Preview : Shakhtar Donetsk

Venue : Stade Louis II, Monaco


The winners of UEFA's two major European club cup competitions meet this Friday in the official curtain raiser for the new European season. Barcelona have history in this competition having played in no fewer than six of these games with Friday's game being their seventh.

Shakhtar Donetsk meanwhile will become the first Ukrainian team to take part in this competition with fellow Ukrainian team Dynamo Kyiv having represented the Soviet Union on the two occasions that they participated.


HISTORY

The UEFA Super Cup was initially established in 1972 and started off as a two legged affair between the winners of what was then the UEFA Champions Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. It however underwent some major surgery over the years with the winners of the Champions Cup becoming the winners of the Champions League and the winners of the Cup winners' Cup being replaced by the winners of the UEFA Cup after the former competition was discontinued by UEFA.

Since 1998, the final has also been a single match played in Monaco at the Stade Louis II. AC Milan are the team that have won the Cup the most, on 5 occasions, while Barcelona have the unwelcomed distinction of having finished as runners up on more occasions than any other team (4 times).

Since the Super Cup became a single match between the UEFA Cup winners and the Champions League winners in 2000 the UEFA Cup winners have claimed the trophy on 5 occasions with Galatasaray, Liverpool, Valencia, Sevilla and Zenith St. Petersburg having upset the odds to beat the Champions League winners. Real Madrid, Liverpool and Milan on 2 occasions were the Champions League winners to have claimed the Super Cup in the other 4 years. Barcelona will want to take notice of this as Shakhtar will be no pushovers and based on the above statistics the UEFA Cup winners have shown they are just as likely to take the Super Cup as the Champions League winners.

Barcelona fans will not have fond memories of their last Super Cup outing when the then European Champions with a starting lineup of Valdes, Beletti , Marquez, Puyol, Sylvinho, Xavi, Thiago Motta, Deco, Messi, Etoo and Ronaldinho along with subs Zambrotta Thuram Giuly, Iniesta and Gudjohnsen found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline against a Sevilla team.

That Sevilla team contained current Barca superstar Dani Alves, who was incidentally named man-of-the-match, and reported Barca target Christian Poulsen as well as the late Antonio Puerta and were coached by ex-Real Madrid manager Juande Ramos. It was of course the start of a disastrous 2 years that saw Barcelona lose their La Liga and Champions League crowns as well as losing in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup. All Barcelona fans will be hoping that this Super Cup goes much better than the last one did.


ROAD TO THE SUPER CUP

The Road to this Super Cup began long before the finals of the Champions League and the UEFA Cup Last season. Here is a look at the path taken by each team to reach the Super Cup

FC Shakhtar Donetsk

Won Ukrainian League in 2007-2008 (the 3rd time in 4 years) qualifying for the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round

Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 0 Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb 1 - 3 Shakhtar Donetsk

Champions League Group Stage

FC Basel 1 - 2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 - 2 Barcelona
Shakhtar Donetsk 0 - 1 Sporting CP
Sporting CP 1 - 0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk 5 - 0 Basel
Barcelona 2 - 3 Shakhtar Donetsk

Shakhtar finished 3rd in their group qualifying for the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup Round of 32

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 0 Tottenham
Tottenham 1 - 1 Shakhtar Donetsk

UEFA Cup Round of 16

CSKA Moscow 1 - 0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 0 CSKA Moscow

UEFA Cup Quarter Final

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 0 Marseille
Marseille 1 - 2 Shakhtar Donetsk

UEFA Cup Semi Final

Dynamo Kiev 1 - 1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Dynamo Kiev

UEFA Cup Final

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Werder Bremen


FC Barcelona

Finished 3rd in La Liga qualifying for the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round


Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round

Barcelona 4 - 0 Wilsa Krakow
Wisla Krakow 1 - 0 Barcelona

Champions League Group Stage

Barcelona 3 - 1 Sporting CP
Shakhtar 1 - 2 Barcelona
Basel 0 - 5 Barcelona
Barcelona 1 - 1 Basel
Sporting CP 2 - 5 Barcelona
Barcelona 2 - 3 Shakhtar

Champions League Round of 16

Lyon 1 - 1 Barcelona
Barcelona 5 - 2 Lyon

Champions League Quarter Final

Barcelona 4 - 0 Bayern
Bayern 1 - 1 Barcelona

Champions League Semi Final

Barcelona 0 - 0 Chelsea
Chelsea 1 - 1 Barcelona

Champions League Final

Barcelona 2 - 0 Manchester United


PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS

These two teams met twice last season in the Champions League Group stage with each side claiming a victory at the other team's stadium. Barca took the first match in the Ukraine in a real thriller. Ilsinho gave the home side the lead just before halftime with Messi looking on from the bench. Clearly needing a boost in the attack in the second half coach Pep Guardiola brought in Lionel Messi and Bojan Krkic for Thierry Henry and Samuel Etoo Respectively and the move almost paid instant rewards with Bojan going close on 81 mins with a blistering left footed shot after a move that saw him move past 2 Shakhtar defenders.

Barcelona would not be denied though and in the 87th minute a Bojan cross from the right was badly fumbled by the Shakhtar goalkeeper Pyatov leaving Messi with the on of the simplest tap ins of his career. Shakhtar now stumbling like a stunned boxer were very lucky not to concede a penalty in the 92nd minute when Andres Iniesta was hacked down inside the area following a Messi through ball. Barcelona would break down the door however in the 94 minute Xavi played Messi in with a defence splitting pass and the little Argentine kept his cool to produce a magnificent chip to seal the win. Shakhtar heartbroken and Barca showing some of the steely resolve that would see them claim the treble.


Messi breaks Ukrainian hearts

By the time the return leg in Barcelona rolled around Barcelona had already won the group stage and Shakhtar Donetsk had already been knocked out of the Champions League and had sewn up third place guaranteeing them a spot in the UEFA Cup. As a result Pep Guardiola took the opportunity to give some young players and reserve players such as Jorquera, Victor Sanchez, Sylvinho, Caceres, Busquets, Victor Vazquez, Hleb, Bojan, Pedro, Botia, Abraham and Xavi Torres a chance to experience a match in the Champions League and to get some minutes in.

Shakhtar meanwhile started more first team regulars such as Fernandinho, Willian, Jadson, Srna, Rat Chygrynskiy and Pyatov. Shakhtar took the lead through Gladkiy in the first half and doubled it just before the hour mark through the same player. Sylvinho replied with a wonder strike before Fernandinho made sure there was no coming back for Barca with a tap in after 75 minutes. Busquets added a late consolation item but Shakhtar would inflict Barcelona's only loss of the season in the Champions League .


Shakhtar get their revenge


CURRENT FORM

Barcelona's start to the season has been pretty good with their youth team players such as Thiago, Dos Santos, Gai, Muniesa, Fontas and Jeffren all showing promise in the pre-season games. They have already claimed 1 trophy this season by beating Athletic Bilbao over two legs in the final of the Spanish Super Cup and except for a blip against Manchester City they have been unbeaten in the rest of the pre-season. With Messi, Ibrahimovic and Henry finally fit and Iniesta rumoured to be just about ready to return to action, the Blaugrana will be supremely confident of adding another trophy to the four that they have already won in 2009.

Shakhtar meanwhile have already started their season and look good so far in an attempt to reclaim the league title that they lost to Dynamo Kiev last season. They have started off in fine fashion with 3 wins and 1 draw and are just 3 points behind Kiev with 1 game in hand having scored 10 goals and conceded 2.

Their European campaign did not start off as well however as Shakhtar crashed out of the Champions League Third qualifying round this season going out on away goals to lesser fancied Romanian club Timisoara. Normal service was resumed in the playoff round for the Europa League (UEFA's replacement for the UEFA Cup) as Shakhtar claimed a 5-0 aggregate victory of Turkish club Sivasspor. Shakhtar have not lost a competitive game this season and will be full of confidence heading into the Super Cup clash with Barcelona.


Key Players

Messi vs the Brazilians

Normally in the key player section of the preview I would choose just 1 or 2 players to compare to each other from each team. However in looking through Shakhtar's recent games one thing struck me in particular. Shakhtar's 5 Brazilian players seem to be at the heart of almost every attacking move that takes place and have scored a phenomenal percentage of Shakhtar's goals in Europe. All 5 of them, Fernandinho, Ilsinho, Willian, Jadson and Luiz Adriano started the UEFA Cup final and two of them scored to give Shakhtar a 2-1 victory and the UEFA Cup.

In last season's Champions League Qualifiers, Group Stage, UEFA Cup and this seasons Champions League Qualifiers and Europa League Qualifiers, Shakhtar have scored 37 goals of which 27 where scored by their 5 Brazilians. In other words Shakhtar's Brazilians have scored roughly 73% of their goals in Europe over the past 12 months. Shakhtar will once again be looking to their Brilliant Bevy of Brazilians to Beat the Blaugrana Black and Blue.

