AjanleKoko:

Fantastic game. This is the best game by far at the Camp Nou this season, so far.
The boys, keeping an eye on Wednesday's big game at the Bernabeu, came out thinking to take it easy, after a fashion. Betis showed them they didn't come to lie down and take another manita. They took the game to us big time, and got back in it. They were unlucky to go a man down, which was really what tilted the game in Barca's favour. Else, they deserved a draw for their efforts, and may even have won it.

I don't know about you guys, but this was the worst performance from Messi I have seen in a long while. Even worse than last week, against Espanyol. He made wrong passing choices all evening, didn't hold the ball up, and was guilty of poor positioning all through the game. Also, this was one night that the 3-4-3 was a wrong playing choice. We are lucky to escape with the win, at home no less.

Hoping for more games like this in La Liga

medjai:

I thought Messi did quite well last night. He was indeed sloppy atimes, gave the ball away on a couple of occasions and made some poor decisions but still, he was one of our better players.

Barcelona's Eric Abidal
signs contract extension -
report
The French defender has
reportedly agreed to a new contract after several months of negotiations
have finally produced a result
By Luis Mira
Eric Abidal - Barcelona
Barcelona left-back Eric Abidal has signed a one-year contract extension with the club, La Vanguardia reports.

The France international's previous deal was due to expire at the end of the season and
negotiations between the player and the club dragged on for months, despite the
defender claiming in November that an agreement had been
reached.
It is believed that Abidal has signed a new contract until
2013, with the option for two more years, to be discussed annually.
The 32-year-old, who joined Barca from Olympique Lyonnais
in 2007, has repeatedly declared that he wants to end
his career at Camp Nou, where he has won three Primera Division titles and two
Champions League crowns, among other trophies.

eyoniggar:

even if them remove subsidy on beautiful footie, Barca wud still take the liga.

AjanleKoko:

Looks like the state of our nation has soured my taste for football somewhat.
I'm not even keen to watch the upcoming clasicos

AjanleKoko:

Looks like the state of our nation has soured my taste for football somewhat.
I'm not even keen to watch the upcoming clasicos

usbcable:

na prayer i dey pray sef make espn dey show more liga matches as I don cut cost on subscription amount to DSTV from 10000 to 4800.

chai Jona don/wan spoil fun for pessin.

medjai:

So many thoughts on this game. We won, its all good, but honestly I felt there are some issues that really need to be addressed. I mean the fact that our goals came from 2 defenders kind of speaks for itself.

- Pep, you're my man and all but sometimes you do some WTF-inducing stuff. Iniesta on the flank? Alexis in CF? Fabregas taking over Don's space in midfield? Messi in a withdrawn Argentina-esque role? Why?

Iniesta has always looked awkward in that winger position(he did quite well last night though), I mean Altintop, fuc[i]king[/i] Hamit Altintop did a decent job on him. He should've been our entry point in offense. Alexis would've torn him apart. Alexis utilizes that inside cut followed by the reverse direction dribble that leaves fullbacks stumbling, Altintop would've been shredded by the Chilean machine. Been a while since I saw Iniesta look uncomfortable on the ball, but this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who've watched him play the wing before,

- Watching Messi today was odd. I wasn't sure if the stripes were Blaugrana or light blue and white. He was playing very very deep, mainly due to Alexis occupying the CF position and Fabregas playing an advanced role as well. Sometimes I swear he was only in front of the back 4 + Pinto, it was odd. He had a hard time really imposing his presence on Madrid, maybe it was a plan by Pep perhaps to draw Pepe and Lass out of the hole a bit but I preferred when Messi was taking them on every few minutes. He still made a few key passes + of course the org[i]asm[/i]ic assist on Abidal's cool finish.

However there was a nice positive from this game.

- For a minute I wasn't sure if I was watching FC Barcelona but we were actually swinging all the damn corners into the box! I don't know why Pep suddenly decided to do away with those short passes and go for the cross but it was freakin' awesome.


I didn't like how we looked in the final third, we just weren't making sh[i]it[/i] happen, and there was some frustrating sloppy passing at times as well. I really hope Pep plays Alexis on the freakin' wing and put Iniesta back in his normal role. There's no reason Fabregas should be occupying that space in the midfield, it belongs to the freakin' Don. Having said that Cesc distributed the ball well and played some clever over the top passes ( he's a boss at that), but unfortunately his dribbling is nowhere near Iniesta's level, and that's not a bad thing. Still not sure what's Cesc best position yet but Pep please, please man, don't have Cesc fu[i]ck[/i]ing with the Don's turf.

Before I forget, Happy Birthday in arrears, Pep. Madrid's scalp on a plate at the Bernabeu. You couldn't have had a better gift.

coogar:

all these analyses are nothing without mentioning sergio busquets

he is the best young player in the universe. it's a shame the job he does on the pitch is not really appreciated. . .
but this young man has mastered the art of the defensive midfielder. his positioning yesterday was world class.
he ate all the combative midfielders mourinho set against him. . . . .his awareness in the defensive sense is excellent.
this young player has stopped mascherano from playing his natural role for barcelona and he chased yaya toure out of barcelona. . . .

the boy is a genius!

AjanleKoko:

Leave Busquets matter.
Did you see this play?

coogar:

i am one of his biggest fans. . . .
he's got pretty fantastic technique you just don't really notice it when he's surrounded by messi, iniesta, xavi and pedro.

his positional sense is outstanding. he is the perfect modern defensive midfielder and his composure with the ball is almost better than xavi's
no matter how you press busquets, you don't get the ball from him and he rarely ever loses possession.