Sunday 19 October 2008

Match discussion: Athletic

This evening at 7 pm bt,
Barcelona plays the seventh game of the season against Athletic Bilbao.



Two weeks ago, Athletic lost 4-0 against Sevilla, playing with Iraizoz, Iraola, Aitor Ocio, Amorebieta, Ustaritz, Balenziaga, David López, Garmendia, Orbaiz, Susaeta, Yeste, Ion Vélez.

Athletic is ranked fifteenth in the Liga, Barcelona fourth. You can read a preview of the game here


Athletic squad list:
Iraizoz, Ustaritz, Amorebieta, David López, Garmendia, Llorente, Yeste, Gabilondo, Armando, Susaeta, Iraola, Orbaiz, Gurpegi, Aitor Ocio, Ion Vélez, Balenziaga

Barcelona squad list:
Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Márquez, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal, Sylvinho, Touré, Busquets, Keita, Iniesta, Hleb, Víctor Sánchez, Messi, Eto'o, Bojan, Henry


Before (what are your expectations, what's your prediction, what should be the line-up,...), during and after the match, you can comment on the game here.


NEW !
From two hours before until two hours after the game you can join a match chat (read more here)

32 comments:

Unknown said...

I want Pepe Guardiola to be a maverick and make some changes with the team formation. I can't understand why a great team like Barca would be limited ...very limited in playing formation. I want him to play with a 4-4-2 formation as follows;
Valdez
Alvez, Marquez, Pique, Silvinho
Keita, Yaya
Messi Iniesta
Henri, Eto'o
and give this formation about 2 or 3 games and we'll see if Real stands a chance this season

Unknown said...

oooh and please when Xavi comes back he'll take his place back in the mid field

Anonymous said...

where can i watch the match please

0marX said...

Join us at the FC Barcelona Match Chat:

http://fcbarcelona.hopto.org

Anonymous said...

Watch Atl Bilbavo vs Barcelona on www.veetle.com , download and instal veetle.exe and there you go , you have GOL TV and all Spanish , German leagues and also some other channels with English Premiere league .

Hope you enjoy Barcelonas Goleada ..

Anonymous said...

Valdés, Alves, Piqué, márquez, Víctor Sánchez; Touré, keita, Iniesta, Hleb, Eto'o y Henry

CONFIRMED!!

Anonymous said...

abidal for hleb.

Posts said...

Hleb needed for Sánchez and pique must be the player who mark lourente

Anonymous said...

messi on the bench
is pep insane?

Ramzi said...

Messi is exhausted after internationals, i think pep did the right decision, me too in the preview :)))

Anonymous said...

henry assist...jst class

Anonymous said...

y not hleb for sanches? pep is funny atimes

0marX said...

Vales for Man of the Match!!!

pep said...

Finalllllllllllllllllll del partido.

0-1, good win. Good thing for the confidence we proved that we can win without messi and Xavi.


P.S. Nobody predicted the starting lineup...

Anonymous said...

Yea,Guardiola has a strange mind but a good one too.
Hehehe....

Més que un club!!!

Anonymous said...

We're ahead of Madrid again... Always a nice feeling!

Anonymous said...

yes valdes for MoM!! HE WAS EXELENT TODAY!!!!
nexta henry and iniesta..

Àlex said...

The chat thingy never worked for me pep :)

Good game tonight!! Iniesta is my man :D

Anonymous said...

Solid match but great win. Any new about Keita?

Anonymous said...

can anyone give me al link to see eto's goal.

Anonymous said...

How was the game and where can i see the goal?

Unknown said...

Hey Pep I wasnt too far off though...Sanchez messed me up!!!
Great victory....we can actually win a game by scoring only one goal.
In the past I have not been on Yaya's side but for me he was the Man of The Match by far...
Yaya...9
Valdez...8
Eto'o...8

0marX said...

For those for whom the chat did not work, could you try again now. I have changed some settings.

Please try again.

http://fcbarcelona.hopto.org

Anonymous said...