I could try to use superlative adjectives to describe Leo Messi but I think everybody knows by now how important the little Argentine is to FC Barcelona. He showed his commitment to FC Barcelona by returning 1 week early from training in order to be just another member of the team and not receive any special treatment. He came off the bench against Shakhtar with devastating effect and if Shakhtar want to win the Super Cup a good place to start would be keeping Leo Messi quiet.

Barcelona look a completely different team when Messi is marked effectively as Chelsea proved, however keeping the Argentine Superstar quiet for 90 minutes is no easy task. Chelsea found out the hard way that giving Messi even an inch of space at any moment can prove fatal as his perfect pass to Andres Iniesta ended their Champions League hopes. Messi is expected to be named the UEFA player of the year on Thursday and will be keen to show the form that made him one of the top players in the world in the Super Cup on Friday.

The X factor

How could I write a whole article without mentioning the Shakhtar player that Barcelona fans possibly know better than any other? Dmytro Chygrynskiy has been the subject of a long running transfer saga this summer that finally appears to be coming to an end. So highly rated by coach Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona manager has refused to settle for any other central defender than the man nicknamed the "Ukrainian Beckenbauer".

A strong central defender with a touch Chygrynskiy could be in the peculiar position of starting the Super Cup final a Shakhtar player and finishing it a Barcelona player if a deal is reached and announced by the end of the final. The coach of Shakhtar claims he expects Chygrynskiy to play but one would have to wonder how focussed he would be on the game given his impending move to Barca. Could he even be a Barcelona player before the Super Cup? Only time will tell.


LINEUPS

Shakhtar do not appear to have any injuries going into the game and should be able to field a full strength lineup. Barcelona on the other hand are missing Iniesta and Marquez. Iniesta reportedly has a chance of playing but even if he does, it is hardly likely that he will start.

Shakhtar : Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Chygrynskiy, Rat, Kobin, Fernandinho, Ilsinho, Jadson, Wilian, Luiz Adriano

Barcelona : Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Yaya, Keita, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry


CONCLUSION : Shakhtar are a team that very rarely concede early goals. From the start of last seasons European qualifiers to present Shakhtar have not conceded a goal in the first 15 minutes of any European games they have played so Barca will have to be patient and willing to wait to break Shakhtar down. Shakhtar have scored 9 goals between minutes 61-75 and a further 9 between minutes 76-90 meaning that Barcelona will have to be very careful of switching off if they have a 1 goal lead after 60 mins.

Shakhtar seem to wake up after 60 minutes scoring 18 out of 37 or almost half of their goals in Europe after the 60 minute mark. They do tend to concede goals just after half time and just before the end of the game though, conceding 5 goals between mins 46-60 and 6 goals between mins 76-90 for a total of 11 out of 16 total goals conceded in Europe during those two time slots.

Barcelona will want to come out of the half time interval flying as Shakhtar seem to be slow to get back into the pace of the game after halftime. Barca will also need to be careful as they have conceded most goals during last season's Champion's League between minutes 46-60 and 61-75. The Blaugrana have conceded 8 goals out of a total 14 during those 2 time intervals.

Overall a close game with two very good sides that both want to win. In the end though, I'd have to pick Barca as just having a little extra quality and experience than Shakhtar in this sort of game with Xavi Iniesta Messi Valdes Puyol Dani Alves and Gudjohnsen all having already experienced this fixture. That experience could be the difference in the end.

Prediction : Barcelona 2 Shakhtar 1


barca4life

Preview: Athletic Bilbao

Venue : Camp Nou, Barcelona


The Spanish Super Cup concludes on Sunday with the second leg of the two legged affair between the Treble winners and the beaten Copa del Rey finalists. These two teams are probably sick of each other by now having met late last season in the Cup final and already early this season in the first leg of this final.

Bilbao have it all to do as they surrendered a half time lead at the San Mames to go down by two goals to one to Barca. The damage is double as Barca have 2 away goals and can now approach the game with a much more comfort knowing that a draw will be good enough for them to claim their 8th Spanish Super Cup drawling level with Real Madrid in the process.

PREVIOUS GAME

Barcelona followed up their first leg victory over Bilbao with the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Manchester City. Despite dominating the game and hitting the post twice Barcelona went down by 1 goal to 0. What made the performance all the more impressive was that the team was missing missing midfield generals Xavi and Iniesta and youngsters like Jonathan Dos Santos Thiago and Gai were able to step in and add creativity and flair to the performance. The team had more than 20 shots while City had less than 5 and also dominated in terms of possesion and corners of which they had 15 to City's 2. Barcelona will take a lot of positives from that performance and should be high on confidence going into the 2nd leg.

Athletic Bilbao Meanwhile took part in the UEFA Europa league qualifying round midweek and came away with another close win against opposition from a smaller league. They had to rely on two late goals from De Marcos and Llorente to beat Norway's Tromso IL by 3 goals to 2. Not exactly the most inspiring of performances again from Bilbao who have struggled against opposition from a smaller leagues in their attempts to qualify for the new verion of the UEFA Cup, the Europa League. Bilbao will take some positives from winning the game but given their shaky start to the pre-season they will have to lift their game significantly if they are to get anything from the Camp Nou.

THE KEY MEN

Ibrahimovic vs Iraizoz

Barcelona's marquee summer signing is expected to make his official debut in the second leg after coach Pep Guardiola said "I think he's ready to play an official game." Ibrahimovic made his Barcelona debut in the midweek friendly and showed a few glimses of the form that has made him one of the most feared strikers on the planet. He is still lacking match fitness however and will need time on the pitch with Messi ,Xavi, Iniesta and Henry before he can show the world what he can do with some of the best creative players in the world behind him. One thing is for certain the era of Ibra has arrived, whether it will be as succesful as the Rijkaard/Ronaldinho/Etoo era will be determined over the course of the next 5 years.

If Athletic Bilbao are to get a positive result in the Camp Nou they will need more than likely to keep a clean sheet. The man charged with that difficult task is first choice goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz. Iraizoz is on his second stint with the club having begun his career there. Wanting to get more first team football he moved to Espanol where he was a part of the team that won the Copa del Rey in 2006 and was instrumental to Espanol reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2007.

He played in the final against Sevilla that Espanol lost on penalties despite Dani Alves missing one penalty. Iraizoz moved back to Athletic in 07/08 as the number one goalkeeper but suffered an injury that limited him to just 13 league games. Last season Iraizoz resumed goalkeeping duties at Bilbao and had his work cut out as the team struggled to 13th spot in La Liga and conceeded 60 goals. It could have been so much worse had Irazoz not made his 104 saves in 36 games. Expect Iraizoz, who is fluent in Catalan from his time at Espanol, to have a busy night on Sunday.

FORMATIONS AND TACTICS

Athletic used a 4-4-2 system in the first leg and the fact that they are trailing suggests that they will need to go after goals. Despite this the Bilbao coach Joaquin Caparros has apparently given up on the Super Cup final choosing not to call up to the squad key players Ocio, Yeste and Amorebieta and several other first team regulars before their second leg Europa League qualifying match against Tromso. Barca coach Guardiola meanhwile intends to go all out as he has stated that not trophy is more important than another.

Predicted lineups

Barcelona : Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Yaya, Keita, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry

Athletic : Iraizoz, Iraola, Ustaritz , San Jose, Koikili, David Lopez, Orbaiz, Gabilondo, Gurpegui, Llorente, Ion Velez

HEAD TO HEAD

Mar 05 : Barcelona 2 - 0 Athletic
Jan 06 : Barcelona 2 - 1 Athletic
Feb 07 : Barcelona 3 - 0 Athletic
Sep 07 : Barcelona 3 - 1 Athletic
Mar 09 : Barcelona 2 - 0 Athletic

Barcelona have not lost a home game to Bilbao in the last 5 attempts in La Liga scoring 12 goals and conceding just 2. Bilbao with a weakened team will have their work cut out for them.

CONCLUSION

Expect a route. A weakened Bilbao coming up against a hungry Barcelona with Ibra set to make his official home debut and Messi and Xavi eager to get the team back to winning ways. This could get ugly and we could see as we did last season the team surge into an unassailable lead before half-time if Bilbao are stunned by an early goal. Expect Barca to try to make a statement in repsonse to Real Madrid's 5-0 mauling of Dortmund in mid-week.

Prediction : Barcelona 4 - Athletic 1

Preview: Athletic Bilbao

Venue: Estadio San Mames, Bilbao


The beaten cup finalists come up against the team that won it all last year in the traditional curtain raiser of the Spanish football season. These two teams know each other well, having played each other in the Copa del Rey final last season. But since then, Barcelona has undergone some major surgery.

