logica: I don't think anyone noticed how poor that Betis pitch was; clumps of uprooted grass and soil/sand. That affected the play of several players and most affected were Puyol and Tello. The backpass from Puyol that almost resulted in a goal for Betis for instance was slowed by the pitch. He forgot he wasn't on a slick pitch (with reduced friction and a faster ball). But yeah, Puyol is not in (and actually past) his best form.

barack_o_handso: Lol. Song conceeds too many free kicks with his weight, unlike busquests, he had a good game though no doubt. He was instrumental in the first goal with his pass to fabregas.

My man of the match: VALDES, for keeping us in the game with his world class saves at 0-0 when Betis' forwards were getting the better of bartra and montoya.

Get well soon MESSI, we need your goals

More than a club.

barack_o_handso: Damn! I knew all the world tour and exhibition matches he played during the break will eventually take a toll on him. Going to Senegal, Asia and the likes just to satisfy people at the detriment of his health. Get well soon.


Wow! 8 weeks Well technically it's 7 sha as this week is for international friendlies. It's a good thing we have Neymar already, I believe he'll step up and the Sanchez, fabregas and pedro will take up the responsibilities. As much as this is a big blow, it's time for us to show that we can actually do without MESSI.

I'm still backing him for the Ballon D'or though.

usbcable:

your backing is not useful when you have the backing of BABA BLATTER.

tsheeeeeeew

philfearon: You guys Should Forget About Messi....Just put him in your prayers...........2013 is a year of Woes,but yet a blessing in disguise.....
I found this joke somewhere in Nairaland...Ah just dae laugh since i read am for Morning....
A man went into a Pharmacist shop,bought a pack of co.n.dom from the Person{owner} and started laughing weirdly as he left...The man started wondering why buying a Cd pack warrants such laughs...nothing..He shruggs it off...
The next day,the same person came and bought a pack of co.n.doms,and as he was leaving,he started laughing weirdly again to the bewilderment of the Chemist man again....
The next time being the third time,the same man came again,and after buying the Co.n.dom and laughing as he left,the chemist man told his salesgirl to follow the man and know Where he goes with the Cd that makes him laugh like that....
Few hours later,the sales girl came back..
The Man:What did you find out?
Salesgirl: i did as u said..
The Man:Where did he go to with the C.o.ndoms he bought?..
Salesgirl:To Your house sir!!

Johnpaul88: For me, i have put my mind away from a possible fifth Ballon d'oro for Messi. All that bothers me is that he comes back as scheduled and that he assists the team in those difficult & tight fixtures of january when the team will be playing every 3 days until UCL resumes in mid february. And that he doesn't suffer a recurrence any more.

For the Ballon d' oro, frankly speaking, it'll be refreshing to see another winner emerge this time around. It's becoming too predictable & may have lost some of its glamour if one person continues to win. Don't get me wrong, but Messi can still win a fifth in the future if he comes back stronger & i'll be very happy.

Other players may have also deserved to win and this Messi recurring injury problems should present a convinient time to reward them. Messi can thereafter reclaim his rightful place in the future.

Ibrahimovic, Penaldo & Ribery have all given a good account of themselves and one of them should win. My personal preference is Ibrahimovic. Penaldo did not win anything and Ribery is not that flashy, perhaps not even the best player in Bayern squad.

barack_o_handso: Beckenbauer: Messi is the world's best
player

barack_o_handso:


You're right you know, I get you. The only people who aren't bored with Messi's continuous Ballon D'or win are Barca and Argentina national team fans but at the same time you can't take it away from him. He played lesser games than all of his rivals last season but still scored the most goals. It's not his fault that he's that good.

Johnpaul88: Never said i'll be happy if Messi doesn't win. I'm just trying to have us lower expectations. Of course if Messi wins, we fans will have more bragging right than others. In event that he doesn't win, doesn't make any of those that could win, any better than him. It would be that they won solely because Messi had an injury- ridden year. On a balance of events, no one stands a chance to take replace Messi just yet.

Mcleo007:


Recall the year Pensford(Penaldo) won it? Messi was injured for a large part of the year in review. This might be someone else' year. I root for Ribery.

