tricky going into the break, especially with Malaga forcing three brilliant save from Valdes.

To defend 1-0 was tricky but the players came out in full flow from start. In the 48th minute Iniesta crossed to Thiago in the middle whose shot was parried away, Iniesta got hold of the rebound and found Thiago again in the box whose shot once again was blocked by keeper, but the rebound fell kindly to Sanchez and he made no mistake putting Barca 2-0 ahead. In the 51st minute Messi went in a trademark Messi run skipping past defenders and finisheing easily past the keeper putting Barca 3-0 ahead. In the 64th minute Guardiola took off Sanchez and brought in youngster Cuenca. In the 67th minute Adriano injured his calf and had to be replaced by Jonathan Dos Santos. In the 73rd minute Messi won a free kick just outside the box. Messi hit the bar from the keeper, was really unlucky there as it hit the bar and then bounced off the line. In the 81st minute Messi completed his hat-trick with a brilliant run from the half line, hold off every defender and glided the ball past the keeper. In the 85th minute Malaga denied Valdes a clean sheet when he was beaten eventhough he managed to keep the first shot away.

It was great to see Messi back scoring goals away from Camp Nou in the league. And he scored three of finest goals tonight. That should be a warning to opponents for the second half of the season. There is no doubt that Messi will take all the headlines tomorrow but valdes for me was as good as him. With this victory we had cut the lead at the top to two points for the time being. Real Madrid has a chance to bring that back to five, but we had done our job of increasing the pressure on them.

Barca vs Malaga Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:18:00 +0000

It's always tough to take your focus away from Clasico clashes. Hence Barca's visit to Malaga could be a herculean task in some aspect. First you have to get your feet back on the ground following a sweet victory at Bernebeu, then the big task - keeping the Wednesday's clash with real Madrid at camp Nou in the background. That makes the task in Guardiola's hand quite tricky, add to that the away form our team in this La Liga season. But the five point deficit at the top and the simple fact that we play ahead of Real Madrid shoudl be more than enough for us to be motivated. Traditionally following a Clasico victory, we always have don well in the next matches. So the basic idea would be to cut the lead at top to two points before Real Madrid face Atletic Bilbao. As you all know this fixture was supposed to be the first match of this season and was postponed due to the player's strike. But it is better for us to play them now than in the first week as we know exactly what to expect from them. Malaga FC is owned indirectly by the Qatar Royal family(or precisely by a distant relative of the King), Sandro Rosell would be a very happy to visit them following his own closeness to the Al Thani Family.
Looking to buy tickets for this and up coming matches - TicketBis offers the best discount on Barcelona Tickets

Everyone expected to Malaga to occupy one of the top four slot at the start of the season following the huge infusion of fund. But they haven't yet started to justify that billing. They are right now at eighth in the table with a 5 point deficit with fourth placed Levante. But with the entire second half of the season still to come they do have a great chance. Their last match in Copa against real Madrid clearly shows that it won't be an easy place for Barca to travel. With Demichelis in the centre of defense, they may lack a bit of pace but Pellegrini is clever enough to neutralise that with impeccable opposition. Van Nistelrooy may be past his prime but his previous experience against barca also could come handy. Then they have the best player in Spain outside the top two- Santi Cazorla. With so many players out injured Gardiola doesn't have too many selection issues. Victor Valdes should comeback to the line-up. Puyol should be ideally rested as he has to once again start against Real Madrid. I would rest even Abidal. So for me the ideal back line would feature Mascherano, Adriano, Pique and Alves. The midfield should have Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi. The front trio should be the usual Messi, Sanchez and Cesc. This one as I said could be one tricky match. If complacency doesn't creep into the side, we expect our side to win this game easily. I would go for a 4-1 away victory for us with Messi grabbing a hat-trick.

If you are looking to buy or sell Barcelona Match tickets, TicketBis is the right place for you.

