Barcelona plays the eighteenth game of the season against Osasuna.
Osasuna is ranked 20th and last in the Liga, with 13 points. Last weekend, the team drew one all against Sevilla, playing with Roberto; Javier Flaño, Sergio, Miguel Flaño, Monreal; Nekounam, Vadócz; Azpilicueta (Masoud), Font (Pandiani), Plasil; Sola (Portillo)
Osasuna forward Santiago Ezquerro played for Barcelona from 2005 until 2008.
Osasuna squad list:
Roberto, Ricardo, Javier Flaño, Josetxo, Miguel Flaño, Monreal, Sergio, Juanfran, Masoud, Nekounam, Plasil, Puñal, Sunny, Vadócz, Ezquerro, Pandiani, Portillo
Barcelona squad list:
Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Piqué, Cáceres, Abidal, Sylvinho, Xavi, Touré, Busquets, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Messi, Eto'o, Bojan, Henry, Iniesta
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.
!!! LIVE MATCH CHAT !!!
From two hours before until two hours after the game you can join a match chat (read more here)
Posts
16 comments:
OT: Does anybody know the current number of club members?
We are simply the best! :)
this is the kind of game that makes you the real champions! visca el barca
ps love the comment from the goltv commentator "messi makes you smile at a funeral on christmas eve"
Marquez sucks we should sell him he was at fault for both of them goal's what a useless player we should replace him with another catalan player like Puyol alway's has to do the work for the whole defense of Barcelona,thank GOD we have him as the anchor of the backline!!
Marquez didn't play...Piqué did tonight..
Lol
Priceless:p Pique did an awsome job tonight together with Busquets. And damn they were hitting Busquets a lot of times!
And i totally agree with Louis! This kind of game is the time where we showed that we are deserved champions this season. A great comeback even though we played bad in the first half.
pique and puyol played...both catalans....maybe you should watch the games anony
I BEG TO DIFFER about those comments made about Marquez bro... that man is a work horse just like Puyol and he is commited. Your crazy if you think he sucks...Plus he was injured today...lol
maruez did go off the rails but he neeed a firm hand like pep gives him to resurrect his career under frank an no disrepect to frank whom i have the upmost respect for marquez didnt deliver i always believed marquez wud return to the level he once was at this project is in full swing we didnt play great but as a mr.ferguson o man unite once said the sign of true champions is when you dont play well but find the courage, determination, drive, enthusiasm and energy to grind out a win, make no mistake el sadar is not a easy place to go an osasuna will make it very difficult for madrid.
Nicely said, Madrid best be in top notch form next week because the bee hive has been broken. I personally think playing a 6th or 8th place team is way less challenging than going head to head with a team facing releagation who also is a good team. Look at Numancia, I don't think anyone saw that comming against Barca in the start of the season.
Cheers fellow Barca friends
Enjoy the hard-fought victory...
Great Match. This is the sort of performance that makes Champions. These Basque teams are always hard to breakdown and Osasuna really showed other clubs (even certain depraved colourless jerseyed ones from the capital)how to play.
Dani Alves was my MOM.
Criticisms:
Busquets. this guy has a long way to go before he can replace Toure. He failed to cover properly causing the defense to be stretched and Kieta to cover the centre. This is the first time I have seen the Barca defense give way on the left side. Busquets fails to cover the distance and get close enough to the opposition midfield.
And his stupid rolling over like as though he has just been shelled cost us a lot today. He broke up an attack and made the entire team lose concentration. Pep should really give him a talking-to.
For some reason he reminds me of Thiago Motta and that is not a player I admire much.
Kieta: Turned up in the penalty area on both sides thus performing his role of defending and attacking but all his touches were so lacking in conviction that Osasuna never had to take him seriously. His confidence seems really low for some reason. Just following instructions isn't enough you have to do a job well.
Eto'o: suddenly he didn't seem interested in getting into the crowded box anymore n remained standing at the edge of the penalty area as Henry was crossing. Still managed to score a goal and remained a threat though.
Well, thats enough. The resilience of this team is amazing. Players like Xavi, Alves and Messi always seem to be stepping up when the need arises and this was a very obdurate defense to break down.
Credit once again to Osasuna for putting up such a fighting challenge both in defense and in attack.
The team looks bulletproof and that's the biggest deal...
wow...all these analysts!!!
Marquez caused a goal in a game he didnt even play.
My 5 cents about the game:
1)Valdes has no responsibility for the goal conceeded. I think Alves-in the first place- need to improve his positioning and cover to deal with crosses to far post, this is the second time in one week.
2) Some may wonder Why pep kept Keita and substituted Henry, and I think that was smart because he wanted to change the offense dynamics having iniesta and Xavi pushing forward and he wasnt able to substitute keita in a period of dominance for osasuna, because that mean either Xavi or iniesta will have to stay far from Osasuna Box to help Busquets, so in that mean it was logical to substitute Henry instead, keeping Keita in the midfield with Busquets so Xavi move forward.
3) I think one of the reasons why Messi scored that goal is that he actualy have that thing called "selfishness" and I call it "character and instinctive style -if thats english or else translate". A normal player in that crucial time will not take that difficult shot in that crucial time while 4 teammates are placing themselves in and arround the box for a pass, it was not just a shot from the edge of the box, after the run he made and the way his body was positioned, it is a supernatural shot actually. I hope it make us understand his style more, because he lost lot of balls in this game also, but for any other player the brain give signals for the rest of the body as orders to fullfill, with messi every flesh, drop of blood and cell in his body operate independently and "football programed", thats what make him a footballer by nature, not only a great football academy graduate with some talent.
4) Pep will definitly show the Video of that incident!Messi and co need to learn that when you want to stop the game so an injured player get a treatment, you throw the ball outside, u dont just leave it counting on the good well of the opposition, it was going to cause us a goal, and it stressed us when we needed to focus.
5) BIG CREDIT for osasuna, the players who played with heart, the great coach specially with the substitutions he made and changed the game, and most importantly the Fans who were not only the 12th player but the MOTM for osasuna causing lot of troubles for our players, and I think this game showed that we need to work more on this level -Mental strength- because to play in old traford in a CL semi final, you need to have nerves made of steel beside skills and talent, I didnt see it lastnight.
6) When (not if...,when) we lose a game sooner or later, I can understand being critical about the game - something we have to do even when we win- but I hope no one will start directly doubting the whole project including pep and his squad, Why am I saying so? because I saw the signs -on some posts on blogs-and some started to look for their old wips, only few seconds before Messi goal.
We broke some records lastnight, and there is more to come.
Ramzi, It's a really good point you have about messi. That is exactly how he is playing. Many other players would have tried a 2-1 combination or maybe even just played the ball to another player and kept himself behind the ball. In addition this also shows that Messi knows the responsibility he have on his shoulders.
So yes, of course he will sometimes lose ball because he dribbles on his own, but sometimes he makes those vital moves as he did last night. And that is just his style. He is not selfish but he simply knows what he is capable of.
Also Messi sort of drifted out of the game and I was worried that Guardiola would substitute him. But he drifts out n then storms right back in. Like you said Ramzi, it was an incredible shot considering the fact that the ball is always so close to his feet almost stuck under it. For most other people the ball would need to be further away from his body slightly forward to even make an attempt. I cant imagine how he got his foot under the ball and managed to transmit such incredible power.
Post a Comment