There is no real form guide to go on since pre-season friendlies are not exactly the most reliable performance gauge. However we can expect a hot atmosphere at San Mames where the passionate fans will try to cheer Athletic on past a walking wounded Barcelona squad that look short of a few key players.

PRE SEASON

Athletic Bilbao have had a pretty ordinary pre season, winning 2 games, drawing 1 and losing 3. They have already played 2 competitive games in the Europa League third qualifying round, enduring an embarrassing 1-0 loss at home to Swiss side Young Boys. They won the away leg by 2 goals to 1 to sneak into the next round on away goals, but scraping past Swiss opposition in the Europa League isn’t exactly the most convincing way to warm up for your league season. Bilbao also suffered losses to Benfica, with Barcelona old boy Saviola grabbing a brace, and Sporting CP of Portugal. Make no mistake though, they will be up for the Super Cup against Barca as they will want to avenge the 4-1 thrashing in the Copa del Rey final.

Barcelona, meanwhile, has had a pretty disjointed pre-season. First the Samuel Etoo-Zlatan Ibrahimovic saga meant that Barcelona were without a first choice centre forward for the first week of pre-season training. That added to injuries to Ibrahimovic Iniesta Marquez Messi and Henry have meant that Barcelona have been unable to train with their entire first team for the entire pre-season.

Despite this, the youngsters have filled in admirably. Players such as Fontas, Muniesa, Jonathan Dos Santos, Montoya, Ruben Rochina, Rueda and Gai Assulin have shown that the future of FC Barcelona is bright. The actual results were 3 wins and 2 draws. Still the lack of training time together for the first team must be a concern for the coach Pep Guardiola who would no doubt have wanted Ibrahimovic to have as much time as possible getting accustomed to playing with Messi Henry Iniesta and Xavi.

The KEY MEN

Llorente vs Bojan

Fernando Llorente first shot to prominence in the 2005 season with a hat-trick in a Copa del Rey game. He followed this up with 5 goals at the FIFA World Youth Championships in 2005 to finish as 2nd top scorer behind a young Argentinean prodigy by the name of Lionel Messi. Perhaps testaments to his quality are some of the other players that played in that tournament.

Players such as Ustari, Messi, Gago, Aguero, Garay, Zabaleta, Renan, (Barcelona left back target)Filipe Luis, David Edgar, Falcao, Freddy Guarin, Christian Zapata, Marcell Jansen, Andreas Ottl, Ryan Babel, Ibrahim Afellay, Hedwiges Maduro, John Obi Mikel, Raul Albiol, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Philippe Senderos and Freddy Adu were all present at that tournament and have gone on to play for some of the biggest clubs in the world at the highest level.

Llorente has steadily improved since and has become a regular starter in the past 2 seasons netting 11 and 13 league goals in the past 2 seasons. He also had 4 goals in Bilbao's Copa del Rey win last season including 1 goal in each leg of the semi final against Sevilla. He finished last season as Athletic's overall top scorer and was rumoured to be a target for FC Barcelona in the offseason. One thing is for certain if Athletic are to have any chance at winning the Super cup, Fernando Llorente is going to need to be at his best.

With Barcelona facing a mini front line crisis with Messi, Ibrahimovic and Henry all possibly missing the first leg of the Supercup, the responsibility of goal-scoring falls on the shoulders of Barcelona's golden boy Bojan. Bojan has been highly touted to break into the team over the past few years, but this season is the one for him to start delivering the goods on a regular basis. Critics have said that Bojan will never make it because he is too small and point to Bojan's drop in league goals from 10 in 2007/2008 to 2 in 2008/2009 as proof of his over-rated status.

A look at the raw facts shows that while Bojan did not do as well in the league, he performed better in the Cup competitions. In the Champions Leauge he scored 3 goals in 9 appearances in 2008/2009 as opposed to 1 goal in 9 appearences in 2007/2008. The Copa del Rey though is where Bojan really shone last season. He scored 5 goals in 8 games last season as opposed to 0 goals in 2 games the season before. Bojan showed his skill was indeed unquestionable, when he came in for the final of the Copa del Rey to replace the injured Henry, and netted the 3rd goal in Barcelona's 4-1 rout.

Overall, Bojan scored 11 goals in 18 starts and 24 subsitute appearances in 2007/2008 and 10 goals in 17 starts and 23 substitute appearances in 2008/2009. Now that he is the main replacement for Henry Ibra and Messi, Bojan needs to step up his game, and what better time to start than the 2009 Super cup? All Barca fans will be hoping that he carries his form of 3 goals in 5 pre-season games into the game on Sunday.

FORMATIONS AND TACTICS

Athletic favoured a 4-4-2 system last season but at times switched to a 4-2-3-1 to add an extra man in the midfield. Against Young Boys in the first leg Athletic fielded a 5 man midfield but in the 2nd leg they went for 2 strikers up front as they needed to win. Against Barcelona in the league last season, Athletic fielded a 4-4-2 lineup and I suspect that they will go for the win on their home ground where Barcelona have traditionally struggled to get results. With so many injuries the Barcelona first team basically picks itself with Valdes Pique Puyol Dani Alves Xavi Yaya and Bojan almost 100% sure to start.

PREDICTED LINEUPS:

Athletic 4-4-2 : Iraizoz, Iraola, Ocio, Amorebieta, Castilla, Orbaiz, Martinez, Yeste, Susaeta, Torquero, Llorente

Barcelona 4-3-3 : Valdes, Alves, Marquez, Pique, Abidal, Xavi, Yaya, Keita, Pedro, Bojan, Jeffren

HEAD TO HEAD

Athletic's only win against Barcelona at the San Mames in the past 5 years came in 2006 after Barcelona had already clinched the league title and had just won the Champions League against Arsenal. Barcelona, meanwhile, has scored more than 1 goal on just 1 occasion in their last 5 visits to Bilbao.

2004-05 : Athletic 1 - 1 Barcelona
May 06 : Athletic 3 - 1 Barcelona
Sep 06 : Athletic 1 - 3 Barcelona
Jan 08 : Athletic 1 - 1 Barcelona
Oct 08 : Athletic 0 - 1 Barcelona

CONCLUSION

A tough away game for Barca who are missing several key players. Bilbao will be encouraged by this despite their poor pre-season form but they will know that this Barcelona team can hold their own even when they are made up mostly of reserves in attack. With Barcelona knowing that they have the safety of returning to the Camp Nou for the 2nd leg and Ibrahimovic, Messi, Marquez, Henry and Iniesta all possibly returning we can expect them to try to hold Athletic and finish them off in the 2nd leg.

Prediction: Athletic 1 – 1 Barcelona


barca4life

Lionel Messi - "Five years of golazos" (part 2)

made by barca4life

(check part 1 here)

- check part 1 of this video here -

Lionel Messi - "Five years of golazos" (part 1)

made by barca4life

The Clash of the Titans : Messi vs Ronaldo

A New Global Rivalry?

As the start of the La Liga approaches like a hurtling freight train the undoubted highlight of the season will be the showdown between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF. Barcelona, coming off a season where all before them were swept aside, and the rest of Europe watched in horror during the off season as of Florentino Perez assembled the “Galacticos 2.0”, of which the star acquisition was Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi are considered by most worldwide to be the two best players on the planet right now. Skill, Flair and the ability to leave fans wanting more both Ronaldo versus Messi is undoubtedly the battle of our generation. Tennis has Federer versus Nadal, the NBA has Lebron versus Kobe and Boxing had Ali versus Frazier.

Football’s greatest rivalry has always been Pele versus Maradona, but the two great players sadly were from different eras. By the time Maradona made his debut for Argentina in 1977, Pele had hung up his boots for Brazil some 6 years earlier in 1971. Pele never left Brazil during his prime playing most of his career with his beloved Santos before finishing out his years as a footballer in the United States. Maradona mean while played in Argentina, Italy and Spain winning titles with Barcelona, Napoli and his beloved Boca Juniors.

Now for the first time for a long time there is a feeling that we could be seeing two of the greatest players of this generation, if not perhaps of all time, going head to head in the same league leading their teams in the kind of rivalry that has never been seen before in international football.

It is amazing how two players that are so similar are also so different. A quick description to exemplify my point, a right-sided attacking midfielder, blessed with mesmerizing footwork, blistering pace, a quick mind and an eye for goal. He is hailed as the best player of this generation and without a doubt a proven winner having won League and Champions League titles. He has won 3 league titles and 1 major domestic cup competition and has scored in 1 Champions League final that his team has won, while finishing Runner-up in his Confederation’s Football Championship. This player has many years left in his career and has yet to hit his peak years.

