Victory at a cost

Benfica 0 - 2 Barcelona.

Here's the video, I hope you know Russian.

This was the definition of a trap game for Barcelona. Coming just days before El Classico, and while no titles are on the line, it is the last chance to look at the four candidates for the Balon D'or go head to head, as well as a chance (perhaps slightly prematurely) for Barcelona to take an insurmountable 11 point lead in La Liga, sealing the title in October, or at least knocking Madrid out of the running. No team has ever come back from more than 8 points to win the La Liga title, and the last team to do it was Rafa Benitez's Valencia side in 2004.

Barcelona sealed the 3 points with a 6th minute Sanchez goal, and a 56th minute strike from Cesc Fabregas, both of whom are in excellent form. In an attacking sense, Sanchez was brilliant, with a number of excellent chances, only to have his finishing let him down.

Unfortunately the game was marred by two separate instances. First came off a Barcelona corner in the second half as Carles Puyol, just coming off an injury flew through the air for the header and came down hard on his arm, separating his left elbow. When told of the diagnosis, he asked the physician if that meant he was out for Sundays Classico. He will not only miss the Classico, but recovery is expected to last 8 weeks. As the game wound down, a seemingly harmless 50/50 ball was challenged by Busquets and the referee deemed that his elbow was up and he made contact with the Benfica player, resulting in the softest straight red i've seen in a long time. Busquets was essentially penalized for being too tall, as he pulled his arm into his chest to protect his body from a collision. With a decimated back line with the loss of Puyol and Pique, the last thing Barcelona needs is a game without Busquets. He will not play the next CL game, which is at home against Celtic.

SUNDAY! íEl Classico! The eternal rivals clash once more, this time in the Camp Nou, with a chance to see the Blaugrana go 11 points ahead in the standings (with only 32 to play!). Unfortunately since I live in Wisconsin, instead of hearing the orgasmic play by play of Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen, I get to listen to the Packers game, called probably by Troy Aikman and Joe Buck. Can't wait for that.

 

 íAnims Puyol!

We've got Cesc Fabregas!

Sevilla 2 - Barcelona 3

Just can't play a game without controversy, can we? Once again, thanks to BeIN Sport not being on Time Warner, I watched the game via internet highlights and streamed commentary.

Without Pique and Puyol, Villanova was again forced to play Song and Mascherano at the back, and once again the defense was suspect and exploited by a good Sevilla side, who just two weeks ago beat Madrid. Sevillas first came in the 25th minutes when a cross deflected off Mascheranos boot and landed at the feet of Piotr Trochowski whose shot was given a very disappointing half hearted effort by Valdes. While an unfortunate bounce for Marscherano, Dani Alves HAS to do a better job of closing down. I'm not sure if he was screening Valdes, or if he was just being lazy, but it was a goal that could have had a better defensive effort behind it.

Sevillas second came after the break in the 53rd, when a poor Busquets pass turned it over in their own half, and allowed Negredo to cooly chip Valdes to put the Sanchez Pizjuan into full on rapture mode, 2 goals up against the undefeated league leaders, whom they haven't beaten in the last 5 attempts. Again, lazy defending from the defense, as Song didn't want to risk a red card and was quickly bumped off by Negredo on his was into the box. I can forgive Song, as he isn't a center-back (yet), and he isn't sure how much contact you can get away with in La Liga. Hopefully he will know now, that you can make more contact than that.

Five minutes after the Negredo goal, one Cesc Fabregas came through with his first goal since February for Barcelona, a 20 yard strike from the top of the box that beat Palop and lets FCB back into the game. Barcelona would need to show more than that to get points today though.

While watching the game updates online, this happened in the 72nd minute (courtesy of Goal.com),

'HANDBAGS AT THE SANCHEZ PIZJUAN!! A number of Sevilla players are surrounding the referee and it looks like Gary Medel has been sent off for the home side. Replays show the Sevilla man nudged his head into Fabregas' face off the ball, but the Barca man certainly made the most of it. Silly, silly behaviour from Medel. That is the last thing his side need as they look to hold on to what would be a huge three points against the side top of La Liga'

A spew of comments regarding acting, diving, making a meal out of it, etc, came flying out of the Sevilla camp.When reading the comments I had thought something like this had happened;

But instead this was the scene;

He didn't hit the ground grabbing at his face and writhing in pain, and his reaction is hardly overacting in your normal footy sense. Was there contact? Probably a touch, but I would hardly accuse Fabregas of being a deceitful, cheating, scumbag.

