Iniesta in ultra ghost-mode. If Pep ever plays him on the wings again, ehn. . . I'd go find him in Barcelona

This was a very good performance by our team against a worthy opponent. The passing was crisp and we attacked at pace, unlike the game in Milan where we attacked at walking pace. The presence of 2 creative players was clearly effective as Don Iniesta & Thiago carved Bilbao time and again. Also, tonight, players were bold to take shots from outside the box, which we tend not to do against the park-the-bus teams, interestingly.

The defence was solid once again & the darting runs forward by Pique & Masch were impressive. It was nice to see Pique perform well again...no need to talk about Masch, our most consistent defender this season. Playing with a true LB also worked as Adriano made a lot of good runs and pinned back Iraola.

The match was relatively clean with no persistent fouling by Bilbao (unlike most of our opponents). The referee was also ok (for once!) and allowed the game to flow freely...Bilbao could even feel aggrieved not to get the penalty off Pique.

On the not-so-positive side:
Tello is clearly effective as an impact sub, as he can use his good pace against tired defenders. Today, he was anonymous most of the game, though he got the penalty.

Around the 65th minute, Iniesta had a very good chance to shoot at goal, yet he chose to pass to Thiago. This is something that, to me, has happened too often this season: players get in a good position to score, yet attempt to pass to make the perfect goal. I hope Pep works on this - we really need to be more clinical in and around the box.

Meanwhile, can we buy Muniain? Has any Basque player ever played with us? But seriously, it would be a shame to see him play for Madrid or one of the EPL teams. If he has to leave Bilbao, we really should get him and send Cuenca on loan

Stealthy: This was a very good performance by our team against a worthy opponent. The passing was crisp and we attacked at pace, unlike the game in Milan where we attacked at walking pace. The presence of 2 creative players was clearly effective as Don Iniesta & Thiago carved Bilbao time and again. Also, tonight, players were bold to take shots from outside the box, which we tend not to do against the park-the-bus teams, interestingly.

The defence was solid once again & the darting runs forward by Pique & Masch were impressive. It was nice to see Pique perform well again...no need to talk about Masch, our most consistent defender this season. Playing with a true LB also worked as Adriano made a lot of good runs and pinned back Iraola.

The match was relatively clean with no persistent fouling by Bilbao (unlike most of our opponents). The referee was also ok (for once!) and allowed the game to flow freely...Bilbao could even feel aggrieved not to get the penalty off Pique.

On the not-so-positive side:
Tello is clearly effective as an impact sub, as he can use his good pace against tired defenders. Today, he was anonymous most of the game, though he got the penalty.

Around the 65th minute, Iniesta had a very good chance to shoot at goal, yet he chose to pass to Thiago. This is something that, to me, has happened too often this season: players get in a good position to score, yet attempt to pass to make the perfect goal. I hope Pep works on this - we really need to be more clinical in and around the box.

You just about summed it up. A very good runout, not too many scares or mistakes, everybody kept the intensity up for the 90 minutes, and quick decisions by the players settled the game, particularly the first goal.
I agree with you, our players need to use their chances a bit more. Iniesta's goal was very well taken, and I hope to see more of the same from the attacking players. The goal was all about pace, power, and technique.

It just occurred to me that CR7 is on 37 goals, and Messi on 36. These two boys will smash CR7's last season's newly-set record it seems. let's just pray that things stay tight for another month, so they can keep chasing each other.

Stealthy: Meanwhile, can we buy Muniain? Has any Basque player ever played with us? But seriously, it would be a shame to see him play for Madrid or one of the EPL teams. If he has to leave Bilbao, we really should get him and send Cuenca on loan

We've had many Basque players play for us - Txiki Begristain, Zubizareta, Goikoetxea, etc. Cruyff's Dream Team had quite a lot of them.

As per Madrid's game, did anyone see how desperate CR was to surpass Messi in the Pichichi race that he tackled Higuain who was about to score. I couldn't stop laughing #thingsmessiwouldmakeyoudo

medjai: We've had many Basque players play for us - Txiki Begristain, Zubizareta, Goikoetxea, etc. Cruyff's Dream Team had quite a lot of them.

Great then - I'll rather splash money on Muniain than Neymar who could either be brilliant or bust.

medjai: Iniesta in ultra ghost-mode. If Pep ever plays him on the wings again, ehn. . . I'd go find him in Barcelona

Agree 100%

AjanleKoko:

It just occurred to me that CR7 is on 37 goals, and Messi on 36. These two boys will smash CR7's last season's newly-set record it seems. let's just pray that things stay tight for another month, so they can keep chasing each other.

