Archive for the ‘Previews: La Liga’ Category
November 20th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Will our flag fly high in the cathedral come weekend?
After a week of dramatic Internationals and some English press’s bullshit, we are back in action this weekend with a trip to the Cathedral, one of the most intimidating atmospheres in Spain. If we go by recent history then it would tell us a different story with Barca winning around 7 out of the last 11 league games at San Mames. The most recent encounter being the Spanish Super Cup one where we prevailed 1-2 thanks to goals from Xavi and Pedro! Another statistic in favor of us is Pep 5-0 Caparros. Every time Guardiola came up against Caparros during his tenure at the club, he prevailed (5 times! 
)
However statistics do not accurately reflect the current state we are in, considering our injury ravaged squad. Ibra has been ruled out of the game with a thigh injury and so is Abidal who has swine flu in addition to the injury he picked up. Yaya has also been ruled out of the game this weekend and scientists from all over the world have been called up to diagnoze whether the Yaya has become human all of a sudden 
. But all’s not bad because Keita and Jeffren have been given the green light and will travel to San Mames. Johnathon Dos Santos, another breed of wonder kids from our youth academy will also travel to San Mames and hopefully we will get to see some of Johnny.
What: La Liga BBVA – Week 10. Barcelona vs. Mallorca
Where: Camp Nou
When: Saturday, 7th of November 2009. 19:00 GMT.
Brrr..
Preview
To thaw something, is the process whereby heat changes something from solid to a liquid. In our case, its the players’ joints that are being thawed after that long and freezing journey to the east of Europe. We should be ready and raring to go since our plane back was delayed and we had to cancel the scheduled training session that was to take place, meaning that we only had 2 training sessions to prepare for this match instead of the generous 3 we were supposed to have. THANKS RUBIN! It proves that they cannot only affect us on the European front, but on the domestic front as well. Let’s put our sorrows behind us and remember why we are here right now; that’s right.. Mallorca are visiting us and they look like the perfect side to flex our muscles against (does Zaragoza ring a bell?) Mallorca have been pretty impressive in the league so far, having been juggled between the 4th and 6th place from day one. They currently are 5th though and are looking as big contenders to the Europa League places.Their overall record so far is 5W-2D-2L (16GF, 9GA). Funny enough they are one of the three sides that haven’t lost or drawn at home this season in the league. Those other 2 sides are yours truly (Barcelona) and Real Madrid. They have won 5 out of 5 games at home, buuuut sadly though: Read the rest of this entry »
What: La Liga Week 8, Barcelona vs. Real Zaragoza.
Where: Camp Nou.
When: 25th of October, 2009. 20:00 GMT.
The Basilisk of Zaragoza
Preview:
For those of you who are returning from their busy week, looking forward to sitting down with a glass of beer in one hand and crackers in the other, don’t look forward to this match. Simply because Barcelona are in crisis. I mean common, don’t you read the newspapers and the tabloids? We drew a match against a strong opponent, we lost a match against another opponent. We’re first in La Liga as well as in our Champions League group. We have the best defense in the entire league having conceded only 3 goals. So we’re obviously in crisis, right? I mean compared to Villareal, we have such a long way to go to overcome this crisis . Moving on from the sarcasm, I am finding it very funny how we are being dubbed the team of 2007/2008 at this very early stage of the campaign.
What: La Liga Week 7, Valencia vs. Barcelona.
Where: El Mestalla
When: 17th of October, 2009. 20:00 GMT
The Beginning
In the beginning, nobody knew who Lionel Messi was. Everyone heard the story of the little Argentine who suffered from a growth hormone problem and was taken in by Barca, who in turn treated him and payed for his medication. Today, the world is mesmerized by our ArgyWargy who has scored in almost every single possible occasion for Barcelona. There’s this one occasion, though, that stands out from the rest. It’s not Barcelona’s 5000th goal, but Messi’s very first goal in the club colors. 5 years ago today, the 16th of October, Messi stepped onto the pitch as a substitute, wearing the no. 30 jersey, marking his club debut with Barcelona. His first league goal came on the 1st of May, 2005. With mere minutes to go, Messi received a pass from the once idolized Ronaldinho. He struck a left footed volley/chip which found its way to the back of the net, and that was that- Messi’s first goal in the Blaugrana colors. Who would’ve thought that 5 years from then, Messi would be racking up goal by goal, season in, season out. I know I didn’t because the day Messi was featured in Fifa, I said: “Who is that dude, and why is his overall so low!!?” Messi has reached a level in 5 years that no accomplished player could have, and just at the age of 22. He now boasts a rating of 90 on Fifa10 which I love to trick out from time to time. But thats just a game and this is the real world, which brings us to the topic in hand. Valencia vs. Barcelona, our first real test of the season? (Wasn’t it Inter?! Or Maybe Atleti :S)
Before we get into the details, please take the time to watch this video of Messi’s first every goal with Barca!