Johnpaul88: For me, i have put my mind away from a possible fifth Ballon d'oro for Messi. All that bothers me is that he comes back as scheduled and that he assists the team in those difficult & tight fixtures of january when the team will be playing every 3 days until UCL resumes in mid february. And that he doesn't suffer a recurrence any more.

For the Ballon d' oro, frankly speaking, it'll be refreshing to see another winner emerge this time around. It's becoming too predictable & may have lost some of its glamour if one person continues to win. Don't get me wrong, but Messi can still win a fifth in the future if he comes back stronger & i'll be very happy.

Other players may have also deserved to win and this Messi recurring injury problems should present a convinient time to reward them. Messi can thereafter reclaim his rightful place in the future.

Ibrahimovic, Penaldo & Ribery have all given a good account of themselves and one of them should win. My personal preference is Ibrahimovic. Penaldo did not win anything and Ribery is not that flashy, perhaps not even the best player in Bayern squad.

yourangel:


Brother Paul (abi na brother John....lol), the truth is that Messi already paid his dues before he got severely injured. Before now, he already won us the Liga, kept us in the CL to the semi-finals and qualified Argentina for the WC. His injury of last weekend has nothing to do with what he's achieved this year. He's done enough to be a worthy recipient of the award. You can't just 'reward' others because the contest should be interesting. Messi has clearly been the best player in the world in the last five years (it's only messi haters that disagree with this obvious fact). What has Ibrahimovic done this year that Messi hasn't done? Ribery, CR and Ibra could not automatically qualify their respective national teams for the WC. All three will have to go through play-offs to qualify. Messi already did that for Argentina. Ribery won the treble with Bayern, but was he their best player? No. They won as a great team with no particular individual as the team's shining star as in Messi, CR and Ibra in their respective teams.

I agree completely with you that others also deserve the award. However, Messi still deserves it as well. I would gladly accept whoever wins it this year, but I would be happier if Leo comes home with it . Cheers bro!

barack_o_handso:


Since this one is for last season's. Performance, Messi's still the favourite. When cr7 won it, Messi was injured during the season proper, not the season after.

barack_o_handso:


Since this one is for last season's. Performance, Messi's still the favourite. When cr7 won it, Messi was injured during the season proper, not the season after.

ddippset: Football won't be quite the same for me I confess. I won't watch messi for 2 months! Sad. I could imagine how many fans buy tickets at the nou camp just to watch messi play. Watching barca and messi every sunday nite makes my weekends.

philfearon:
Nah! The Award is for the Year 2013 ,starting from 14th January!...
This Year alone,Messi has missed complete 3months of football compared to peepz like Ronaldo,Ribery and IbrahimMovic,but When you look at that their stats,you will be like: "ah ah,what the heck were this dudes doing while the oga at the top was injured?"
A genius said, "What will people say when Messi with all his goals,his team sits third in la liga,he couldnt win anything trophy in the year 2013,he couldnt qualify his country for the world cup straight away ?"...

ddippset: Football won't be quite the same for me I confess. I won't watch messi for 2 months! Sad. I could imagine how many fans buy tickets at the nou camp just to watch messi play. Watching barca and messi every sunday nite makes my weekends.

yourangel:


Brother Paul (abi na brother John....lol), the truth is that Messi already paid his dues before he got severely injured. Before now, he already won us the Liga, kept us in the CL to the semi-finals and qualified Argentina for the WC. His injury of last weekend has nothing to do with what he's achieved this year. He's done enough to be a worthy recipient of the award. You can't just 'reward' others because the contest should be interesting. Messi has clearly been the best player in the world in the last five years (it's only messi haters that disagree with this obvious fact). What has Ibrahimovic done this year that Messi hasn't done? Ribery, CR and Ibra could not automatically qualify their respective national teams for the WC. All three will have to go through play-offs to qualify. Messi already did that for Argentina. Ribery won the treble with Bayern, but was he their best player? No. They won as a great team with no particular individual as the team's shining star as in Messi, CR and Ibra in their respective teams.

I agree completely with you that others also deserve the award. However, Messi still deserves it as well. I would gladly accept whoever wins it this year, but I would be happier if Leo comes home with it . Cheers bro!