It's crazy now. They're both too good to be true!

Records are meant to be broken! And they are best appreciated when done by more worthy achievers; when penalty-amassed goals are not taken into credible consideration.

Nice game we had tonight. Bring on Milan on Tuesday.

If we play like we did today against Milan on tuesday, we won't have any problem going through. The way we recovered possession was wonderful. Everybody was a beast! We isolated Bilbao and left Biesla jumping around in the touchline. But we need to start taking our chances to avoid complications!
Good win!

Last night was an FCB I'd never seen before. . .the intensity was just crazy! The scoreline simply doesn't tell how comfortable Barcelona were in victory and it wasn't because A.Bilbao rolled over and let 'em or anything; they were utterly steam-rolled!!

olohun oba iye ooooooo.
i can only imagine whay would happen if CR wins the pichichi again.

medjai will simply jump over 3rd mainland bridge out of jealousy and mcleo will prolly jump along maybe if ddippset is around then he may tag along.

he scored two wonderful goals last night and made two super assists one leading to a van basten similitude goal and messi was the one that scored via penalty.

yet no form of appreciation but just spew venom on him. later them go dey form say barca fans are humble and gracious in all situations.

atoyinti.

I hope cesc does not have an injury problem. He has not played in the last two games.

Bojan scored for Roma vs Novara. He started the game. His 5th goal of the season. Not bad, considering that majority of his appearances have come as sub. He has only played 1035 minutes in the league. 5 goals in 1035 minutes is a decent return.

usbcable: olohun oba iye ooooooo.
i can only imagine whay would happen if CR wins the pichichi again.

medjai will simply jump over 3rd mainland bridge out of jealousy and mcleo will prolly jump along maybe if ddippset is around then he may tag along.

he scored two wonderful goals last night and made two super assists one leading to a van basten similitude goal and messi was the one that scored via penalty.

yet no form of appreciation but just spew venom on him. later them go dey form say barca fans are humble and gracious in all situations.

atoyinti.

[flash=400,425]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT_wFem-CGQ[/flash]

^^^
you just did the sameeeeee thing.
higuain missed the chance due to over zealousness from cr but cr made up for it with the fifth goal assist.

he scored another thunderbolt strike and thunderbolt freekick. yet all you ever ever and prolly will.ever see is the mistake of the guy.

na you sabi.
btw which epl team do you like that may give an imsight as to why you detaste the guy with venom.

^^
It's because CR is handsome, rich and a great footballer

Please pep should not play iniesta on the wing today , he should play in the midfield , you all saw what he did against bilbao, his beast mode was unleashed , ......tello is a super sub , he should not start .Other than the penalty he helped us get against bilbao he was lost in the game , I want to see the forward trio of messi, alexis and pedro . Alexis and pedro will bombard the wings with their pace ....anyway guardiola knows best , forza barca !!!!

sweetguy10: Please pep should not play iniesta on the wing today , he should play in the midfield , you all saw what he did against bilbao, his beast mode was unleashed , ......tello is a super sub , he should not start .Other than the penalty he helped us get against bilbao he was lost in the game , I want to see the forward trio of messi, alexis and pedro . Alexis and pedro will bombard the wings with their pace ....anyway guardiola knows best , forza barca !!!!

U just summed up my thoughts in one piece.

In Pep we trust!

We are carrying the day !! Forza barca

The big night approaches!!
But i trust our boys to perform when it mattered most.
Go barca!!!

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Good win by the boys. We were a bit complacent though, allowing Milan back with that goal. And we were lucky with the 2nd penalty (most refs won't give that). If went to half time at 1-1, the match would have been much harder.

I was impressed that Pep played Cuenca for 90 mins - imagine the confidence boost it gives him: at 20 years, in your first season with the senior team, playing 90 mins in a crucial UCL QF match against Milan!

As for the other players:
Messi was his usual irrepressible self. I hope some dude like Pele says something like "Messi doesn't score against Chelsea", just so he can demolish the blues too.
Masch was solid at the back once again, though he played Nocerino onside for the goal.
Pique was also solid and I hope his injury is minor.
Don Iniesta, Xavi, Busquests, Alves...all really played well.

Not the prettiest of displays but can't argue with the result though.

Nice passing but not sharp in the final third, with Xavi off it just turned ugly...