Anybody reading that last paragraph could easily assume I was describing either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi and they would be right. The similarities end above though as the two players could not be more different. Messi versus Ronaldo is the story of the proud Galactico versus the humble, almost unwilling, superstar. The story of the tall bronzed muscular man versus the short pale guy who needed growth hormone just to be average height. The story of the man who is linked with many different models and superstars every day versus the man who is set to marry a girl he has known since childhood. It is the story of the man who has played for 3 different clubs before his 25th birthday versus the man who has stated he wants to spend his career with only 1 club.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro came into this world on the 5th of February 1985 to Portuguese parents in Madeira Portugal. From an early age his talent was recognized and after playing at youth level with Andorinha and CD Nacional, he got his break with Sporting CP of Portugal who signed him at age of 12. Things seemed to be going well for Ronaldo until at age 15 he was diagnosed with a racing heart that could have ended his football career. He had surgery with a laser to rectify the problem and then proceeded to blow through the Sporting CP youth system.

He became the first player to player for Sporting’s U-16, U-17, U-18, B-team and first team all in one season and was reportedly monitored by Liverpool and Arsenal who saw his undeniable talent. Ronaldo’s big break though came when his Sporting CP met Manchester United in a 2003 pre-season friendly. So impressed were the Manchester United players that they encouraged Ferguson to sign the young prodigy.


A Young Cristiano Ronaldo at Sporting CP

Ronaldo moved to England soon after and he helped Manchester United to the FA Cup in his first year scoring a goal in the final. The feeling at that time was that while he undoubtedly had talent he was a bit of a show pony and did one too many stepovers. Still Ronaldo continued to flourish in the Manchester United system and his reputation continued to grow. At euro 2004 held in Ronaldo’s native Portugal he helped his team to reach the final scoring against Holland in the semi final.

The feeling going into the final was that Portugal who had home advantage and having knocked out Spain, the Netherlands and England on penalties, with Ronaldo scoring in the shootout, (it would not be the last time Ronaldo and England would clash) would have too much for the Greeks. Portugal had Ronaldo as well as former world player of the year Luis Figo, Deco and Rui Costa in their ranks but the Greek team had beaten Portugal in the tournament’s opening game and repeated the feat in the final starting the suspicion that “Ronaldo doesn’t show up in the big games”.


Ronaldo: Sublime Skill or Show pony?

Still Ronaldo continued to grow and enjoy success with Manchester United picking up individual awards for his play and picking up the League cup in 2006. However a talk of Ronaldo being a “teacher’s pet” began to spread and more ugly side began to surface. In May of 2006 sports site Setanta reported that Ronaldo and team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy had an altercation of Ronaldo’s reluctance to pass the ball during which van Nistelrooy reportedly told Ronaldo “Go cry to your daddy” referring to Carlos Queiroz and not Ronaldo’s biological father who had died earlier that season. Van Nisterooy was promptly sent packing from Old Trafford. What came next though would forever change the way Cristiano Ronaldo was viewed in the football world and perhaps the course of the winger’s destiny.

The 2006 world cup was a defining moment for Ronaldo, some people are born to play the role of the hero and others are born to play the role of the villain. I wonder sometimes how different things might have been had Ronaldo not winked at the Portuguese bench. Would he have been vilified by the British press, would he have been targeted for a hate campaign? Would he have been as motivated to prove his critics wrong?

The defining moment came when Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney appeared to step on Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho. What happened next is up for debate. The English press claimed that Ronaldo had aggressively complained to the referee which influenced the match official to send off Rooney. To make matters worse Ronaldo was caught winking at the Portuguese bench after the red card had been issued and the British press had found a new hate-figure.


Did Ronaldo get Rooney sent off?

Portugal went on to place 4th in the World Cup but the damage had been done. Ronaldo was booed during Portugal’s semi-final with France and English fans launched a negative e-mail campaign to prevent Ronaldo from being named Best Young Player at the tournament. FIFA in the end named Lukas Podolski as the Best Young Player citing Ronaldo’s behaviour as part of the reason he did not win.

Ronaldo seeing what had happened to David Beckham after the 2002 World Cup began to worry about having to return to England. Rumours linking him with a move to Spain with Real Madrid began to surface. Ferguson convinced him to stay however and Ronaldo began to fulfil the potential that had seen Manchester United snap him up in 2003. During the 2006-2007 season he played at a very high level leading to claims that he was the best player in the world.

He led Manchester United to the BPL title and to a Champions League semi-final clash with Kaka and AC Milan which was highly touted as the clash of the two best players in the world. However Kaka came out the clear winner scoring 3 goals over the 2 legs outshining Ronaldo who despite netting 1 goal it continued to be painted as does not show up on the big occasions. Rumours linking him with an 80 million euro move to Real Madrid began to surface again however Ronaldo signed a new contract with Manchester United worth a reported 120000 pounds a week.

Despite Ronaldo playing very well and at a high level doubts over his ability to perform against the biggest opposition lingered. Since he had been in England he had just scored 2 goals in 24 clashes with Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. Ronaldo would however answer his critics in devastating fashion the following season.

The 2007-2008 season did not start that well for Ronaldo, he received a red card and a 3 match ban for head butting Portsmouth player Richard Hughes. He claimed that he had learnt a great deal and he would not be provoked in the future. Determined to prove he was indeed the best in the world Ronaldo led Manchester United to a famous double of league and Champions league scoring an amazing 42 goals in all competitions. He scored in the league against Liverpool and Arsenal and against Chelsea in the Champions League final.


Ronaldo's 42 goals during the 2007-2008 Season

Still questions remained about Ronaldo’s ability to hold his nerve at the very biggest moments as he missed a penalty in the first leg of the Champions league semi final against Barcelona and also missed a penalty in the penalty shootout in the Final of the Champions League. The end of the season was overshadowed however by rumours that Ronaldo would again be moving to Real Madrid. Talk of Ronaldo “dreaming” of a move to Real Madrid continued to circulate and was the focus of reporters at Portuguese camp at Euro 2008.

The Ronaldo to Real Madrid fever hit fever pitch after Euro 2008 when Ronaldo reportedly said he would accept a deal with Real Madrid if they offered him a sum that was reported earlier in the year. Manchester United reported Real Madrid to FIFA for improper conduct but FIFA declined to take action. The dye was cast though as it was clear that Ronaldo wanted a move to Real Madrid. He started the 2008-2009 season by recovering from an injury to his ankle that required surgery and despite returning to Manchester United seemed to lack the same will he had displayed the season before.

Despite this he seemed to put Manchester United on his back in the Champions League and carry them to the final. His amazing performance against Inter Milan in Italy was only spoilt by the fact that he did not score. He quickly rectified that in the second leg and followed that up with and amazing winner against Porto in the Quarter finals. Another thunderbolt in the semi final against Arsenal and Ronaldo had dragged Manchester United into the final. He looked lively in the final but once again the allegation could be made that when the very biggest moments arrive Cristiano Ronaldo goes missing.


Ronaldo's screamers against Porto and Arsenal

Signs of cracks in the relationship between Ronaldo and Manchester United began to appear during the 2008-2009 though as Ronaldo very publicly pouted after being substituted during a league game and also reacted angrily on the pitch to Sir Alex who had criticized him. Despite this he continued to play well for Manchester United and continued to score crucial goals for them.

Despite losing in the Champions League final Ronaldo led Manchester United to a third successive EPL title and another League Cup title where he made amends for missing a penalty in the Champions League final shootout, by scoring in the penalty shootout to claim the League Cup. At the end of it all Real Madrid got their man for 80 million pounds despite Sir Alex Ferguson saying earlier in the season that he would “not sell a virus to that mob”. He was seen celebrating his move to Real Madrid by partying with Paris Hilton.
























Ronaldo and Paris Hilton celebrate his move to Real Madrid

If Ronaldo’s story is controversial then Messi’s is the exact opposite. Lionel Andres Messi was born on the 24th of June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. Messi started to play football at the age of 5 for a local club called Grandoli that his father used to coach. Messi’s talent was obvious and at age 8 he was snapped up by Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys who are based in Rosario. Things seemed to be going smoothly for Messi until at age 11 he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.

Messi’s club did not have the money to pay for his treatment and although River Plate was interested they too could not provide the cash to treat an 11 year who could turn out to be a bust in the end. In stepped Carles Rexach and FC Barcelona who decided to pay the medical bills after seeing Messi play during a trial at the club. Messi continued through the youth teams of Barcelona at one time playing on the same youth team as Cesc Fabregas.


Leo Messi early years in Barcelona

He progressed well and finally made his La Liga debut against Espanol on October 16th 2004 at age 17 becoming the third youngest player to ever play for the Blaugrana and the youngest to ever play in La Liga (a record that was eventually broken by Bojan Krkic). Messi scored his first goal in La Liga against Albacete in the process becoming a youngest Barcelona player to score in La Liga (another record that was eventually broken by Bojan ironically from a Messi assist). Messi would go on to play 7 games that season helping Barcelona to earn their first League title since 1999.

