₦airaland Forum

I don't know why Pep likes Keita so much. I thought he would start Afellay in this match. Keita has zero creativity. Oh well, let's see how it goes. So long as we win!

AjanleKoko:
I doubt that will happen again, not during this spell.
There were two negatives from yesterday's game. Firstly, no Busquets to hold up the ball in the middle. Masch actually distorted the free flow of passes whenever he had the ball; he either gave it away easily, or released a late pass easily cut off by the Bilbao back line. He also didn't track back once he pushed up with the attacking midfielders, so the pressure easily fell back to the defence.
Busquets on the other hand is obviously not suited to play in central defence. While he can initiate the buildup, his defensive ability to either foul or win fouls is a bit of a danger if you have to defend the 18 yard box. See what happened yesterday; he lost the ball and went straight into the tacke - in the 18. Even a 50-50 ball in the 18 can cause a penalty.

We have to remember something, it's Barca's attacking threat that creates a problem for opposition. Our defensive capabilities pose no problems for the opposition. If they have space, they will attack and attack, and eventually get a goal. That's what happened with Arsenal.

We have two strong teams away in the next two league fixtures; Mallorca and Valencia. Mallorca is always a funny prospect away, and Valencia you know very well how that might just end. We have to be at our A game and blow them away.

This blasted February blues!

If Puyol is not back by the Arsenal match, Pep may be forced to try Busquests as CB since Pique is suspended (boy, I miss Yaya Toure!). The other options will be Fontas/Muniesa or Milito. I'm not sure Pep will want to throw the youngsters into such a crucial match (if he plans to, then he'd better start playing them in league games). I also doubt that he will want Milito to partner Abidal in CB since most coaches don't like to use 2 lefties as CB.

All scenarios (including Busquests as CB) don't look good and we should all start to pray that Puyol comes back soon.

I mentioned in an earlier post that we have no more midweek matches before the Arsenal game. I made a mistake - the Valencia game is next week Wednesday. It's a really hectic schedule for us: away at Mallorca on Saturday, away at Valencia on Wednesday, home against Zaragoza on Saturday, then home against Arsenal on Tuesday, away to Sevilla on Sunday.

Xavi is out for 10days with a calf injury. He should be back hopefully in time to face Arsenal. Time for Afellay to show what he can do.

Against Mallorca, our line up will most likely be:

Pinto

Adriano - Pique - Abidal - Maxwell

Afellay - Busquests - Iniesta

Pedro - Messi - Villa

Good stuff from you guys: JP88, RuuDie, medjai, Ajannlekok, switch411 & eyoniggar

We have a lot of tricky fixtures over the next 6 weeks and with Valdes out, I hope Pinto can maintain a good form between the posts. he has performed vey well so far this season, so I'm not too worried.

The backline is more worrisome. Pique looks tired as already pointed out, but he can't be rested in any of the league matches since he will miss the UCL match. Abidal has been our best CB in recent times. Pep needs to try out Busquests in at least one more league match cos he might be the one to partner Abidal against Arsenal (if Puyol isn't back) - otherwise it'll be Muniesa/Fontas. I'll like to see Adriano play more cos we may also need him against Arsenal. Maxwell is ok for the league,

As I keep saying, Pep needs to try out the subs, one at a time in a full match. Our form shouldn't drop too much if we have 1 regular replaced by a sub to start the odd league match. Our over-dependence on the 1st team is not a good thing.

And oh, I forgot to mention that Messi is now ahead of Ronaldo in the pichichi race. That should put some pressure on Ronaldo - he'll not try an assist in RM's next match & generally behave like a clown while trying to get back level with Messi

Talking bout RM, they go to Lyon midweek. I expect RM to overcome their lyon & round of 16 curse this season. Should be a relatively easy one for RM.

RuuDie:
Well. . . . we have just seen first hand what "a pushed to the wall" Barcelona can do, they raised their game - & how they did.

Messi, Messi, Messi. . . . .what can i say; the way he raised his game from nothing, am still trying to fathom. who says this Barca side do not have the mental strength.

Excellent stuff from Messi in the 2nd half.

If only we showed as much mental strength against Arsenal, of cous, that was an away tie in a hostile stadium , so the atmosphere was different.