David Villa Recovering Well

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:14:00 +0000

Video of David Villa in Gym

FC Barcelona Needs to Say "Enough"

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:38:00 +0000

Condemnation has been flying all over the media and internet for the acts of thuggery committed by Madrid players, especially their iconic defender Pepe. Pepe recently released a so called apology via Real Madrid official site. This is his official statement "I wish to say yesterday's incident with Leo Messi was unintentional, but I nevertheless want to apologise to him if he was offended because all I do is defend my team and this institution. I give my heart and soul, and the thought of hurting a colleague has never enetered my mind". It would have been better he stood by his action than releasing a statement like that. What the bloody hell he means by "if he was offended". His argument that it was unintentional does not hold any ground as world over everyone has been convinced that it was very much intentional. Pepe looked down to see where Messi's hand where and stamped on it. Even pro Madrid media houses AS and MARCA couldn't find any reason to justify that heinous act. The second line of the statement made me laugh and hit the floor. This video Pepe Kicking Getafe Player shows how much he care for fellow players. The bottom line is he has shown again and again that he always step on teh field with clear intentions of hurting his opponents - with the ball or without it. Jose Mourinho has whipped up so much frenzy against refereeing decisions that the officials are afraid to book him for his violent plays.

What worries us more is the blatant attempt by Real madrid legend to glorify the actions. Zidane said "Obviously he has apologised for what he has done, but Pepe is a player who gives his all on the field of play, and sometimes he goes to the limit." I mean this is the same Zidane who was not ready to accept any apology from that Italian defender, but suddenly emphasize on the fact that Pepe apologize, and that too that kind of an apology. Pepe as a player is Goad send to Mourinho. He may have been forced to criticize his favourite disciple, but there is no doubt that if Mourinho was to be a player, he would rather be Pepe. The mentality of both are same. You cannot hold Mourinho's responsible for Pepe's action, but when you look at Carvalho, Marcelo, Ramos, Coentrao all of their actions in last night and recent matches, it will be clear that the culture of violence has been drillied into this team. For that Jose Mourinho is the only one responsible. He has made this side which is assemble at a cost of more than half a Billion Euros into a kicking machine. The moment they start feeling they couldn't win they go on as if it's a kicking match.

Another person's whose role in the whole melee needs to be analysed is that of referee César Muñiz Fernández. It does not surprise you that in all the Clasicos which were reduced to a kicking match was officiated by him. It wasn't a surprise that Mourinho selected Pepe in a midfield destroyer role afetr seeing the referee officiating the match. The stamp by Pepe on Messi went unnoticed by Muniz and hence forth Pepe will not be punished (Think about the delight of Pepe of getting away with such cruel acts). But the fouls of Carvalho, xabi Alonso all went unnoticed by Cesar Muniz. It looked like he was too intimidated by Mourinho to call offences against his boys. Maybe who knows he could be looking ata career at Real Madrid after he retires, it has happened earlier. What is disturbing the our club's insistence to let these big issues pass by. We have a very talented group of players and the world's best player who have given us so much joy to all of us. Hence it becomes our moral responsibility to protect our players from these kind of absolute thuggery. Instead of pressing charges against Pepe, we have taken a moral high ground of not reporting him to Liga officials. Now it's almost certain that he will get away with the latest episode of violence. It is also an open invitation for others across the league to emulate him as if you escape the referee's censure then you will probably go unhared as the club will not be pursuing action against them. While the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and others all have given us so many moments of absolute joy, what the club is giving them back is creating an atmosphere which encourages violent physical action on them. If our own club would not protect our players, then who will. It's time for the club to get out of their comfort zone and take actions to protect our players. If we don't do this, we may unfortunately see a big injury for one of our stars. That's the last thing a Cule wants. We have to raise this issue in every available platforms and also make sure that referees like Muniz, who allows blatant physical aggression does not officiate anymore Clasicos.

Barca vs Real Madrid Copa Del Rey Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:22:00 +0000

Barca -2, Real Madrid - 1 Highlights with Roy Hudson Commentary

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:56:00 +0000

El Clasico in Slow Motion

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:25:00 +0000

Real Madrid - 1, FC Barcelona - 2 All Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:33:00 +0000

Barca win at Bernebeu, yet again; Barca - 2, Real Madrid - 1

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:25:00 +0000

It has become something like a routine for this team - to go to the home of their arch-rivals and win in the most difficult circumstances. Guardiola's men has launched up many style of victroies over here - this one was also a bit different from teh other one. In this edition they decided to concede a lead at half time and then turned it completely over. This edition will be remembered as the the one in which the least expected guys scored. For Barca it was the two defenders, Puyol and Abidal who scored after Christiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid put the host ahead in the first half. Ronaldo may have scored tons of goals but no one actually expected him to score against FC Barcelona, even that happened tonight. MOurinho might be tearing his head apart by now - he has tried everything to beat this Barca side but nothing seems to work. This time he went with a starnge line up - Altintop who is a midfielder was used as a right back, Carvalho who last played in Sepetember came into center of defense partnering Ramos and Coentrao formed the left back. The midfield had the thug named Pepe, Diarra and Alonso. The front trio was Higuain, Benzema and Ronaldo. Guardiola meanwhile fielded a much expected line-up of Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Iniesta, Busquets, xavi, Fabregas, Sanchez and Messi.