On to the FIFA World Youth Championship where Messi would begin to show some of the killer instinct that would make him one of the best players in the world today. The Argentina team of 2005 contained many names that would go on to be stars on the world stage. Oscar Ustari, Pablo Zabaleta, Fernando Gago, Ezequiel Garay and Sergio Aguero all took part in that competition and would go on to play at some of the biggest teams in some of the biggest leagues in the world.

The tournament did not start well for Argentina who left Messi on the bench for the first 45 mins of their first game with the USA and ended up losing by a single goal. Quickly rectifying his error for the next game against Egypt, the coach put Messi into his starting line-up and the man from Rosario did not disappoint netting the first goal in a 2-0 win for the Argentines. Messi once again started for Argentina’s third group game against Germany and Argentina once again triumphed by a 1-0 score line.

Now a fixture in the starting line-up, Messi would start his reputation of turning up in the biggest of games. In the Round of 16 against Colombia, Argentina was trailing after 52 mins. Up stepped Messi to equalize in just 6 mins later and Argentina would go on to win the game by 2 goals to 1. In the quarter finals the Argentines would meet a Spanish team including Cesc Fabregas Fernando Llorente David Silva and Raul Albiol. Once again Messi would score and Argentina would top the Spanish by 3 goals to 1. In the semi finals Argentina met arch rivals Brazil and Messi once again showed his class by giving his team an early lead as the Argentines continued their relentless march to the final. They would dismiss the Brazilians 2-1 in the end setting up a final match with Nigeria.
























Messi Collects the Golden Boot at the FIFA U-20 World Cup

In the final Messi would score 2 goals including the winner against in the 75th min meaning he had scored in every round of the knockout stages claiming the golden ball and golden boot thus proving that he shows up in the biggest of games. FIFA’s official website would go on to describe Messi in the following way:


“After losing out to the USA in their first match, Argentina never looked back as they laid claim to a fifth title at the fifteenth instalment of the FIFA World Youth Championship. Pre-tournament sensation Lionel Messi could only look on hopefully from the bench while his mates struggled against the Americans in their opener. But after coming on at the half, he made an immediate impact and never spent another minute off the pitch. The 18-year-old Barcelona prodigy proceeded to light up the Lowlands to become - for one summer at least - the toast of Planet Football.

Bagging both penalties in the final against Nigeria and top scorer and top player honours, the baby-faced Messi earned comparisons to none other than Diego Armando Maradona. His rip-roaring form in Holland was arguably the most individually influential since 'Dieguito' left fans gasping for air at Japan 1979. And as the team only won two of their seven matches by more than a one-goal margin, they needed every inch of their young talisman's inspiration.”


A new star had been born and he would go on to explode onto the stage the following season. Realizing the talent that they had on their hands Barcelona quickly renewed Messi’s contract for the second time in three months as they upgraded his status to first team status at the beginning of the 2006 season and extended his contract till 2014. The 2005-2006 season would be Messi’s coming out party to the world. He finally got his Spanish citizenship and began playing more regularly for the first team. He would go on to help FC Barcelona claim their 2nd league title in as many years and their first European Cup since 1992.

The real defining moment of the 2005-2006 season would however come against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho’s team at that time was dominating the BPL with one of the best defences that had been seen for some time. Messi systematically dismantled the Chelsea defence making them look silly and so tormenting left-back Asier Del Horno (who was a new big money signing at the club) that he caused del Horno to make a rash challenge and be sent off.


Did Messi Dive or was he Taken out by Del Horno?

Mourinho would go on to accuse Messi of diving to which Messi responded that he had the stud marks in his leg to prove that he was not acting. Messi would pick up a season ending injury in the second leg and would miss the Champions League final starting accusations that he could not stay fit for a full season.

Messi went to the World Cup with Argentina in 2006 but was not a regular starter. He still however become the youngest ever player to represent Argentina in a World Cup and also become the 6th youngest ever player to ever score in a World Cup. He was left on the bench for the entire of Argentina’s quarter final against Germany as the Albicelestes went out on penalties. The coach Jose Pekerman would resign immediately following the defeat.


Messi makes himself into a Barca legend with a hat-trick against Real Madrid

If the 2005-2006 season was Messi’s first warning shot, the 2006-2007 season was the beginning of the fulfilment of his promise. Sadly once again Messi suffered an injury that ruled him out for 3 months of the season. However on his return he would once again write his name in history rescuing FC Barcelona in the Superclasico by scoring a hat-trick including the equaliser in the dying minutes of the game to prevent a loss to the old enemy Real Madrid. He would then go on to recreate Maradona’s goal against England in the 1986 world cup against Getafe in the Copa Del Rey. It was not all positive though as Messi mirrored Maradona’s other goal against England from the 1986 World Cup scoring a goal with his hand against Espanol during a crucial La Liga game towards the end of the season.


Messi imitates Maradona

Messi, reputation enhanced by the previous season, then went to the Copa America in the summer of 2007 playing in a tournament during the off season for the third straight season. He was brilliant throughout the tournament creating goals for team-mates throughout the tournament and scoring in the quarter final against Peru and a magnificent chip in the semi-final against Mexico. Argentina would be soundly beaten by Brazil in the final but Messi had done well to get his team there.


Messi lights up the Copa America

Back with FC Barcelona for the 2007-2008 the plaudits continued to roll in for Messi with a poll conducted by Madrid’s based Marca finding that 77% of respondents thought that Messi was the best player in the world, a view that was supported by Franz Beckenbauer and Francesco Totti. Sadly Messi would injure himself again this time ruling him out for 4 months of the season further adding ammunition to those that said he was injury prone and could not play a full season without getting a major injury.

Messi would return in time for the Champion’s League semi-final with Manchester United and a showdown between the world’s two best players at the time. Manchester United would advance but it was clear the Messi had outperformed Cristiano Ronaldo over the two legs despite Messi having just returned recently from the 4 month layoff due to the injury that he had suffered. Still Ronaldo’s team advanced to the final and Ronaldo went on to claim all of the plaudits for the 2007-2008 season. Despite Ronaldo winning the Champions League and the BPL and Messi winning nothing for 2007-2008, a majority of voters on FIFA’s website had actually voted for Messi to claim the World Player of the year.

Messi would once again go to a summer tournament for the 4th consecutive year after begging FC Barcelona to go to the Olympics despite fears that his lack of pre-season preparation was the reason for his frequent injuries. Despite the controversy Messi went on to lead an Argentina team containing players such as Riquelme, Lavezzi, Gago, Mascherano, Ageuro and Garay to their very first Gold Medal in the Olympics defeating a Brazilian team that contained Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato, Diego, Lucas, Hernanes, Anderson, Thiago Silva and Marcelo in the process. He would set up the lone goal in the final for team-mate Angel Di Maria in the final once again proving that he shows in the biggest of games.

On to the 2008-2009 season and Messi would run riot appearing to be aiming to match Ronaldo’s 42 goals the previous season. He would finish the season with 38 in all competitions once again proving his penchant for showing up in the biggest of games scoring 3 goals in the 2 Clasicos his 6th goal in 4 games against Real Madrid. He would also go on to score the crucial go-ahead goal in the Copa Del Rey final that FC Barcelona would claim by a 4-1 margin against Athletic Bilbao. Going into the Champions league final and showdown against Ronaldo for the title of the best player in the world the critics began to knock Messi.


Messi's Best Season

He does not score against the English was the cry. Messi had indeed not scored in 10 previous games versus the English but had made his name against Chelsea so many years before, a fact that seemed lost in the hype. He does not score headers either they all said. Ronaldo’s prowess in the air is what sets him apart from Messi. Onto the Champions League final and Messi once again proved his penchant for performing on the very biggest of occasions rising as some said like Michael Jordan and seeming to hang in the air as he tilted his body to plant a header past the stranded Manchester United goalkeeper. Messi had answered his critics with one fell swoop while Ronaldo looked frustrated for most of the night.

Unlike Ronaldo Messi has stated on several occasions that he wants to spend his career with FC Barcelona and never wants to leave the club making him even more popular (if that was possible) with the Cules. Messi also unlike Ronaldo is not linked with many different models and it has been stated that he will marry Antonella Roccuzzo who he has known since childhood.





















Messi and his girlfriend Antonella

So as we conclude the look at Messi versus Ronaldo we can see from the list of competitions that they have won that both players are amazing players:

Messi is a born winner; he has won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Holland 2005, the Olympic games of 2008, 2 Champions League titles, 3 La Liga titles, 1 Copa del Rey and 2 Spanish Super Cups. He has been 2nd and 3rd in the Ballon d’Or voting for 2008 and 2007 respectively and looks set to climb one better this year. He has also come 2nd for 2007 and 2008 in the FIFA World Player of the Year and also looks set to claim the title for the first time this season.