Anyways, looks like Pep is working on that as the attitude was different in this match: our guys stepped up a gear when pushed.

A win at the end - that's the most important thing.

It's a good way to bounce back after the midweek loss to Arsenal.

The foul on Messi was as much a penalty as the foul by Busquests. But it's good we didn't allow that to affect the final result.

Pep's lack of trust in the new players is not good. We're going to need these guys at crucial times and now is the time to get them gelling into the team, one at a time. Play Masch today, play Afellay next game, play Adriano another game. Anyways, the objective for today was to win anyhow, but pep has to play these guys more.

Alves! What can I say? His contract must be renewed at any cost o! He is one of our most important players in attack (lol! for a defender!). But he's really vital sha,

Thank God, no midweek fixtures for a while, so the guys can get into a normal training routine & recover their full fitness.

switch411:
Just like i said earlier, Nobody sits on a goal lead not even Barcelona, Now they must desperately seek for a second goal- hopefully a winning goal. this is nou camp damn it!!

55' Barcelona 1 - 1 Athletic Bilbao

@ stealthy
Now Barcelona must try to force issues, no early changes, Messi till 90 minutes more likely. stress dey if this guys park bus.

I agree man. Pep will only trust his regulars for now.

Over-playing has cost us so far in this match:

The attackers keep back-heeling and all when a shot would do. I don't know why our guys want to walk the ball in always. Just shoot sometimes!

The penalty was also from over-playing. I complained about this after he Arsenal match too. pep should just tell the guys to boot the ball once attackers are around. If Abidal did that, we'd still have a lead.

Halftime @ Nou Camp. Barca 1-0 Bilbao

My comments:

We needed that early goal and got it. The boys are not nervous, which is very good.

Pep's formation is weird, but it's good to see him take a risk sometimes. I guess he's trying out some of the things he wished he did against Arsenal, eg the double pivot, even though it's a left back out, rather than an attacker as would have been expected against Arsenal. Also, Pedro is on the left wing, rather than the right where he played midweek. I prefer him on the left cos he can cut in and take a shot. It also ensures Villa doesn't drift to the left wing too often.

I hope Messi doesn't play more than 20 more mins in this match - he's still not at his sharpest best.

Villa has looked sharp in spite of his slight injury. Alves has looked very sharp on the right. Abidal has been our best defender again.

Masch has also played well and I think he'll feature in the next leg against Arsenal.

I hope to see Adriano/Afellay/Bojan in this game. Hopefully we score a couple more for Pep to make early changes.

Valdes is a big loss for so long and I hope he gets well soon.

eyoniggar:
Tonight, we claim our 3 points by fire by force.

Lol! AMEN!!!

Pharoh:
[size=14pt]Exclusive: Arsenal Want Barcelona's Thiago Alcantara As Part Of Cesc Fabregas Transfer[/size]

I really hope the Barca board members, Pep & all involved in Barca's decision making do not make this mistake. Cesc is good, but why on earth would we want to give away a promising youngster (the samemistake made with Pep) plus 50m pounds just to get Cesc. It is ridiculous and will not add much to the team, while costing a huge chunk of money.

Anyways, I don't believe the deal will happen - if it does, it will be like the deal that gifted Inter last season's UCL trophy.

We play at home against Bilbao tomorrow. I hope we can start our revival with that match. Fortunately, we have no more midweek fixtures (or use less internationals) before the next leg against Arsenal. This is an opportunity for everyone to get to full fitness for that match.

RM play today (home against levante) and I expect it to be a walk in the park for them. We have to win against Bilbao to maintain our lead in the league. hopefully we can win and still rotate players as necessary. Pep needs to start looking at his CB partnership for the next leg against Arsenal and assuming Puyol isn't back (we really need him back!) it's looking like Busquests may play CB in that match else it will be one of Fontas/Muniesa to partner Abidal in CB, which is a bit scary considering how good Arsenal's attack is. In any case, Pep needs to start to play these guys now. Milito has been poor so far & even if he improves, I'm not sure Pep will like two left-footed players to play CB.

I hope Messi plays no more than 65 mins tomorrow. 45 mins if we race to a good lead.