With such a defensive midfield Mourinho was playing the "Crowd it in the middle, and hit on counter" strategy. That meant our defense had less pressure on the ball and we settled into our possession style quickly. But it was not easy to go through a crowded midfield. And to make matters worse Ronaldo put Madrid ahead with their first serious move in the 10th minute. Ronaldo did well take the goal, but there was no doubt that Pinto was at fault allowing the shot through his leg from a tight angle. That goal shooked us a bit and we started to increase the tempo. Sanchez had a brilliant header beat Casillas but it rebounded off the woodwork. Messi in the 26th minute forced a save from Casillas on the left. Meanwhile Real had some half chances on teh counter but Abidal stood up for the challenge all the time. Iniesta probably had the best chance of the half when he was played through by Sanchez but again he failed to test Casillas. In the 33rd minute Xavi played a delightful lofted ball spotting Cesc's run from deep but Casillas did really well to read the danger came off the box and cleared with a diving header. The rest of the half went without much fanfare but we were getting on top of the situation and the goal was just a matter of time.

Immediately aafter the restart we equalised through Puyol. Puyol did well to get on Pepe's blind side and meet Xavi's corner with a diving header sending the ball past Casillas. That setback took the stuffing out of the Real madrid players and they were going through the motion for the rest of the half. Ok, they did one more thing kick almost all our players on our pitch. Messi had teh worst of teh night with the everyone kicking him at every available oppurtunity. In teh 70th minute Busquets should have put us ahead when he rose and met a Xavi free kick but it went high. Then that honour(putting us ahead) went to our King Eric Abidal. He celebrated the recent extension of his contract with only his second goal for Barca. Messi created it with a beautiful dink over the defense putting Abidal ahead who chested it down and finished it past Casillas. At the point where the goal came we were ahving a possession of 70% in the second half. Guardiola did well with the substitution with Xavi and Fabregas being replaced by Thiago and Cuenca in the dying moments of the match. The rest of the half went just like that, of course with a lot of Real madrid kicking.

In the preview I wrote how this match could turn out to be a kicking contest with Muniz in charge. And that was what Realmadrid did. In tehs econd half after the equaliser, they were nowhere interested in playing the ball - went kicking at players. Once again Muniz failed to award cards for those foul. Mounriho once again have no excuse to hang on for another defeat at the hand of Guardiola.From our performance point of view, the defense was top class. Pique may have looked suspect at times, but Puyol and Abidal were fantastic. Both capped the performance with well taken goals. Iniesta was a bit off colour for me but Xabi, Fabregas and Sanchez all played their part well. Busquest was once again brilliant. Messi was quiet in the first 30minutes but woke up enough again to influence the game. Pinto did struggle, the first goal should have been stopped and he was beaten again by a normal Benzema header. Luckily for him Mourinho decided to sit back and absorb pressure. With two away goal we have a definite advantage. But by no means this tie is over and we have all to play at the Camp Nou in a week's time.

Take a look at thug Pepe's deliberate stamp on Messi to see how rowdy were Real Madrid.

FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid Copa Del Rey QF First Leg Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:28:00 +0000

Yet another Clasico is upon us, infact the fourth of this season and the first of 2012. When it was confirmed that this years Copa Del Rey will see both Barca and Madrid taking on one another, the reaction of both set of fans were classic. For the fiirst time in history they all greeted with a collective sigh of "Not Again, Lord". As Madrid Captain, Iker Casillas pointed out there was a serious danger of Clasicos losing their tarditional shine with so much meetings between the two and also a bigger danger of boredom creeping into the fans. But there is something in these Clasicos that makes it worth while to have as many as can. we may have been worried about being bored about them when they were announced, but two days before the match the familar nervousness, excitement, self beliefs, self doubts all come back in full flow. Like a Barca player said recently, you can never get tired of Clasicos and on the ev of yet another that rings absolutely true. That is the beauty of a Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona clash isn't it? It is not only a clash between the two of the World's best teams, but also one between two cities, maybe some say between two nations, two footballing philosophies, clash between the world's best players. So indeed one cannot get tired of Clasicos.

