coogar:

they know how to beat the smaller teams.
that's jose mourinho's attribute. . . a flat track bully.

Nah, he does do well in the big games. Just not so much against the current Barcelona, which is understandable.

However, you look at the last 3 seasons, even pre-Mourinho. Barcelona have always won the league by not dropping points against smaller teams. Real, even before Mou, have always been ruthless against smaller teams.

2009/10 season, first half, Barcelona struggled against smaller teams, dropping points notably against Osasuna, Valencia, Sporting Gijon. In the second stanza, they were saved mostly by Messi's surprising form. He smashed hat-tricks against the likes of Valencia and Zaragoza, and a number of braces against the likes of Sevilla, Villareal. This season, it seems to be getting tougher.

We are facing a very strong test tonight , i hope we carry the day anyway . The boys are lacking the needed motivation , pep should do something about it as quickly as he can . Unai emery seems to be confident about his boys beating Barcelona . Pep must have learned much from the previous game that he can't play a 3-4-3 formation against an attack minded team like Valencia even thought they are missing out some of their big players like Ever Banega and it seems like Tino costa picked some strain during their previous game , I wish BARCA the best , Visca el Barca !

barcelona bailed out again by the match officials.

the goalkeeper clearly handles the ball outside the box to deny a goal scoring opportunity and the officials ignored it.
how much is barcelona paying spanish officials and yet la liga fans tell us the spanish league is not corrupt.
it's a fuckin disgrace!

later on the ballon d'or and his PA will accuse referees of bias.
that was a red card offence
well aint suprised can uefa give its ownself a red card.
tsheeew

Sharon what are you talking about? Why have you chosen to live your life like a bitter reptile? Does Barcelona require a match bail out by officials to win trophies? Why are you so hateful all of a sudden? Pretender oshi!!

Pinto is extremely lucky to be on the pitch

Why would Messi miss a penalty again and cost us pts? His game was generally off-colour. He lost ball more than ever tonight. I hope he puts it right next time.
Generally, i didn't enjoy the match. Both team were disappionting. Pinto should have recieved his matching orders. I hate to see him in goal. We were lucky not to be a man down.
It is a positive result nonetheless but we should be able to raise our game next time in the 2nd leg.

In my fifa12 game, i sold off pinto and keita, i don't like seeing these two in Barca, they are not Barca materials at all. i don't understand why we are yet to get a replacement for Valdez incase something happens, having pinto as his replacement is a very big risk.

It was a good game. We could easily have lost, and were extremely lucky not to have Pinto sent off. But we created chances and should have killed off the game.
Abidal, hero of last season, is beginning to look like a villain, and he is easily beaten for pace these days. Messi should not be taking these penalties anymore, especially the game-defining ones. He's not good at penalties.

Good thing it ended in a draw though. It could have been cruel for Valencia to lose the game, when they should have been a man up. Makes for an open game at the Camp Nou next week. Good luck to our boys then. Tough couple of months ahead for Barca.

Good game. We got an away goal.
Pinto and his useless brainfarts, he could have been sent off.

I don't know what's up with Alexis. He's just too inconsistent. One good game and he is below par the next three or four games. He had a stinker last night.

usbcable:

later on the ballon d'or and his PA will accuse referees of bias.
that was a red card offence
well aint suprised can uefa give its ownself a red card.
tsheeew

You sef dey complain? SMBFH

Higuain's handball in the dying minutes at the Mestalla that would have resulted in a Valencia penalty was never given. The invisible offside that was called when Mallorca would have gone 2-0 up. The many penalties you won from dive Maria's dives, etc, etc.

Messi is tired , I wonder when pep will be bold enough to substitute him or to not ue him at all , now I am beginning to believe that there is a particular money that some companies are paying FCB to play every game ( Just like in my PES 2011 ). Fab ? Fabregas ? Cesc Fabregas ?? He needs to step his game up , Both teams were POOR yesterday jare ,

...pls delete

honeric01:

In my fifa12 game, i sold off pinto and keita, i don't like seeing these two in Barca, they are not Barca materials at all. i don't understand why we are yet to get a replacement for Valdez incase something happens, having pinto as his replacement is a very big risk.

Haba. Maybe Pinto. Not Keita.

Moodie:

, yet you call Christiano Ronaldo, ''Penaldo''!!!, as if scoring a penalty is easy. Now we have another area where CR7 is better than Messi.

Hope u still remember Chelsea vs Man UtD?

AjanleKoko:

Haba. Maybe Pinto. Not Keita.

