Wounded Barcelona will look to banish the memories of their shock defeat to Hercules when they begin their Champions League campaign against Panathinaikos tomorrow night.
Promoted Hercules caused one of the biggest upsets in recent Primera Division history after claiming a 2-0 win over two-time reigning champions Barca at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
That was Barca's first home league defeat since May 2009 - when a second-string side lost 1-0 to Osasuna with the Catalan giants having already clinched the title - and the home fans did not hide their displeasure as the players left the field.
However, Barca have a swift chance to make amends as they are back in action at the Nou Camp tomorrow, when Pep Guardiola's side begin what they hope will end up with a successful return to Wembley stadium next summer.
Barca won the first of their three European Cup crowns at the old Wembley stadium back in 1992.
Looking ahead to the Champions League, which Villa will be playing in for the first time in two years having this summer moved to Barca from Valencia, the Spanish World Cup winner said of his side's hopes of lifting the title again in London: "We need to take it step by step.

"The first thing is to beat Panathinaikos. It's important to start well because the group phase is not like a regular league. There are a lot less games and a slip-up can really complicate things.''
Although he still sent out a strong side against Hercules, Guardiola omitted some of his senior players for the match with one eye on the visit of Panathinaikos and it could be that Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol and Dani Alves will return to the first XI.

Panathinaikos warmed up for their daunting trip to Spain - where they have lost on 10 of 11 previous visits to the Iberian nation, drawing the other - with a 1-0 away win over Aris Thessaloniki on Saturday, Djibril Cisse netting the winner from the penalty spot just before half-time.

That lifted Nikos Nioplias' side up to third spot in the league standings having drawn their opening game 1-1 at home to Xanthi.

Giorgos Karagounis and Nikos Spyropoulos sat out the Aris victory having returned from Greece duty with injuries.

ESPN

Pana's previous visits to Camp Nou have ended with defeats. A 5-0 drubbing in the group stage of the 05/06 champions league and another 3-1 defeat in the 01/02 quarter-final. They are our regular customers

Pique is a doubt for this one. Heard he might be rested following the injury he sustained to the head during the weekend. I dont know if Puyol will be fit enough to play.
Expect Xavi and Busquets to make a return to the starting XI. Masc might have his Barca champs league from the bench

maximum points to barca plus maximum shishi

Puyol had gotten medical clearance to play before our last game,pep only rested him to be fully fit for the CL showdown tonight.

I would not be suprised if i see pique on the starting line up or better still puyol should pair millito.pep should stop experimenting risk as i am always

close to heart attack every time we played  Abidal as a CB.he is manageable as a LB.i really wanna see our first eleven tonight,and we will have to be

careful not to screw up this chance to reintroduce ourselves to the rest of the clubs in Europe that we are still the team to beat in CL.Hercules might

have caught us off guard but how many clubs would  be that fortunate again to pick a point in camp nou.we are winning.

forza Barca.

ogazi007:

Puyol had gotten medical clearance to play before our last game,pep only rested him to be fully fit for the CL showdown tonight.

I would not be suprised if i see pique on the starting line up or better still puyol should pair millito.pep should stop experimenting risk as i am always

close to heart attack every time we played  Abidal as a CB.he is manageable as a LB.i really wanna see our first eleven tonight,and we will have to be

careful not to screw up this chance to reintroduce ourselves to the rest of the clubs in Europe that we are still the team to beat in CL.Hercules might

have caught us off guard but how many clubs would  be that fortunate again to pick a point in camp nou.we are winning.

forza Barca.

I love that, we will be back to our winning ways to night. up Barca

any link pls

Lol i laugh in catalonia

Pharoh:

Lol i laugh in catalonia

you can even laugh in bundesligaaaaaaaaaaa

Barca 3-1 up HT. That's what I'm talking about

medjai:

Barca 3-1 up HT. That's what I'm talking about

4-1 go boys

scantee:

you can even laugh in bundesligaaaaaaaaaaa

I dey support una na.

medjai:

Barca 3-1 up HT. That's what I'm talking about

5-1 go boys

When  Panathinaikos scored, I thought barca were in for another herculecious night.

Class prevailed in the end

could have been 6 and a Messi hatrick. He missed a penalty.
Valencia won too. Good for the La liga

Up Barca!!!

Barca won 5-1 deservedly,but it must be said that Panathinaikos was terrible to watch. I havent seen a team perform to bad in the UCL in a while. They are phucking disgrace. The idiOts no fit hold ball for 5 seconds

Its not panathiniakos fault,it is just the usual way Almighty Barca makes other bigger clubs in Europe looks very ordinary.its always difficult to earn a

point in camp nou.Rubin Kazan did it last season,Hercules has done it this season and i am afraid other clubs will have to wait till next season for their

chance,

ogazi007:

Its not panathiniakos fault,it is just the usual way Almighty Barca makes other bigger clubs in Europe looks very ordinary.its always difficult to earn a

point in camp nou.Rubin Kazan did it last season,Hercules has done it this season and i am afraid other clubs will have to wait till [b]next season [/b]for their

chance,

Next two season

I really love yesterdays line up. It's what I've been waiting to see up front-Messi on the left, Pedro on the right and Villa as the centre forward and the result as we can all see is very deadly. It was great to see fit again Puyol and Pique at the back again.
Panathinaikos only had one shot all the through game and fortunately they scored from it. They had no corner. Posession was 86% for Barcelona and 14% for Pana. We more than dominated them

Barcelona Vs Panathinaikos FC, Match statistics

MATCH STATS
Barcelona Panathinaikos
Shots (on Goal) 28(12) 1(1)
Fouls 9 17
Corner Kicks 4 0
Offsides 3 1
Time of Possession 86% 14%
Yellow Cards 0 1
Red Cards 0 0
Saves 0 7

what a game.