Ronaldo’s resume is just as impressive, 1 Champions league title and 1 runner up medal in Europe’s biggest competition to go along with 3 Barclay’s Premier League winner’s medals, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cups, 1 Community Shield (the equivalent of the Spanish Super Cup) and the FIFA World Club Cup. Ronaldo did the double of claiming the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year for 2008 after finishing 2nd and 3rd in the two competitions respectively in the 2007 voting.

Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff has declared Ronaldo is better than Dennis Law and George Best who were two Manchester United legends, while Maradona has publicly declared Messi his heir and that the current Argentina team is Messi and 10 others. Perhaps the best person to compare the two would be somebody that has played on the same team with both players; Gerard Pique had this to say on the matter.

When asked “You have played with Cristiano Ronaldo and with Messi. Who's the best?” Pique replied “They're completely different. Cristiano uses a lot of step-overs and tricks to dribble a player while Messi gets passed three opponents with three touches. Leo is a lot more decisive and when he doesn't give that much show as Cristiano, that's just because he doesn't need it.”

My personal take on the matter is that some people are born to be the hero and some are born to play the villain. Messi has gotten standing ovations for Argentina playing against the Brazil national team in Brazil and for FC Barcelona playing against Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina. Ronaldo on the other hand was booed with every touch while playing in a friendly for Portugal against the Brazil national team in Brazil. He has also been booed by opposing fans at times during his Manchester United career and again while playing his first ever game for Real Madrid in their pre-season friendly against Shamrock Rovers. He has stated publicly that being booed doesn’t bother him and drives him to perform better.

In closing football fans are about to be treated to a clash of two of the best players in the world. My advice to everybody is to sit back relax and enjoy the rivalry of possibly the two best players of our time going head to head in La Liga against the same teams to determine who will be remembered as the greatest player of this era. Ronaldo has blistering pace, heading, free-kicks, long range shots, step-overs and tricks. Messi has uncanny ball control, deadly finishing, and the ability to ghost around defenders despite them knowing what he is about to do. We are about to witness greatness. Sit back relax and enjoy


Messi vs Ronaldo = Victory for fans


by barca4life

Thank You Samu - Remembering Eto'o at Barca

made by barca4life

Video of the day: Ballon d'Or 2009

video by barca4life

Preview : Osasuna

Venue : Camp Nou, Barcelona





This week kamikaze kontiki could not do the preview again so I will once again be filling in for him. Barcelona's last home game of the league season comes off today and what a season it has been. This article is a preview article but since most of the focus is towards the Champion's League final on Wednesday with several players already rested last week, I think it appropriate to take a small look back at what has been accomplished in the league this season before we look at the game.

What a Difference One year makes

It seems somewhat like a dream to be honest, it's hard to believe the position that Barcelona were in last year at this point. By this stage of the league last year Real Madrid had already been crowned La Liga Champions, Barcelona had just endured the humiliation of the pasillo and followed that up with an abysmal display being bent over by Madrid for a 4-1 demolition.

There was talk of the Barca dressing room being split into factions with a Ronaldinho faction, an Etoo faction and a Spanish faction. There was talk of black sheep in the Barcelona dressing room and accusations of heavy partying and faking of injuries. Sid Low a, Barcelona leaning, columnist for the Guardian of London described it in the following way in his post match article saying

"After giving Real a guard of honour, Barça followed up with a display so complete in its patheticness, so utterly gutless, that it summed up their season."

as well as

"It was Real Madrid versus Barcelona, the clásico, but it was all about the pasillo - the guard of honour that beaten Barcelona had to hand the newly-crowned champions. As the chant runs, it was time for "¡Barça, cabrón!" to "¡Saluda al campeón!"; for Barça, you bastards, to salute the champions."

and finally

"Worse still, it was a performance so complete in its patheticness, so utterly gutless, that it summed up Barça's season, "the final brick in our wailing wall" as El Mundo Deportivo put it, "the final stab in the supporters' back", according to a mourning Sport, whose front cover this morning is completely black and reads: "Tragic End: You have dishonoured the Barcelona shirt". "

Just a few short months on coach Frank Rijkaard removed and local club legend Josep Guardiola (up to that time manager of the B team for 1 season) installed. What a master-stroke that proved to be. Guardiola promised in a news conference to “to try to seduce my players because I believe in the power of the word,”. “They’ll have to learn that they’re not worth much alone, that talent and inspiration can only become great when they are at the service of the team.”.

In that vein Ronaldinho, Deco, Edmilson, Zambrotta, Thuram, Dos Santos, Ezquerro and Oleguer were sent on their way and Keita, Pique, Dani Alves, Hleb and Caceres were brought in.

Few could have predicted the turnaround that was about to occur. In their first pre-season friendly Barcelona demolished Scottish team Hibernian in a display that had Barcelona fans suddenly feeling surprisingly optimistic. Barcelona went on to demolish all opposition on their pre-season tours of Scotland, Italy and the United States scoring 25 goals in 5 games. Suddenly the fans were starting to become optimistic again even though the wins were against smaller opposition teams.

But one of the most telling games of the season would come up next and it would show the fight that Pep had instilled in this team. The Joan Gamper trophy is the traditional curtain raiser to the season that usually takes place between Barcelona and another "big team". Boca Juniors came to open the season and after a cagey game Boca took the lead in the 72nd minute. The good start to the season seemed to be slipping as memories of the previous season came back.


-Joan Gamper Trophy-

Desperately needing a goal just to equalize Barca kept pushing forward until in the 92nd minute (sound familiar?) up stepped Captain Carles Puyol planted a corner into the top corner of Boca's net to send the Barca fans into celebrations. The joy was not over yet as in the 95th minute Etoo nodded in a cross to send the Barca fans into raptures and give Barcelona the unlikeliest of victories. The team had shown its steely resolve which would be shown again to devastating effect on a cold London night later in the season.

Still, the season did not start in the most convincing of fashions. Barcelona hammered Wisla Krakow 4-0 in their first Champion's League qualifier, but when Guardiola decided to rest players for the return leg in Poland the weakened Barca team lost 1-0. That loss seemed to throw off the Barcelona team and they opened the season with a 1-0 away loss to Numancia and followed that up with a 1-1 draw at home to Racing Santander.

Suddenly the panic button had been hit, as Barcelona with 1 point from a possible 6 and no wins in the 3 games having scored just 1 goal in the process seemed to be haunted by the ghosts of the previous season. But as so often this season Pep and his boys got the result they needed when the pressure was at its greatest. Barcelona beat Sporting Lisbon of Portugal in their next Champion's League game and followed that up with a 6-1 humiliation of Sporting Gijon in front of Gijon's home fans.

The team was well and truly off and running and they never looked back. A small blip in January aside, the team has played fantasy football for most of the season scoring goals for fun and running opponents off the pitch. What a difference a year can really make.

Barca Play for the record books

Barcelona have nothing to play for again this season in the league except perhaps the record of the most goals in a season which stands at 107 set by Real Madrid in the 1989/1990 season (38 games). Barca currently have 104 so 4 goals in the next two games would make them the highest scorers in a single season ever in the history of La Liga. Another record that the team could still break is the most wins ever in a season which stands at 28 set in a 38 game season by Real Madrid in the 1987/1988 season.

The Blaugrana currently have 27 wins so victory in their next two could see them win the most games ever in a single season of La Liga. The final record that they can extend is the most points ever for a 38 game season with 3 points awarded for a victory. Real Madrid got to 92 points in the 1996/1997 season but they did it in a 42 game season. With two more wins Barca could tie the most points ever amassed in La Liga despite playing a full 4 matches fewer than that Real Madrid team.

Osasuna Play to survive

While Barcelona attempt to erase all records set in the modern era, Osasuna are desperately battling relegation and are currently in 17th place on 37 points tied on points with 18th placed Sporting Gijon and just 2 points clear of 19th placed Numancia. With Osasuna being just 1 point behind 16th placed Getafe and 3 points behind 15th placed Real Betis they are in the fight of their lives to stay up as any of the bottom 6 teams could go down.

Form

Barcelona have stumbled over the La Liga finish line not winning in their last two and just winning once in their last 4 games. They have not needed to win however and the last loss was played after the title had been decided already and players had been rested for the Champion's League Final

Last 5 La Liga games

Barcelona 4 - 0 Sevilla
Valencia 2 - 2 Barcelona
Real Madrid 2 - 6 Barcelona
Barcelona 3 - 3 Villareal
Mallorca 2 - 1 Barcelona

Osasuna meanwhile have not won in their last 6 La Liga games and are in abysmal form. Things get no easier for them as they have Barcelona at away next and Real Madrid at home for the final league game of the season. Their one consolation is that Barcelona will rest players for the Champion's League final and Real Madrid have nothing to play for but pride on the last day of the season. It will be a difficult task but their players will know it could have been worse if Real Madrid and Barcelona were still battling for the La Liga crown

Last 5 La Liga games

Osasuna 2 - 3 Malaga
Valladolid 0 - 0 Osasuna
Osasuna 1 - 2 Recreativo Huelva
Getafe 3 - 0 Osasuna
Osasuna 0 - 0 Sevilla

Tactics and Lineups

I wont attempt to predict either of these as this is not an ordinary game. It has already been reported that Valdes wont play in La Liga again this season and Messi has said he will be resting before the final. Etoo while chasing the Pichichi (named after famous Athletic Bilbao player Rafael Moreno "Pichichi", not pikachu the pokemon) should get some time off even if he does start the game in an attempt to regain his best form.