Good composed win. Athletic worked hard and defended very well. This was a tough game to win and it is very good to see that we did it without Messi and Xavi. I also like that Pep did not bring on Messi, it shows confidence in the team as a whole and it takes the pressure off Messi. I was a little curious as to why he started 3 defensive minded midfielders but it worked so i guess we cant complain.

Valdes was amazing tonight, he made some excellent saves and commanded his box well and I am not a fan of his. Abidal who I am also not a fan of is getting better and better with every game. Once again he was rock solid tonight, barely put a foot wrong and worked very hard. Pique was also good, except for one mistake. Marquez didnt have one of his better nights. Alves still needs time and I have no doubt he will come good in the end. Same with Keita. You can see their potential when they play, it just seems they arent on the same wavelength yet. Not too sure about Sanchez though, i know hes young but i didnt see anything impressive from him. Yaya for me was our best player in the middle of the park, strong, composed, great positioning and good link up play. Pep has to give him more time now, certainly he has a more positive influence than Keita.

Iniesta as always was fantastic when he got the ball. Eto'o was his usual hard working, determined self. Henry was by no means fantastic, but he worked hard and he set up the goal with some great play so i cant really complain.

All in all, good all round performance. Man of the match for me is Valdes.

Now for Basel.....with Messi and Xavi back and fully rested we should be in for a treat :)

Waleed said...

congradulations for the 6th consecutive win,
1st clean sheat!
Valdes was unbelievable! please no one takes the captin mark from him!!;)
Iniesta, the man of the match.
Eto'o god job, but how could you miss that one!
Henry, gread assist, exhaution was obvios.
Abidal/Alves great performance.
Tore', was outstanding! and believe me he'll never leave:)
Busuets, same steady performance.
Sanches, was a burden on the squad,too early for him.
Piquet, the ultimate stopper! many great saves, few, very few, lapses.
Marquez/Poyol standard powerfull performance.
Kieta, man you are so unlucky.
PEPE, it was your match, he achieved to win the match with minimal effort,without Messi, xavi,etc, and with an exhausted squad! another good sign for a great manager.

by the way,I was right about the backline in my formation! with Pepe, thats a victory. :))

Anonymous said...

Guys any news on Keita and his injury, or it's too early for that?

Ramzi said...

Very convincing victory, Again the unpopular players are clearing all doubts regarding their potentials.

Ramzi bedtime, i will bother you again being noisy rambling for Basel game ;)

And Omar...it happens;) I went once to a meeting with a presentation saved on the USB, and only figured out that I took the wrong USB when I opened it on the PC IN THE MEETING while everyone was waiting my show, so... ;)

Louis said...

hey how did we actually play?
the usual 4-3-3 with henry on the left and iniesta on the right or a 4-4-2 with two strikers and two offensive midfielders out wide(iniesta, sanchez)? and what kind of player is sanchez? which position does he usually play for barca b?

0marX said...

LOL Ramzi! Did you have to go back and grab the right one?

Anonymous said...

Nice work, and without puyol at the back. Great! What a team.
...and what a coach!

3rd place is really good. up to the 1st now..

Anonymous said...

Off topic, but I'd love to see a consistant line-up like this... like a 4-1-3-2...

Valdés

Alves Márquez Piqué Abidal
(Puyol) (Sylvinho)

Touré Yaya


Xavi

Messi Iniesta
(Hleb)

Henry
(Bojan)
Eto'o


...and for a more defensive position, the 4-3-3...

...drop Xavi back a little... and sub Iniesta, Henry, or Bojan for Keita or Busquets... like this...



Touré Yaya Keita
Xavi (Busquets)


Messi Iniesta
(Henry)
Eto'o (Bojan)



Gudjohnsen can rest Xavi on games that don't really matter... or Messi can slide in to Xavi's spot and Hleb on the right.

Anonymous said...

shit... that didn't line up at all the way I wanted...

Custom Search
 
Custom Search