Barcelona's second captain, Xavi Hernandez in the press conference yesterday opinioned that this Clasico clash not only will have a bearing in the Copa schedule but also in teh league. He was correct to say that the one who will go out of the Copa will have enormous pressure thrusted on them to suceed in remaining competition. With trailing Real madrid by a margin of five points in the league, Barcelona is the team which could least afford to get out of Copa. Now that makes it a do or die situation for us. But for me that's a good thing for us as in the last clasico also we were in pretty same position. And to an extend Santiago Bernebeu has become like a home away from home for Guardiola. I don't think there will be any other rival stadium where this team has scored this many goals and also remained unbeaten. Moreover in a two legged tie, we have the added advantage of playing the second leg at home.

Since the last Clasico (our 3-1 victory at Bernebeu), Real Madrid fans and pundits have at times looked like have given upon on beating FC Barcelona. We are hearing more about how Mourinho will be taking the team to La Liga triump without necessarily having to beat FC Barcelona. Prior to that Clasico, such an attitude cannot be even dreamt off. I remember that many Barca fans had a bit of doubt about the team while approaching that Clasico and was literally surprised by the superiority established by our team at our biggest rival's ground. Actually going as a bit of under-dog always have helped us. Last season's first clasico, pundits all over the world put us as an underdog and we won it 5-0. This season they said Mourinho's Madrid has prepared well in Super Cup, but still we won. then they said it's Mourinho's second season in charge and there was no way we will win at Bernebeu, even we proved them wrong that time also. But this match could be tricky as we are going into this one as firm favourites. The last time we went to Bernebeu as firm favourites was last season La Liga clash, were we were unfortunately forced to a 1-1 draw courtesy of a dubious penalty awarded to Real Madrid. So it is better our boys understand the tricky situation here and show them who the real boss are.

To the build up of this match all kind of confusing news are emerging from Real Madrid camp. Without much surprise Marca has been the one who trumpheting all these confusing rumors. Yesterday it was Pepe who was doubtful for Wednesday's clash but today they are saying Maria also will be missing. Both of them has picked up some mysterious injury while training. As far as I am concerned this is a concentrated effort to make Barca camp guessing. I would be extremely shocked to see anyone of them missing from tomorrow's match. The ones who are missing from this match would be Khedira and Carvalho both injured and Arbeloa who is suspended. The biggest question will be what kind of formation Mourinho will be using. There are already talks of using Pepe in the midfield, but with Carvalho missing I doubt he will do it. So we should see a normal 4-2-3-1 formation with Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao, Diarra, Alonso, Callejon, Maria, Ronaldo and Benzema.

With Pedro, Villa, Afellay all out injured there is not much suspense in Guardiola's starting line-up. We most probably will start with a back four of Alves, Puyol, Pique and Abidal infront of our Copa keeper Pinto. Busquetsa should play the single pivot partnering Iniesta and Xavi. Fabregas, Messi and Sanchez should form the front trio. Evethough it's a normal 4-3-3 formation we will see it changing all the time with Messi and Fabregas dropping into midfield and Sanchez forming the lone centre forward. Also our flying full back Dani Alves will be flying up and down the pitch. Guardiola has been surprising us all with his tactical innovations in each of the last Clasico, so there could be something which could surprise us all in terms of strategy tomorrow night.

The biggest challenge for Mourinho tomorrow night will be to decide how to approach the match. Will he ask his team to sit back and focus only on counter or will they try to harass Barca's back four with excessive pressure? Seeing that César Muñiz Fernández is the referee he could even go with the "I will kick the Life out of you" strategy. Once agains the battle between Messi and Ronaldo will come to prominance in this match. Ronaldo has been off colour in recent matches and even Messi hasn't been playing in full flow. So both of them will be looking to get back to full flow. With Messi we have someone who can turn the fate of a match couple of seconds. The last victory at Bernebeu would have increased the confidence of Barca players tremendously. If they can keep the complacency factor under check, then they could seal the fate of the tie at Bernebeu itself. I am going with a 3-1 victory for FC Barcelona.