I hope Pep learns his lessons from the loss to Arsenal. Key issues were:
Messi was tired. I'm sure we could all see this. I've always complained that Pep never subs Messi out of games (only 1 game so far this season were Messi was subbed out). Even when we're 5-0 ahead, he keeps Messi on. The guy is not a machine - he needs to rest. Argentina also used Messi for 90 mins against Portugal last week - that also contributed to his tiredness.

Pep needs to trust his new players. I don't think I know any coach who takes as long as Pep to integrate new players into his team. Apart from Villa, who simply has to play, the other new arrivals (Masch, Afellay & Adriano are all experienced professionals) are given minimal exposure by Pep. This is surprising since we've had so many comfortable wins where these guys could have been brought in. Bringing them in at 85 mins is bad for their morale and also does little to help them gel with the rest of the team.

We need a few more players. We obviously need 1 more experienced cover in defence (while simultaneously allowing Milito to go). I was surprised that we allowed both Chygrynsky & Marquez to leave in the summer (again, Pep hardly gave them a chance last season). I'll suggest to get a defender in his 30s who won't mind sitting on the bench, but will give reliable service when called upon. We also need someone similar in attack - when Arsenal did their changes, they were able to bring on Bendtner & Arshavin to change the game. Which attacker could we have brought on? Bojan? He has been useless this season. Afellay? He is a midfielder. I'll suggest to buy Dany Guiza who is currently wasting away in Turkey. He is in his 30s and won't mind a bench role. He has played in Spain & even won Pichichi a few years ago. He is tall & can give us another option in attack. He will be a cheap buy.

We do not have adequate mental strength when odds are against us. Ajanlekoko already made a good point of this. We tend to be sloppy, make silly fouls and give the opposition golden chances once we're being run ragged. Our guys need to be able to keep their cool when the odds are against them in a hostile stadium.

We tend to overplay at crucial times. There were times I was shouting at the TV during the match against Arsenal. Our defenders like to play the ball out of defence. But when the opposing team's attackers are pressing, you should just boot the ball out. Arsenal got at least 3 chances from sloppy/over-confident plays out of our defence. Pique got his yellow card because we gave the ball to Arsenal just outside our area & he had to make a critical tackle. Also in the attack, our players (Xavi being most guilty) tend to pass rather than shoot. When you are facing a good team, every opportunity counts. What counts is not how beautifully the goal was worked, but whether you scored or not. Pep needs to tell the guys to shoot more - you never know, you could get a deflection or the goalie spills it & a striker mops up. They all count.

Pep's subs are wacky at times. I recall the 2nd leg against Inter last year. We needed to score, Inter had gone one man down and all their players were playing in defence. What did pep do? He lft Busquests on, even though he could have sacrificed the DMF for an attacker to put pressure on the Inter defence. He took out Ibra & replaced him with Bojan (even though Bojan could have come in for a midfielder). He brought on Jeffren even though there was a fit & experienced Henry on the bench. This time, against Arsenal, he took out Villa for Keita even though Pedro was obviously the least effective of our attackers. That single move killed our attack & added nothing to the other areas.

Keita is not a world class player. I felt Keita should have been sold in the summer instead of Yaya. Imagine if we had Yaya now instead of Masch - Yaya can play CB, DMF, AMF. Masch is only a DMF (a good one though). Keita on the other hand does not provide defensive cover, does not make any killer pass, does not dribble, rarely scores. He really should be let go.

Good posts as usual holydante - a true Cule you are!

holydante:
meanwhile just like my history making darling Blaugrana machines, i have clocked 400 post on NL, mainly due to posts here if am not mistaken.

I give myself Hip Hip Hurrayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

*Popping some eva water from my fridge**

Cheers

Lol!!! I'm giving you a standing ovation

medjai:
On the bright side, we got the away goal and this means all we have to do is win at the Camp Nou. It will attack all through, no second of complacency from the lads.
Another thing I love about this loss is that it takes away that tag of invincibility from us and the pressure of being seen as invincible.
I'm confident we'll do it at Camp Nou.

This is very important. Arsenal played against us like they've not played against anyone recently. Teams always have an extra motivation when playing Barca. That is not good for us - if they see us any other beatable team, it's to our advantage. Imagine that this game ended 1-1, that would have still felt like a victory to Arsenal.