Thiago and Adriano both should have finished their chances but in the end it didn't matter so it all cool!

Man of the Match: Mascherano. Anyways congrats guys, and yea those two penalties were legitimate calls, I expect the usual haters to come in here for a display of their normal opata yanz!

Unto the next 1.

eyoniggar: Man of the Match: Mascherano. Anyways congrats guys, and yea those two penalties were legitimate calls, I expect the usual haters to come in here for a display of their normal opata yanz!

Unto the next 1.

Those penalties were ultra legitimate! Glad we went through. We deserve to. Much love and respect to Milan, they played well.

At the risk of sounding traitorous, I'd say both penalties were refereeing mistakes. Though the first one can be overlooked but the fact remains that Messi was coming from an offside position, and should have gotten the linesman's flag as soon as he touched the ball. Unfortunately, the referee only saw Nesta's tackle.

The second penalty was kind of silly. Who gives that, really?

AjanleKoko: At the risk of sounding traitorous, I'd say both penalties were refereeing mistakes. Though the first one can be overlooked but the fact remains that Messi was coming from an offside position[i][/i], and should have gotten the linesman's flag as soon as he touched the ball. Unfortunately, the referee only saw Nesta's tackle.

The second penalty was kind of silly. Who gives that, really?

Ajanle, tnx for outlining the emboldened part, I was actually keen on observing Messi if he was on or off at the moment the ball slipped to his position,and yea I clearly saw him on side,please go to youtube and search for videos of that very scene. And please bear in mind that if Nesta didnt foul Messi there, he would have gotten the ball and have it burried.

^^
I don't have any issues with that first call.
What do you say about the second? Sure, it gives our team the advantage, but we are fast earning the tag of a 'cheating team', and in the interest of fair play, I would rather we didn't get those kind of breaks. I'd have felt much better if Barca had won without controversy.

As per the first penalty, yes, Messi was in an offside position but Antonini played the ball back. . . . therefore, no offside. The first was very legit.

The 2nd though, I thought the ref should have just let it fly. I wouldn't give that if I were the ref. It was just too soft.

"We didn't complain on penalties on the first leg. The
replays show that it was a penalty both times. When
you're holding the shirt of a player in the box, it’s a
penalty. I’ve been taught this since I was a kid,”
declared Guardiola to reporters after the match.

Of course they were. I haven't seen anyone but the
most deluded arguing against the first, and the
second…
Well, as Rio Ferdinand posted on twitter (I love that
the players clearly sit down to watch other games –
the Man U guys seem to follow Barcelona pretty
closely), a shirt pull is a foul. The ref followed the
rules; a foul in the box is a penalty.
Are shirt pulls always awarded penalties? No.
They're frequently not. But this was so blatant and
right in front of the ref that he didn't really have a
choice, especially considering the uncalled penalties
in the first leg. I think Milan are pissed off because it
probably wouldn't have been called in Italy… but this
is Europe, not your domestic league, and it's your
responsibility to adjust. End of story.
We all hate it when it comes to a penalty rather than
a goal scored off open play. Unfortunately, that's a
byproduct of how Italian football is often played.

OT: hear Mou's spokesman Parames: ''after those 45
minutes (Barca vs Milan), now we know who UEFA
want to win the CL.''
SOMEBODY SHOULD TELL THIS IDIOT IN SPANISH
THAT (i) NESTA BROKE RULE 12 OF FIFA/UEFA RULES
ON SHIRT-PULLING INSIDE THE BOX.(ii) THAT IN
ABOUT 10 GAMES BW MADRID AND BARCA SINE
MOU CAME, HAVE MADRID WON MORE THAN ONE?
HAVE THEY NOT LOST 6 OR 7? SHOWS BARCA ARE
WAY BETTER THAN MADRID.(III) THAT IGNORANCE
OF FIFA/UEFA LAWS IS NO EXCUSE AND SO HIS
COMMENTS MAKE PARAMES APPEAR AN ABSOLUTE
STUPID MAN! (iv) THAT IF WE RUN INTO MADRID IN
CL, THEY WOULD AGAIN GO HOME EMPTY-HANDED.
(v) THAT APRIL 22 IN CAMP NOU, MADRID WILL LOSE
ANOTHER 3 POINTS.(vi) THAT BARCA WILL WIN LIGA
IN THE END.(vii) THAT PEREZ WILL SACK MOU WITH
IGNOMINY THIS YEAR AS MOU WILL WIN NOTHING.