Eric Abidal Contract Renewed

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:20:00 +0000

Barca fans across the globe were given a very happy news ahead of the first leg of Copa del Rey clasico - King Abidal will be extending his stay at Barca. Abidal's current contract wiould have ended in this June and a lot of Barca fans were quiet worried at the delay in tying up the Frenchman at Camp Nou. Abidal enjoys a heroic status followed by his performances of last two season and also by the will and spirit he shown when he was diagnosed with tumor last season. For Guardiola, Abidal has been a very essential player as his pace in defense was very vital while trying the three man defense. As I understand, Abidal will extend his contract for one year with a clause to further extend it for another two year. So guys rejoice, the "KING is here to STAY".

FC Barcelona - 4, Real Betis - 2

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:35:00 +0000

FC Barcelona continued with their winning streak at home in La Liga with a very hard fought 4-2 victory against an inspired Real betis side. The match started very brightly for us going 2-0 up within 12 minute, then turned into a nightmare when Real Betis equalised early into second half. But the players showed enough character to come back from that set back and finish off the game. Lionel Messi who had a rather poor night by his standard scored twice, Xavi and Sanchez completed the goal tally for Barca. For Real Betis it was Castro and Santacruz who scored. FC Barcelona started the match with a eight point gap between league leaders Real Madrid, who managed to organise a spectacular 2-1 coming from behind victory(thanks to the linesman who ruled a perfectly legitimate goal from Mallorca as offside when the score was 1-0 to the host favour) against Real Mallorca. Guardiola once again decided to employ the 3-4-3 formation. We had Puyol, Abidal and Mascherano in defense. The midfield had Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas. Messi, Cuenca and Sanchez formed the attacking trio.

Real Betis started thye game very well closing down space for our midfield and making life difficult for the three man defense. In the 8th minute they had a double chance first when Molina was played onside by a swift counter. Valdes read the danger and came off his line to concede a corner and had once again have to pull out another save from the resulted corner. BUt in the 10th miunte Barcelona shaked off that poor start with Xavi scoring the first off the night. Alexis Sanchez played the ball to Fabregas whose shot hit the post, but fortunately the rebound went straight to Xavi, who had the simplest job to do. In the 12th minute Lionel Messi made it 2-0 when he latched on to a brilliant cross from Sanchez from the left. In the 22nd minute Real Betis once again managed toe stretch our three man defense but once again Ruben Castro's finish was wayward. In the 32nd minute Real Betis pulled one goal back with Castro guiding the ball into Barca goal. That was the first goal we have conceded in the Camp Nou in this La Liga season. We were begining to get a bit complacent in posession. The half ended with Messi being booked for an intentional handball inside the box, which I believe has made him ineligible for the next league game against Malaga.

Real Betis did manage to stretch our back three with their two fast wide players. It was to be seen whether Guardiola takes off the off-colour Cuenca and bring in someone to shore up the defense. Guardiola obliged and brought in Alves for Cuenca. In the 52nd minute Roque SantaCRuz scored with a brilliant curler to tie the scoreline at 2-2 from a brilliant counter attack. In the 55th minute Abidal found Messi inside the box, but the Argentinian's shot was a bit close to the keeper. In the 60th minute Messi and Fabregas played a neat 1-2 exchange which played Messi straight on goal but the defense did really well to block his effort. In the 69th minute Iniesta was booked unfairly for diving after he was clearly brought down in the box. That's yet another penalty which was denied for Barca. In the 71st minute Betis were rightly reduced to ten men after Mario has brought down Messi just ourtside the box winning his second booking of the night. In the 75th minute Alexis had a unmarked header going over the bar. In the very next minute Alexis made it 3-2 for Barcelona after latching onto a through ball from Xavi and finished from a very tight angle. In the 83rd minute Guardiola took off Cesc fabregas and brought in Thiago. In the 85th minute finally the referee awarded a penalty after the Betis defender handled the ball in the box. Messi made no mistake finishing it and making the scoreline 4-2. In the 90th minute Victor Valdes made a good save off Ruben Castro.