The 2nd leg will be tough, but I believe we can do it. Pep needs to allow the players get enough rest before that game, especially Messi. We also need to look at our lack of options in CB and attack. Muniesa/Fontas need to start to play regularly in the league cos we cant rely on Milito, Abidal is better at LB and Puyol is injured, now pique is suspended for the 2nd leg. In attack, I wonder if it's possible to being back Keirrison outside of the transfer window cos Bojan has been useless this season. If we lose Villa or Messi due to injury or suspension, we'll be in big trouble.

FBS:
I laugh in 4G!
The same man that thunked and dumped you out of the UCL? Spare me story please.
You got owned! Period.

5-0 = 3 points.
3-1 at UCL = GO HOME! KNOCK OUT!

can you see the iyato?

Lyon will FALL. Yes I said it.

Of course Lyon will fall. Lightning does not strike tweice. Real was better than lyon last season and I'm still shocked that Lyon went thro,

debosky:
Where are holydante, ddipset and other gloaters?  

Someone said we should even play 12 against 11. . . .yeye dey smell. 

I never hear response sha. . . .[size=30pt]How Market [/size]

mukina2:


where is that barca fly that was posting in our thread today

Khanye and honeric plus krayola how market

You won fair & square. Have fun - your team did very well tonight.

But it's not over yet - Hopefully Barca laughs last.

Pharoh:
The game is not over yet and arsenal will come to leave their skin there with the aim for a draw or early goal. They will not waste their chances and i see a very explosive match on that day and like i said let the better team progress to the next round.

usbcable:
I h-u-m-b-l-y await ddippsset's comment.

the only person that didn't boast to the high heavens is ajanle.
wey that pope too sef.

but I trust barca to finish arsenal in the return leg.
na wounded lion fight them go do arsenal.

no shaking barcelona still qualifies.

Thanks guys. I believe you guys are neutrals, but you still have some hope in our team.

I've always known it would be tough (see my previous posts), but we really threw this one away.

Hopefully our boys will be more composed at the Camp Nou. We are better than this Arsenal team and we need to prove it in the next leg.

Messi needs to rest (Argentina & Pep have overused him in the last 2 weeks). he was practically strolling at the end of the match. Pep has to show some faith in his B team guys (not more than 3 per game though) in the next few la Liga matches to allow the main guys get some mojo back.

I can't believe Pep's game plan in this one. I was surprised to see Maxwell start. I thought it would be Adriano on the left if Masch didn't start. Maxwell is really not suited to matches like this - he was always far too forward, yet contributed nothing to the attack.

I bet you guys can now see why I really don't like Keita - he doesn't contribute to either defence or attack. Masch to come in would have been a far better option or even Afellay, with Xavi dropping deep.

Why do our defenders keep passing out of defence when surrounded by opponents? Arsenal had so many chances from sloppy/unnecessary passes out of defence.

I don't know why pep never subs out Messi - the was obviously very tired, yet he kept him on the entire 90mins just like against Gijon at the weekend. Why was Villa the guy to make way for Keita instead of pedro who had a really bad game?

I expected Masch to come in midway into the 2nd half when we were leading & Arsenal were putting us under pressure. Really poor subs by Pep this time. I actually would preferred to lose against Gijon, playing our 2nd team, than to lose this match.

No probs though - we still have a very good chance to go through. The task is made more difficult by the absence of Pique due to his yellow card. Our lack of options in CB is clearly showing now.

I expected pep to learn from the Inter games - when you're playing away and you take the lead, it is a good strategy to bring in an extra cover in DMF to kill off the match. Masch should have been brought in for Pedro at 60 mins.

BTW so many of us Barca fans on this page - I guess Barca fans tend to have some sympathy for AC Milan.

AC Milan (and Italian football in general) is dead. The guys were so lethargic! Spurs actually had more shots and was leading corner kicks 4-0 in the 1st half. The only Milan players who played with some passion were Ibra, Abate & Gattusso - the rest were just practically strolling.

AC milan has now been embarassed by Arsenal, ManU & Spurs in the last few CLs. It's sad to see a once great team fall so low. This was a fairly ordinary Spurs team - what if Bale was playing?

Anyway, from the start, I could tell that Milan would struggle to score. Who plays with a midfield of Silva (a CB), Flamini & Gattusso? Where was the creativity meant to come from? This joke of a coach who got rid of Ronaldinho has eliminated the team from UCL.

holydante:
@Stealth, its a welcome comment form you as always.