We should see some who have played less such as Bojan, Caceres, Hleb Sylvinho and Gudjohnsen get some more minutes in before the Champions's League final. We could see some more of youngsters Jeffren Oier and Xavi Torres who trained with the first team Friday. Also training with the first Friday team were Abraham, Botia, Gai Assulin and Marc Muniesa. Muniesa who was recently profiled on this blog as one of fast the rising stars of the Barcelona youth academy was mentioned by coach Pep Guardiola Friday.

Guardiola said

"Despite the fact that I know most of these players from last season, it is god to give them the step up to see how they cope at first team level against first division teams. Just look at what happened wit Sergi Busquets. Marc Muniesa? He is a young player who everyone speaks very highly of. He is a left-sided central defender that has come back from a serious injury and done well and is someone we have to nurture."

The Barcelona website has hinted that Muniesa could be set for a debut and you can see what Marc Muniesa looks like below


-Marc Muniesa-

You can also check out more of Barcelona's young stars that could be making the jump to the first team in the coming years here : Barcelona's Spanish U-17 Stars.

Conclusion

Barcelona are set to have their Camp Nou party with reports that "Musicians will perform before kickoff, and Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and captain Carles Puyol are scheduled to express their thanks to supporters by addressing the crowd after the game. The team will then make a lap of honour accompanied by a firework display, with fans giving Barcelona an enthusiastic send-off for the final in Rome." Osasuna still have something to play for but the Barcelona players that do play will be anxious to prove to Guardiola that they are in form in the event that substitutes are needed in the Champion's League final. Overall a celebration of a fantastic league season even though Guardiola has stated that the team will play to win you get the feel that this game will be more about avoiding injuries than crushing Osasuna.

Prediction Barcelona 3 Osasuna 2


barca4life

Barcelona's Spanish U-17 Stars

In the past 3 years the Spanish National under-17 team have won the UEFA Under-17 European Championship on two occasions. Those teams contained several players that are from the Barcelona youth setup. We will profile a few of these players in this article.

2007
The 2007 event saw the Spanish National team emerge with the title beating their English counterparts in the final. Barcelona prodigy Bojan Krkic got the only goal of the game in that final. The team contained several Barcelona youth team products including Bojan, Iago Falque, Fran Merida and Cristian Valle.

Bojan Krkic
Bojan was no stranger to the competition had taken part in the 2006 event as a 15 year old where he emerged as joint top scorer of the tournament with 5 goals including a hat-trick off the bench against hosts Luxembourg in a 7-1 demolition. He once again came off the bench in the third place game to great effect scoring against the Germans. The game went to penalties and Bojan proved his nerves of steel scoring what turned out to be the winning penalty in the penalty shootout that finished 3-2 in Spain's favour. German wunderkid Toni Kroos had the chance to extend the penalty shootout but missed the final penalty for the Germans.


- Bojan goal -

Having taken his team to 3rd place as a 15 year old the previous year Bojan returned the following year. He opened up his account in the final group stage scoring the lone goal in Spain's 1-0 win over Switzerland. As with great players however he saved his best for the big occasion. In the semi-final against a Belgian team that contained reported Barcelona target wunderkid Eden Hazard, Spain found themselves down to 10 men after key player Pichu was sent off. Things seemed to be going from bad to worst as Spain then conceded an own goal and looked to be going out of the competition.

But cometh the hour cometh the man as Bojan smacked home the equalizer for Spain with just 8 minutes left. The game stayed that way after extra time and went to penalties where Bojan converted his penalty as Spain advanced to the final 7-6 on penalties.On to the final where once again Bojan proved why he is one of the "Europe's brightest prospects" according to the UEFA website for the tournament. The report on the UEFA website describes Bojan's winner in the following way

"England nonetheless survived the first period and after the interval the breeze was behind them. However, eight minutes in, the man who scored twice against them in a 3-2 win for Spain in October, Bojan, did it again. Steele could only parry a Merida effort and Bojan was there to shoot in with aplomb past two despairing defenders to the delight of the sizable Spanish support."

The headlines stolen then "Bojan strike gives Spain title" and "Bojan strikes for Spanish success" adorn UEFA's official website as the Barcelona starlet wrote his name into the history of the European under-17 championships.


- Bojan winner vs England -


Iago Falque
Iago can possibly be considered as another one in a long list of talent from the Barcelona youth academy that got away. A left-sided winger with great promise Iago was once considered a player that could eventually play for the Barcelona first team. After doing well at youth level for Barcelona's Juvenil A team and helping Bojan to guide Spain's U-17 team to the 2007 European Crown with 2 goals, Iago was tipped to be promoted to Barcelona Atletic.

However new manager Luis Enrique had different ideas refusing to promote Iago and after strong interest from Manchester United, Ajax and Juventus he decided he wanted to leave. Realizing that they could lose another young Spanish talent for nothing, Barcelona made a desperate attempt to get Iago to stay by reportedly offering to promote the youngster after all. The player however had made up his mind and eventually Barcelona cancelled his contract so the youngster could leave for Juventus at the start of this season.

He would go on to say in a later interview that

"Luis Enrique told me from the start that he had a lot of people for my position. Later he said that he counted on me, but by that time I didn't want to continue anymore. I was already talking with other clubs and my mind had left the club."

He has played for Juventus B this season and is yet to make his Serie A debut.

- see a video of Iago below -



Francisco Merida
What is it about players whose names begin with Fran sneaking out of Barcelona. Merida joined Barcelona at age 8 and was touted as a future star. However as with another famous Fran, Francesc Fabregas, Barcelona would lose their man to the so called great developer of talent Arsene Wenger. The trouble all started when Merida who had signed a precontract agreement with Barca at age 14, stating that he would sign professional terms with Barcelona two years later, disappeared for several months.

Reports are that his agent Joseba Diaz hid Merida away and then snuck him to England without telling Barcelona anything (a similar situation was reported to have occurred with Manchester United's da Silva twins Rafael and Fabio who claimed recently that an Arsenal agent had asked them to leave for Arsenal without letting their club know but they refused and ended up joining Manchester United Instead).


- Merida -

Apparently Merida's parents had become uneasy with all of the young players joining Barcelona and decided that their son would have a better chance elsewhere. AC Milan, Real Madrid and Arsenal were all interested with Arsenal being his final destination. He was given Fabregas' old room according to reports.

Furious at having lost another central midfielder prodigy for nothing Barcelona sued Merida and won 3.2 million euro in compensation, a cost which Arsenal covered despite claiming no wrong-doing in the incident. Merida nevertheless helped Spain to the U-17 title in 2007 and has gone on to represent Spain at u-19 and u-21 level. He spent last season on loan with Real Sociedad and has made his league debut for Arsenal this season.


Cristian Valle
Valle did not make the cut for the Spanish squad for the final round of the 2007 European U-17 championships, but he did play a part in the earlier rounds playing against Switzerland, Poland and Sweden in the "Elite round" (the stage before the final group stage) of the European Championship. A left side defender by trade, Valle made the jump from Barca's Juvenil B squad to Barca's Juvenil A team this year and was part of the team that recently won the league and followed that up with Champions Cup. A possible player for the future if Valle can continue to improve, the left-back position has been a concern of late for Barca and in Valle they could find a replacement right under their noses

- See a video of Cristian Valle -



2008
The 2008 tournament proved to be more of the same for Spain as they claimed their 2nd straight European crown and once again Barcelona players had a key role to play. Players from Barcelona once again had a key role with Thiago Alcantara was the star this time scoring one goal in the final and setting another up, ending second joint top scorer in the competition. The Barcelona players that were selected this time were Martin Montoya, Oriol Romeu, Thiago Alcantara, Rueben Rochina, Alex Sanchez Benitez, Carles Planas and Adria Carmona.

Thiago Alcantara
Thiago Alcantara has been touted as a future Barcelona first team player for about 3 years now. Those who have seen him play have very high regard for the midfielder. Son of former Brazilian World Cup winner Mazinho (1994 world cup) born in Italy and groomed early on by Flamengo, Thiago joined Barcelona at the tender age of 13 and has since been touted as a future star.