It was a pretty nervous match, especially after Betis equalised. But what is becoming so frustrating nowadays is that there looks like a concentrated efforts from the referees not to award Barca any clear cut penalties. Iniesta should feel himself really unlucky to have booked for diving in another example of clear cut penalty not been awarded to Barca. The Catalan media has recently suggested that there is a concentrated efforts from Spanish Federation to prevent Barca winning a fourth title. I considered that a total bogus news. But with each week passing we have to start giving some credentials to those news. On the other hand Real madrid are getting 50-50 chances called in their favor. Yesternight Real Mallorca had a perfect goal ruled offside, that offside decision was so strange as the player was not only behind the last two Real Madrid players also was in his own half. Guardiola and other Barca staffs have till now decided against racing anything against refereeing in public. But if we don't tackle this now we may have to struggle in the long run. We had a series of disappointing away draws and in all those draws we had atleast one clear cut penalty which is not ruled in our favor.

Messi wins yet another FIFA Balon d'Or

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:48:00 +0000

Lionel Messi won the FIFA Balon d'OR for the second consecutive time after the inception of the award last year. With this victory he has won the FIFA World Player of Year and Balon d'Or for the third consecutive time. It was a no btainer from the time the three man shortlist was announced. There was no way Messi couldn't have won it. So it was no big surprise for Barca fans, but just a confirmation of their wishes. Messi won 47.88% of the votes, whereas Ronaldo who came second won 21.6% and Xavi won 9.23%. Japan's Homare Sawa was adjudged as the winner of FIFA Balon d'Or Women Player of the Year. Pep Guardiola who missed on the awards last year was judged the Coach of the Year. Once again there was no way he could have missed that award. Santos forward Neymar won the FIFA Puskas award for the best goal scored in last year. Five Barcelona players made it into the FifPro World XI - Iker Casillas, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Ronald, and Rooney.

Espanyol hold Barca to a Draw; Espanyol-1, Barca - 1

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:40:00 +0000

FC Barcelona dropped two precious points in their pursuit of league leaders Real Madrid with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Espanyol. In teh 200-07 season, it was against Espanyol we lost the league title. There is still 21 games to be played yet, but maybe at the ned of the season we would be considering this match as a turning point. Barca players may think theye were hard done by the referee as he didn't award a definite penalty in the dying moments of the match. But their overall performance didn't deserve anything other than a draw.Real Madrid opened up a six point lead at the top with their victory yesternight. So it was upto us to cut the lead back by three points. Guardiola went with the best eleven available - Valdes, Abidal, Puyol, Pique, Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Messi and Sanchez. That resembled a 3-4-3 line-up. Espanyol lined up as Alvarez, Amat, Rodriguez, Moreno, Didac, Forlin, Romaric, Bifouma, Verdu, Weiss and Sergio Garcia with a 4-5-1 formation.

We started the match on top with Iniesta dominating the midfield, but it was Espanyol who had a brilliant double chance at the 6th minute. Valdes saved Verdu's first attempt and Pique saved the great chance on rebound with a goal line clearance. In the 10th minute Xavi played Sanchez through with a great lofted ball but Alexis mis-controls the take and the ball ended with keeper. In the 14th minute Fabregas had the ball in the back of net after Messi interecpted the keeper's pass but it was ruled out as their was a hand ball by Messi in controlling it. But we didn't have to wait much for the goa, in the 16th minute Fabregas finally scored with a header from Alves cross putting us 1-0 ahead in the fisrt local derby of the season. Espanyol responded immediately forcing a save from Valdes in the 18th minute. Our defense was looking a bit vulnerable as Espanyol counter attacks struggling to control possession and sometimes giving away the ball to Espanyol at most dangerous positions. In the 29th minute Iniesta forced another save from Espanyol keeper, Alvarez. Espanyol was narrowing down any space in the final third. In the 41st minute Verdu had a great chance to score when he broke the defense with a neat piece of dribble, but over plays it and allows Abidal to cut the chance off. Espnayol had the majority of the chances going into the break. The five man midfield has been built for counter attack and they were doing it really well. In the 45th minute Fabregas struck the post from a narrow angle, but he himself was at fault in narrowing down his angle.

