Match Preview: Santander-Barcelona

Racing Santander-FC Barcelona
Venue: El Sardinero



After a tough January, Pep’s boys face up to a busy February. Guardiola’s comments in the build up to the match seem intended to motivate the lads for another physically taxing encounter in El Sardinero in Santander. With a nine-point lead going into the game Barca can afford to lose points and come away with a draw in Santander but a win will further boost the confidence of the team and prove that they have the character and mettle to fight it out.

Racing haven’t lost in their last five league encounters. Their three wins and two draws may not match up to Barca’s five wins but is indicative of their current run of good form. There is a nice symmetricity about Racing’s win loss record in that they have 7 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses so a loss to Barca will make the stats look more even for a team positioned exactly at the halfway point in the table (maybe that will convince them!). A loss will not see them drop ranking in the table as they are 4 points ahead of Getafe, Valladolid and Almeria. Racing have had better luck away than at home but although their last win at home was back in November their last loss at home dates even further back to September.

An uncomplicated team, Racing are very direct in their attacks and even more so in defense. Juan Muniz’s 4-4-2 formation fashioned to play the counter hasn’t changed much over the season. Hitmen Colsa and Lacen look to break down play in the midfield and contribute little to building attacks. Serrano and Moral play on the flanks but also do a lot of tracking back. The offensive strategy composes mostly of kicking the ball up the field to Zigic (2.02m) and allowing Munitis to play off him.

As if one sky-scraper in the team is not enough Racing have another in the 1.96m Cesar Navas. Oriol or Garay will partner him although Garay’s utility during set-pieces as Barca will recall from the first leg of this encounter will mean that he is likely to be favored. Marcano and Valera occupy the full-back positions to complete the line-up.

Guardiola has rarely protected Messi and Xavi by substituting to save them from hard tackles during games but given the tight schedule ahead and the fact that this will be third game in 8 days for the pair, starting them would be imprudent. With Victor Sanchez absent there is no similar cover for Alves. Also Keita’s absence means Busquets will hopefully be preferred to Gudjohnsen to start alongside Yaya Toure in midfield. Busquets ability to draw fouls can put the Racing midfield in card trouble and serve to tone down their challenges although Racing will be hard to break down even with 10 men. His recent form and the opportunity to play a freer role as the third midfielder makes him the player to look out for in this game.

Guardiola’s decision on what will be the best way to deal with Hleb’s poor performances; whether to give him more playing time or a break will determine the composition of the front three. I personally am looking forward to seeing Bojan start alongside Eto’o and Henry.

A noticeable blind spot seems to have emerged with lack of midfield cover on the right side of defense when the opposing team left winger cuts in to either cross or take a shot with both the Espanyol goals coming in this manner and also a few others earlier in the season. Perhaps a fresher Iniesta rather than a tired Xavi will take care of this along with the Beast Toure.

The Marquez-Pique pairing in the center last played together against Sevilla and seemed a little confused about where to position the defensive line when the same problem occurs i.e the left winger cuts inside to cross. The two also have a tendency to push up the flanks to help keep possession and a still ‘recovering from injury’ Marquez might be a little slow to compress the space back again. It might be a good opportunity to field Caceres in a man-marking role on Zigic. Abidal should return to take over at left-back and it will be interesting to see if he continues from where he left off in the previous game pushing up the left flank or relapses into his more sedate task of concentrating on the defense.

Pep has his task cut out for him with more limited choices but still a lot of decisions to make. His appeal for another committed performance looking to a win should spur the team on to show their mettle and set in stone the resilience they have displayed so far in what is likely to be a bruising encounter.

Prediction: Racing 1- 2 Barcelona


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