His talent was easily recognisable and his father recently told Setanta that Chelsea offered him a move when he was 16 but he turned them down because he was happy with Barcelona. (He also mentioned his younger brother Rafa who is being followed by several teams as well but who also wants to stay)

He proved his class in the 2008 tournament against France in the group stage twice drawing Spain level in a 3-3 draw, with two free kicks. He then went on to convert a penalty in the final against the French once again in a 4-0 demolition. In the UEFA match report they describe his contribution to the final in the following way

"Keko was the inspiration behind the victory, producing a display which eclipsed even that of last year's final winner Bojan Krkić. He turned in Thiago's pass just after the half-hour and his ball set up Sergi early in the second period for Spain's second.

Thiago had outshone Keko prior to this final and got in on the act with a lovely shimmy, though Manu was denied by a tackle from fellow substitute Willy Boly, making his finals debut. Fauré was then adjudged to have tripped Sielva as he surged into the area and Thiago put away the first non shoot-out penalty of the finals."

Thiago one of the stars of the tournament has continued to work and he was recently rewarded with his first cap for the Blaugrana in the game against Mallorca and also has moved up to train with the Spain U-19 squad. Definitely a bright future ahead, Thiago is one to watch for in the near future.

- See a video of Thiago here -



Martin Montoya
Martin Montoya is another youngster that played a crucial role in Spain's Championship playing all of Spain's Final group stage games along with their semi-final and final clashes. A right back by trade Montoya's talent was recognized by the Barcelona coaching staff who called him up to the Barcelona B team pre-season friendly with Swansea. He started the season with Barca Juvenil A, but was called up to Barca Atletic for the game against Osasuna B earlier this season at the tender age of 17 after an injury to first choice Corcoles.

He was recently selected in the shortlist of right-backs for the Futbol Draft awards, the most prestigious Spanish awards for youth players between the ages of 16 and 21. He was also called up to the Spanish u-18 team for the clashes with the French u-18 team on May 19 and 21 along with other Barcelona players Thiago, Ruben Rochina, Alex Sanchez Benitez, Marc Bartra Aregall and former Barcelona youth player Daniel Pacheco who now plays for Liverpool. He has trained with the first team during an international match break along with other youth players such as Gai Assulin, Jonathan dos Santos (brother of Gio) and Polaco.

Carles Planas
Another promising left back to come out of the Barcelona youth setup is Carles Planas. Carles as he is known started the first game of the under-17 championships at left back and was subsequently dropped from the team for the next two games. A resilient player however he found his way back into the team in the semi-finals and finals and helped Spain to their second title in as many years. He has also been nominated for the Futbol Draft awards in the left-back category and although starting this year as captain of the Barcelona Juvenil B team.

His performances led him to play with the Juvenil A team and he even featured in the Juvenil A teams Champions cup final victory over Celta Vigo. Capping off a brilliant rise in 1 season he received a call to Luis Enrique's Barcelona B team earlier this season and filled in admirably in a 0-0 draw. He has also been capped for Spain at the under-19 level and having turned 18 this March and is definitely one to watch for the future.

- See a video of Martin Montoya and Carles Planas here -



Rueben Rochina
Rueben had a good under-17 tournament starting the semi final and coming on as a substitute in the final. His finest moment came on the group stage where he rescued Spain who were trailing the Republic of Ireland by 1 goal to nil. Coming off of the bench Rochina netted a double as Spain came back to win 3-1. The official UEFA website described his goals as follows

"Ireland were playing for pride and took an early lead through Conor Hourihane. But Rubén, filling the No9 shirt worn last year by FC Barcelona colleague Bojan Krkić, turned the game with two superb strikes and provided Keko with the clincher which ensured Spain finished above France on goal difference and set up a Tuesday semi-final with the Netherlands.

In the end seven minutes was all Rubén needed to open his tournament account, Keko jinking in the area and passing for the striker to beat Hanley with a left-footed shot.

Hanley stopped another Rubén effort but his second goal soon followed, a low-curling free-kick from the edge of the area worthy of any level of football. Ireland refused to be beaten and Hourihane smashed a drive on to the underside of the crossbar. The ball also fell nicely to substitute Robert Brady who shot over, but Spain had the last word, Rubén returning the favour for the first goal by setting up Keko to produce a neat finish, ensuring Spain avoid facing hosts Turkey in the last four."


- Rochina -

This display by the player who has been described as a "true killer in the box" came as no surprise to the Barca staff. Rueben came to Barcelona via Valencia in 2004. He was promoted through the ranks to the Juvenil B team last season where he scored 15 goals before December earning a promotion to Juvenil A. Rueben a left footer stands at 182 cm giving him an ability to win arial challenges, which is always a good thing for a centre forward. He has been called to the Barcelona Atletic team more than once this season and showed his worth scoring a double against Swansea in the pre-season friendly along with 2 league goals. He has been nominated for the Futbol Draft awards in the Centre Forward position along with Bojan.


Alejandro Sanchez Benitez
Alejandro Sanchez Benitez or Alex had a good tournament keeping 2 clean sheets in 4 games including a clean sheet in the final. Despite conceding 3 goals to the French in the opening round Alex bounced back to shut them out in the final. Currently with Barca's Juvenil B team Alex at age 18 has a bright future ahead of him and has been called up to the Spanish national u-18 squad to face the French in two friendly games in May.

Adria Carmona
Carmona played all of Spain's U-17 games and had a good tournament. A left winger Carmona has played for Barcelona Juvenil A this season and has drawn interest from Tottenham Hotspur along with other top clubs such as Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter and Juventus. He recently scored in the Juvenil A teams Champions Cup final victory and at just 17 he is definitely one to watch for the future.

























- Adria Carmona -


Oriol Romeu
Oriol Romeu is a defensive midfielder who has also been scouted by Europe's elite like Adria Carmona. He plays for the Juvenil A team but he has been called up by Barcelona Atletic already this season. He started the European under-17 semi final against Holland as well as Spain's first two games but did not play in the final and was not on the bench. Romeu also received a call up to Luis Enrique's Barcelona Atletic team this season filling in as a defender in a 0-0 draw with Denia and also against Santa Eulalia in a 1-0 win which showed his versatility. At age 17 Oriol is a player to watch in the coming years.


2009
After two years of brilliance Spain crashed out of the final group stage of this year's European Championships. They did not score a goal but on the other hand they conceded no goals either. Perhaps a look at the makeup of the team gives some idea as to why this happened. In previous years the teams were rich with attacking talent from the Barcelona youth academy. On this occasion however the 4 Barcelona players that were selected were all defenders, a coincidence then that no goals were conceded? Maybe. The Barca boys who did a great job in the defence were Marc Muniesa, Sergi Gomez, Adria Blanchart, Albert Dalmau.

Marc Muniesa
So impressive was Muniesa that UEFA named him one of the Ten Future stars from the 2009 U17 finals saying on the official UEFA webpage

"Much was made of the fact that defending champions Spain, despite the best efforts of midfielder Koke and striker Borja, did not score a goal during the tournament, but they did not concede a one either and that has a lot to do with the performances of centre-back Muniesa. The FC Barcelona youth team member - who already competes with players two years older than him - does not just resemble Carles Puyol in looks, displaying a calm presence in the heart of the defence. Left-footed and strong in the air, Spain coach Ginés Meléndez made a point of highlighting his contribution after he returned from a ten month injury lay-off."


- Muniesa -

Muniesa had long been tipped as rising star and Sport profiled him as one to watch from the time he was 15 and Chelsea reportedly being ready to make an approach for him. He has however stayed with Barcelona and progressed through the ranks to the Juvenil A team where he played this year. Muniesa was also nominated for the Futbol Draft awards for the centre back position and is highly rated by all who see him. Possibly a second coming of Carles Puyol, he even looks a little like Barca's "Captain Fantastic". HOT HOT HOT prospect. Remember the name folks this one looks like he could be the genuine article.

- See another video of Muniesa here -



The Others
Of the other three defenders from the Spanish National u-17 team Dalmau and Gomez started all of the final round games while Blanchart stayed on the bench for all 3 games in the final group stage. These three young players all play for the Juvenil B team and Dalmau who is a right back has been nominated for the Futbol Draft awards in that position. Blanchart is a central defender that joined Barcelona from Espanol and is highly rated by the staff with Francisco Javier Garcia Pimienta telling Sport that Blanchart "is a very difficult central defender to overcome, who is very good in the air..."

Sergi Gomez Sola is also a central defender for the Juvenil B team. He scored the winner against the United States u-17 team in a warm-up for the European Championships. In the dying minutes of the warm-up game played in Madrid on the 18th of February 2009, Sergi scored the winner with a shot through a crowd of players after a goal-mouth scramble from a corner.

See pictures of Sergi Gomez, Blanchart and Dalmau:






























- Sergi Gomez -

























- Adria Blanchart (right) with coach Garcia Pimienta (centre) and Ivan Balliu (left) -


























- Albert Dalmau (#2 bottom right) -




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