@JP-double 8, as you mentioned school and roommates, it brought back flooding nostalgic memories of fierce and passionate footie arguements when I was in school with complete football magazine then the main veritable source of footie info; I bet its different now that fellars can put DSTV and flat screen in their rooms and watch with their girlfriends; men then, its the common room in the hostel with a CRT telly high up firmly secured with burglary bars, geez that was the glory days of The Old Lady(Bianconeri), Rossoneri, Bayern Munchen, Los Blancos, Barca(we weren't ding badly then), et all.

Lol, just hold your forth bruv,am enjoying your passion.

lol! Very true!!! You and I must have attended school about the same time then,

Yes, those days, people were supporting the true greats of European football. I remember vividly being the only guy supporting Bayern Munich in the 1999 UCL final, when my hostel mates were all supporting ManU.

You forgot to mention Ajax in ur list. I don't know anyone who watched football in the mid 90s and didn't support luis Van Gaal's Ajax team. The fact that Kanu & Finidi were in the team also ensured lots of support in naija.

Of course, all this Arsenal, ManU, craze started when Kanu moved to Arsenal. Most Nigerians had never even heard of the club before then. Supersport & their colonial attachment to England also ensured that for years, the only foreign football available to watch live in naija was the EPL (and Champs league). You had to go out of your way to even catch highlights of other leagues. Thank God SS now show La Liga routinely,

Johnpaul88:
I hate to see Milito in our shirt. I thought they should have granted him his transfer request. He is simply a liability now than an asset.

Injuries have wrecked his career, just as injuries prevented us from witnessing even more from R9.

We really need cover in CB now - funny enough, Caceres has seriously improved and I feel he should be brought back. I don't know much about Henrique (our other loaned out CB) cos I've not seen him play much. Botia's buy-back clause can also be exercised, while Munies & Fontas need to be promoted to the senior team.

Mwhile, it was sad to see Ronaldo the great retiring yesterday. He was one of the greatest footballers ever. I remember his glorious (but way too short) season at Barcelona - he destroyed all our opponents. Unfortunately, Barca those days wasn't great in Champions League(we won Cup Winners Cup though) we didn't even win the league that season!

I remember his amazing goals in the Barca shirt - he was almost unbelievable. I also remember the UEFA cup final - Ronaldo was phenomenal for Inter in that match (against lazio I believe). I've always felt he may have had fewer injuries if he didn't move to Serie A, which at that time was known only for catenaccio. Those days, Serie A defenders were butchers of the highest order.

Interesting to see an Arsenal supporter on our thread. I won't join words with opposing fans though - leads to too much argument since each person will hold on to their views. I'll just focus on our team & leave the talking to our boys on the field.

So, we face Arsenal on Wed.

I've seen people speculate on what our line-up will be. From the match at Gijon, it is clear what Pep is thinking: No way Milito or Maxwell will play on Wed - that's why they played 90 mins on Sat. Abidal & Busquests were rested because they will definitely be crucial on Wed. Adriano is a bet for Wed, but Pep rarely gambles in crucial matches & will only go with regulars. I expect he will put Busquests in CB to partner Pique, while Masch starts in DMF. If Masch picks up a yellow, Adriano comes in to replace him, while Abidal moves in to CB & Busquests moves to DMF.

GK: Valdes
Defence: Alves, Pique, Busquests, Abidal
MF: Xavi, Masch, Iniesta
Attack: MVP

Subs who will be used: Adriano, Afellay, Keita

Our prospects: Arsenal is on a high right now, but they fear Barcelona. We have to confirm their fears. Messi, VIlla, Pedro will be a constant threat to their defence. If we maintain our normal keepball, we will certainly have the edge.

Arsenal's attack is speedy and I'm sure they will want to exploit our fullbacks, who attack a bit too much sometimes. I expect Pep to instruct Alves & Abidal to minimize their forays forward early in the game. Whenever Alves goes forward, Masch has to cover & Xavi will prob also play deep. With this, we can neutralize their attack.

If we score early, the match is ours easily - we can pick them to pieces once they inevitably try to equalize, leaving spaces at the back.

If they score 1st, they will be encouraged to try to hit us on the counter (and those speedy players of their are dangerous), it will be a tricky affair.