In the 50th minute Alves shot from outside the box was well saved by Alvarez. In the 59th minute Alves had the ball in the back of net, but was correctly ruled offside. We were uncharacterstically misplacing so many passes and exposing us to unwanted Espanyol counter attacks. In the 71st minute Xavi fired his free kick high over the bar from a very dangerous position. In the 72nd minute Guardiola toojk off Sanchez, who ha d a very poor game and brought in Pedro. In the 77th minute Pedro did really well to create space on the left and crossed across the goal line, Messi who met it could only hit the post. In the 85th minute Keita replaced goal scorer Fabregas. In the 86th minute we conceded the equaliser when Vasquez headed from a cross from left. In the 90th minute Iniesta played Messi onside but was wrongly adjudged as offside. In the 92nd minute Pique hit the post, Pedro shot on rebound hit the defenders hand but no penalty was awarded.

Going 1-0 towards the dying moments of the match, it was not a big surprise seeing us concede the equaliser. Espanyol actually with their spirited performance had deserved that goal. They did really well in closing down the space for our players. Our attacking players apart from Iniesta was sloppy and too wayward in their passing and intensity. Lionel Messi had the worst game of his life in a Barca T-Shirt. Xavi had an average game, Sanchez, Alves all were crap throughout the game. The defensive players did really well till that decisive moment. Guardiola had to take a very big responsibility of this draw as he failed to make the necessary changes immediately after the break. Sanchez and Cesc were having an off day and he left it too late to bring in Pedro for Sanchez. It's actually after Pedro came, we started to create some nice chances, which should have been ended with a penalty to our favor. What this draw has done is, it has nullified the effect of that Clasico victory at the Bernebeu. Now it's upto Real Madrid to drop this important initiative. Only time can tell whether we will be looking at this moment as the week we lost the title. For the moment, the destiny of La Liga is very much in the hands of our rivals and we could only wait and hope for a slip up from them.

FC Barcelona -4, Osasuna - 0; Messi and Fabregas set up Barca Victory in Copa del Rey

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:03:00 +0000

FC Barcelona firmly placed their right foot in the next round of Copa del Rey with a 4-0 victroy against Osasuna at the Camp Nou. Now unless a seriously bad loss happens in the return leg, we will be firm favorite to face either Malaga or Real madrid in next round. A frist half brace from cesc Fabregas put Barca on course for a easy victory. Messi who came in the second half completed the tally with two neatly taken goals. Usually after a break we struggle to find our rhythm, but this time around there was no nerves like that. The performance was as clinical as it can get after the holidays. The line up for the first match of 2012 was Pinto, Mascherano, Puyola, Pique, Xavi, Busquets, Thiago, Cesc, Alves , Pedro and Cuenca. The formation was a 3-4-3.

The first ten minutes saw we struggling a bit to take control of the possession and was characterised by some un-Barca like sloppy passing. Osasuna was keeping themselves back in their box, closing down any scoring chances. In the 14th minute we finally broke their defenses with a brilliantly taken goal from cesc Fabregas. Xavi found Cesc unmarked on the left in box and slipped the ball to him, who made no mistake with the finish. Dano Alves playing as a winger on the right was stretching the Osasuna defense. In the 18th minute Cesc fabregas doubled his tally following another attack started by Alves on right. Alves cross from the right was cleared to Puyol by Osasuna defense, Puyol slipped the ball to Xavi who found Cesc Fabregas staright on the goal in the box. Cesc fabregas produced a wonderful chip to over the keeper head to make the scoreline 2-0. In the 21st minute Xavi saw his shot from the box going wide of the far post. In the 22nd minute Thiago saw his shot saved by keeper after another brilliant atatck in which Alves was very much involved. In the 23rd minute Puyol found himself staright on the keeper who produced another brilliant stop to deny the Barca Captain. In the 37th minute Thiago forced a save from the keeper with a long range effort. In the 41st minute Xavi floated a long range cross spotting Thiago's run into the box, but Thiago couldn't bring the ball under control. In the 45th minute Alves set in a brilliant run from the middle but his attempt to chip the ball over keeper's head was thwarted by the keeper tipping the ball over the bar.