I no enjoy the guy's playing style at all jare.

Moodie:

, yet you call Christiano Ronaldo, ''Penaldo''!!!, as if scoring a penalty is easy. Now we have another area where CR7 is better than Messi.

Diego Alves is very good at saving spot kicks. He has saved 11 of the 19 he has encountered in La Liga. He even saved from 'Penaldo'

Medjai, Ajanlekoko and other analysts your inputs are needed here

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-526446.2272.html#msg10109290

I'd really love to see a Tello - Messi - Cuenca combo up front. Looks a very exciting combo.

medjai:

I'd really love to see a Tello - Messi - Cuenca combo up front. Looks a very exciting combo.

And it looks like I got my wish. This looks like our best attacking combination with all the injuries and Sanchez's inconsistency. I expect alot of goals tonight.
JDS to start and Busi's on the bench.

Xavi not in the starting line up for the 2nd straight match.

Wow! lots of players rested: Abidal, Pique, Puyol, Sanchez, Busquests

I'm happy to see Tello and Cuenca starting, though I would have liked Pep to blend them in more often earlier in the season when we were beating teams 5-0. Messi is the guy that needs the most rest and I thought he would only come in at half time. I'm also starting to suspect there's a contractual reason he has to play every match.

My prayer of late is for Messi to get 5 yellow cards and sit out a home match sometime soon.

Anyways, I hope the boys win Sociedad comfortably. We need the points more than ever.

I prefer Fab to play in attack rather than AMF - he's been good with shots & headers and less impressive with maintaining possession.

Another point blank Messi miss! The guy is looking jinxed!

Wow! Sociedad nearly scored on the counter. Thank God it's Valdes, not pinto!

Lovely goal by Tello! Great set-up by Messi.

The boys just need to keep their concentration for 90 mins.

Oh and Masch gets some special mention for his tackling - our best defender this season.

I'm sure Pep is now regretting his overly conservative line-up against Villareal. The boys are playing much better today and just need to make the best of the possession and chances.

I think JDS will be the first sub out - too many fouls from him (mostly in the opposition half though) and a few misplaced passes. It's difficult for him to give the defence the same cover as Busi does and it looks like pep has switched from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3, with Alves moving back to defence.

Messi's conversion rate has dropped ridiculously in the last few matches! I hope Pep sees that the man needs some rest. Normal Messi would have a hat-trick in this match.

Things just got worse. Busquets got stretchered off.

Barca win, only just though.

Hope Busi's injury wasn't too bad - Barca cannot afford another 1st teamer on the sidelines.

Barca;s best players (IMO); Tello & Masch

Barca's worst player (IMO): Cesc.

Busi's injured. . . .We're so screwed

I think we played well generally in the freezing cold. The temperature at Nou Camp was reported to have dropped to -4'C, the coldest in a century.

In the issue of scoring and finishing, when Messi gets his acts together, we 'll be fine!

For Busquets, i read he only sustained an open wound. No injury to bone, ligament or joint was . They said he may yet play on wednesday. Good news!

Tello is our new kid on the block. It is hard to muscle him out of the ball unlike the skinny, lanky Cuenca who was beaten time and again to pace and strength by his marker. Tello was my MOTM!

@Stealthy, if u can believe that Cesc was our worst player on the pitch tonight, then u can believe anything.

Is anybody else here, hoping for a mali defeat.

Johnpaul88:

I think we played well generally in the freezing cold. The temperature at Nou Camp was reported to have dropped to -4'C, the coldest in a century.

In the issue of scoring and finishing, when Messi gets his acts together, we 'll be fine!

For Busquets, i read he only sustained an open wound. No injury to bone, ligament or joint was . They said he may yet play on wednesday. Good news!

Tello is our new kid on the block. It is hard to muscle him out of the ball unlike the skinny, lanky Cuenca who was beaten time and again to pace and strength by his marker. Tello was my MOTM!

@Stealthy, if u can believe that Cesc was our worst player on the pitch tonight, then u can believe anything.

Lol! Cesc being worst is my opinion and nothing else, so it's not about "believing anything".

I think Cesc has played very well when playing a more forward role and has been a lot less impressive in the midfield. He also looks tired and I'll be surprised if he starts on Wednesday.

Feleezy:

Is anybody else here, hoping for a mali defeat.

While Barca needs Keita (we so lack depth), I believe in giving your all to your national team, so I'm wishing Keita and his colleagues the best in their encounter. Whether they win or lose, I'm not too bothered.