I'll take any score so long as we win. Hope the boys deliver on Wed. Up Barca!

holydante:
Exactly my sentiments. Their self belief has been off tha roof since yesternyte. Its like a frenzy and they are all in an 0rg*****ic mood presently.

Well,it makes it more interesting for the game.

Hope the "greenzone" is safer than ever before Stealth?

Lol! I'm not actually in Baghdad - I'm in naija. And you know our country can sometimes be as bad as Baghdad,

@switch47
Fair points.

So long as Barca goes through to the quarter finals instead of Arsenal, I'm ok.

Good points from all you guys: Ajanlekoko, Johnpaul, medjai, eyoniggar, holydante.

Essentially, it's better to lose/draw against Gijon & win against Arsenal than vice-versa. The reason we built up a 7-point lead was to have some cushion in instances like this. If the league was closer, Pep wont have had the luxury to bench some of his starters. Look at Madrid - they have to play their 1st 11 in every match. That's not an enviable position to be in.

I hope yesterday's result gives Arsenal some illusion that we've lost form and we give them a healthy slap on Wed night.

It was a hard-fought draw. Kudos to Gijon for giving us a stern test. Pity they didn't do this to RM when they met at Molinon earlier in the season.

That was a lovely goal by Villa. We missed too many though. Xavi should have scored with that golden chance and Pedro could also have scored after we drew level. When we face these ultra-defensive sides, we really have to take all of the few chances we create. The good news is that we always create even against the most defensive teams. We should just be careful not to concede.

I liked Pep's substitutions. The introduction of Pedro gave us our usual mobility upfront, which is crucial. It is worrisome though, that the absence of just 1 of our front players could make us so indecisive as happened in the 1st half. Afellay is obviously more of an Inesta-type player than a forward like Pedro. Looks like we need to improve Nolito more as Pedro's cover.

Keita for Milito was a bit risky, but it's good to see the boss take a risk once in a while.

I'm happy we got a point (will be happier if RM lose tomorrow!) & didn't lose.

Hopefully we can beat Arsenal at Emirates on Wednesday. That's the koko!

Half time at Molinon: Gijon 1-0 Barca

1st, I have to say Pep and I think alike - he used my exact line-up except for Bojan (Xavi starting instead). However, it looks like we both under-estimated Gijon. They really came out flying.

I'm not surprised that we didn't start well - we always play badly after international breaks and you could see my fear in my last few posts about the use of our players in the friendly games. This is the downside of having so many internationals in your team. During the week, there were only 3 players in camp (Maxwell, Keita, Pinto - Adriano was sick) and they had to train with our Team B. That's not good preparation for the weekend.

Messi has been a shadow of himself, after giving his all for Argentina on Wed. Our guys just seem to lack ideas. Milito hasn't inspired confidence at the back (and the guy clears the ball like a non-Barca defender) and Alves is still not looking his sharpest best. Afellay is meant to be playing Pedro's role, but both he and Messi have been dropping too deep and aren't making much of impact.

I expect Pep to switch things around a bit  - Villa to the left, Messi to centre forward, Afellay told to stay forward, Iniesta told to stay in MF (and not on the left). Busquests will prob come in for Masch since we can't afford a red and he has made too many rough tackles already.

Our former la Masia boy - Botia - has been impressive in the defence. I really liked the guy before he was let go last season. I believe we have a buy-back clause on him - he's one to keep an eye on.

Mwhile, the silly commentator seems to be itching to see us lose. The guy cannot contain himself at the sight of Barca trailing in the 1st half. He was talking about us losing the match so much I had to re-check that we were ending the 1st half, not the 2nd.

I hope we can do a comeback in this one and maintain our 100% away record.

My preferred line-up against Gijon tonight:
Valdes

Alves-Pique-Milito-Maxwell

Mascherano

Afellay Iniesta

Messi Bojan Villa

Hopefully, we can score a couple of goals in the 1st half. If we do, Messi & Villa out at half time, replaced by Keita & Nolito. Keita slots into MF, while Afellay moves to attack.
After 65 mins, Iniesta off, replaced by Thiago.
Alves to play 90 mins to gain full match fitness.