There was a drop in intensity after the break, which was pretty much understandable. In the 59th minute Guardiola brought in Messi for Pedro. That move definitely changed the tempo and we started banging heavily on Osasuna goal after that. In the 63rd minute Puyol shot high over the bar from a very promising position. In the 66th minute Messi almost got into the scoresheet with a beautiful move. He raced into the box, played a neat one-two with Alves but his chip over the sliding keeper surprisingly went wide of the goal. In the 67th minute Cuenca skipped inside and tried to curl his effort into tor far corner, but shot went wide and high. In the 72nd minute Puyol forced yet another save from the keeper from a Messi free kick. But Osasuna couldn't stop Messi for anymore as he got into scoresheet in the very next minute. The corner which resulted from the free kick caused an almighty scramble, Alves got hold of the rebound and send in a cross into the centre which was met by Messi's strong header. Guardiola took off Cuenca immediately and brought in Sanchez. In the 77th minute Messi forced a point blank save from the keeper after some sensual interplay inside the box. In the 84th minute Osasuna had a good chance to pull one back, but Lamah curled the ball horrible wide of target. In the 87th minute Keita came in for Fabregas. In the 91st minute messi made it 4-0 with a Messi style goal, skipping inside and finding the far corner.

Coming into the match, Guardiola got it spot on with his tactic with the 3-43 formation. Playing Alves as a winger stretched the Osasuna defense which definitely came with the idea to sit back and defend. That created space for the likes of Xavi to operate, who for me was the best player on the pitch. Puyol who was just once again brilliant in both defense and attack marshalled his troops with exemplory ease. The three man defense was sometime exposed a bit but Alves and Puyol did really well to cut down any thretening situations. the only disappointing part for me is the form of Pedro, who looks like struggling very much evethough he is putting his heart out. Cuenca did really well with stretching the pitch and definitely gives Guardiola a weapon to use. A 4-0 victory would have killed the second leg, but still we need to put a decent show at osasuana to secure teh Quarter Final spot.

Good-Bye 2011, Welcome 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:18:00 +0000

2011 has gone past us and we all are looking forward to the new year, 2012 with hope. The past year was something like a rollercoaster ride - the financial turbulence, a slew of nature's fury at various parts of world, the fight for democracy at other parts all made it a wonderful ride. Time Magazine has rightly named this year as the "Year of Protesters". From a footballing perspective 2011 will always be remembered as the "Year of The Clasicos". Seven Clasico clashes had left football players and fans a bit drained, but this is one clash we will be all craving for more. For a Barcelona fan the past year was nothing short of a dream calendar year. We have ended this year with five official silverware - La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Liga Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Only year 2009 has been better in terms of Silverware, where we won the Copa del Rey also. But considering that we made it to the final of that tournament last year, this has to be considered a better year- especially taking into account the challenge posed by bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Compared to last three years we start 2012 at second in League table. That's a new feeling for Guardiola as a manager. But it should not be a problem as we ended the year on a high. The 3-1 victory at Bernebeu has swung the momentum in favor of us in the league. It's not that we lacked confidence going into that match, but that result looks like has dent a huge hole in Real Madrid's confidence. For me, this victory had a much more devastating effect than the 5-0 of last year. Following the 5-0 defeat last season, Real Madrid had enough excuses to explain the defeat. But they are lacking excuses this time around. But these virtual advantages all will come to ni=othing if we slip against other teams in the league. Even though trailing Real Madrid should give the players enough motivation but it is like a double edged sword as the pressure could be at times enormous to bear. Guardiola has done a brilliant job to keep the players focused till now despite of all their success. Hence there is no need to worry about our players losing the motivation in 2012. Like Xavi said, it is not tough to motivate oneself till Mourinho is in charge at Real Madrid. 2011 has been a great year and we ended the year on real high. Let's hope our boy's are able to continue the momentum and good work into the new year, 2012. Wishing you all a very prosperous and happy new Year, 2012.

Barca to meet Osasuna in Copa del Rey Last 16 Knock Out Round

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:46:00 +0000

FC Barcelona has been drawn with Osasuna for the next round of Cop del Rey clash. The draw took place today morning and had thrown up some interesting posibilities for next round. Guardiola wouldn't be happy with the dates for the Last 16 round. The frist leg will take place at Camp Nou between jan 3 to Jan 5. That could see the South american contigent being used in limited capacity as they would be just back from holidays. Having the second leg away from home means that Barca has to take a definie advantage in the first leg and that too with our problem usually after the breaks. The talk of the town is not the clash with osasuna, it's the supposed Quarter Final Clash with Real Madrid. Madrid has been drawn with rich boys Malaga for the round of 16. If both Barca and Madrid win, then the first leg of Quarter Final will take place at Bernebeu on January 18th.

Christmas Gift : Ronaldo's Reaction to Messi Golazo

noreply@blogger.com (Bibin) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:39:00 +0000