Against Arsenal, if Puyol isn't back, we may need to play Busquests as CB, with Masch in DMF & Abidal at LB. If Masch gets a yellow card, Adriano can replace him, with Abidal going to CB & Busquests playing his normal role.

If Puyol is back, I'd put Busquests on the bench for Masch. Everyone else stays the same.

Whatever Pep plays, I hope we win both games.

usbcable:
ozil and khedira played 90 minutes
and did benzema.
So i dont know where conspiracy came into play or is it a portuguese or spaniards fault that an argentinian is left to suffer on the pitch by an argentinian for an argentinian cause. Conspiracy my ***.
Good game from both players(leo and chris), but if it were chris that scored from a spotkick na abuse una go abuse am say na penalty e dey take score. Its nice that leo is now doing better with the argies.

Hey! Chill out! I wasn't serious about a conspiracy!

I was just expressing my frustration that our players were overused in meaningless matches,

medjai:
In the early 2000's, Barca and Real couldnt beat their chest and boast of getting wins at the Riazor or Mestalla or even at Mallorca and sometimes Sociedad. I will love to see the league return to such heights.

True talk!

ogazi007:
Thank God they didnot injured messi,i nearly had heart attack the way meireles with his bald head was just following and kicking messi all over the place.

Thank God the guy scored,you can hardly achieved much with that kind of line up Agentina used yesteraday.i could not watched our spainish bois,so far so

good,no injuries news coming from anywhere.sporting gijon is next.

Johnpaul88:
Perhaps Perez and Mourihno gave specific time their players will last on the pitch yesterday, cos i noticed that Ronaldo and Di maria left earlier than 65th minute while Our Messi, Mescharano and Milito all played their hearts out the full 90+ minutes. I believe it is unfair to them, though no injury recorded anyway.

It almost looked liked a conspiracy against Barca! Messi was played the full 90 mins in a meaningless friendly even though the Portuguese kept kicking him. Milito & Masch also played 90 mins. Also, for Spain, I would have expected Del Bosque to try out fringe players, but no - he used his 1st team (of mostly Barca players) and hardly subbed.

Anyways, no wahala - no injuries as far as I know and even though we normally struggle after internationals, I expect us to win against Gijon & more importantly Arsenal.

Guys, I saw the article series below on CNNSI.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sid_lowe/01/08/laliga.duopoly/index.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sid_lowe/01/14/laliga.competitiveness/index.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sid_lowe/01/17/la.liga.competitiveness3/index.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sid_lowe/01/20/real.pressure/index.html

The author has a lot of good points and I mostly agree with him. However, he did not mention that the gap in points between the Big 2 in la Liga and the rest really started last season.

Why do I say this?

In my opiniion, it was caused by Real Madrid. Normally, Barca and Real have a ying-yang relationship - Barca tends to play poorly in seasons when Real is great and vice versa. This means that the two are rarely chasing each other all season long for the title. The one having a poor season usually drops off midway into the race. However, after Barca's history-making season in 2008-09, Real Madrid spent almost $300m to try to break the ying-yang mode (the period from 2009-now being Barca's peak and normally would be Madrid's trough). Barca also panicked that summer, splashing cash for Ibra and Chyg. This meant both teams upped the stakes so much that neither could afford a drop-off in the title race.

To put things in perspective: As recently as 2007-2008 (Rijkaard's last season), Barca finished 3rd in the table, 10 points behind Villareal! That is simply unacceptable to both teams now - winning has become almost a matter of life and death.

So what should be done?
A more balanced TV deal as exists in the EPL would have been good. Earnings should be based on league position mostly. But that is water under the bridge.

I hope to see more La Liga sides bought up by foreign owners - this is about the only way other clubs can source funds easily to compete with the Big 2. Malaga & Racing Santander have already been bought by foreigners. Once this becomes mainstream in the league (as it now is in the EPL), I expect more traditional clubs like Depor, Sevilla, Athletico Madrid, Villareal, Valencia to start to attract foreign investors too and this can only be good for the league's competitiveness.

I'm watching the Argentina-Portugal match. These portuguese guys are not taking the match like a friendly o! They want to kick Messi off the pitch! The coach should remove him abeg - I don't care if Argentina loses this unimportant match. The wear and tear from this kinda rough match may affect his performance for Barca in the next few matches. Ronaldo can claim victory in this one, while Messi claims victory when it matters.