With Sevilla down to ten men, Barcelona would get themselves back into the game through none other than the Cule turned Gunner turned Cule. Fabregas scores his second of the match, in the 88th, saving a point for Barcelona! Again, not without controversy, as Tello appeared to make contact with the ball with his hand, but it was (rightfully) ruled incidental by the refs. The blame has to lay on Sevilla, as they were trying to bring the ball out of the back, surrounded by Barcelona players with only minutes left in the game. A wide clearance would have avoided the situation, but some nice buildup after the contact allowed Fabregas to finish from close range, Leo Messi with the assist.

With 4 minutes of injury time added, Barca would complete the come back through substitute David Villa. A give and go with Messi in the box sprung Villa free to finish from 6 yards.

Barcelona continues their perfect start, 6 games out of 6 and really puts the pressure on Madrid with EL CLASSICO! coming next Sunday. However, Barcelona must first travel to Portugal midweek for a Champions League encounter again Benfica.

¡Visca Blaugrana!

With so much drama in the LBC, it's kinda hard being the only FCB.

Barcelona 2 - Granada 0

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Promoted outfit comes to Nou Camp, Barca coast to an easy victory, it's all be written before. Maybe there is something in the world's water supply, but teammates are getting testy all over the world. It seems like Leo Messi and David Villa may be no different. It's not difficult to imagine some tension. David Villa, Spain's all time leading scorer who has made a career playing a center forward comes to Barca and now has to learn to play on the wing, because Messi is untouchable. Of course the Spanish sports media has a record of blowing things out of proportion, and it wasn't a bust up at all. It was a broken down play, and Messi felt Villa could have made the pass. Looking at the play, yes, he could have, but he was surrounded by 5 defenders, and wasn't a drop in the bucket pass.

It was a frustrating night over all for Barcelona, Granada did what all teams do, put 15 behind the ball, and waited for counter attacks, and there were a few nervy spots where Valdes had to come through. I'm not sure if Valdes gets too much credit for his role, or not enough. He is perfect for Barcas system. He can make a few absolutely incredible saves in a game, but if you really put him under pressure, he will make mistakes and cost them the game. It took nearly the full 90 minutes for Barca to crack the nut and it came from Xavi Hernandez.

Who apparently went Gangnam style. Barcelona put it away during injury time with a Messi cross into the box that was deflected in off a Granada defender to secure all three point and continue their perfect record in the league.

Alex Song has fit into the club nicely, here he is on the clubs invisible elliptical machine.

This weekend FCB have their first stern test of the regular season as the travel to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to take on 4th place Sevilla. Visca Barca!

Victory in Europe!

So i've spent the last 15 minutes looking for a picture for the FCB wacky, wavy, inflatable tube men that they fire up after goals to no avail. Instead, I will continue the theme of Barcelona players giving no fucks about gravity.

Europe has started! Spartak Moscow visited the Camp Nou midweek to begin the CL group stages. It was a slightly nervy affair to begin Tito's European career. Barcelona got off to a solid start with a beautiful Tello goal just 15' into the game. Central defense seems to be the constant thorn in the side of this Barca squad. Pique went down with an injury just before Tello's goal, forcing a CD pairing of Mascherano and Alex Song. Yipes. Spartak exposed the Barca defense forcing Dani Alves into giving up an own goal following a disastrous clearing in the box. However, Alves shows he certainly is in sync with his keeper, with their synchronized tumbles and recovery following the goal. Stuff worth watching the video for. Spartak grabbed the lead an hour in when Romulo finished a counter-attack off by slipping through the defense and slotting past Valdes in a goal given far too easy, and a goal you usually see Barcelona scoring, not giving up. With a 2-1 lead and Spartak happy to defend, it looked like Barcelona's long unbeaten European home run might come to an end. The last home loss was against Rubin Kazan, a 2-1 defeat in the CL group stage in 2009. With 20 minutes left if was the talisman to the rescue as Messi poked in a gimme after a nice cutting run by Tello. With a point in hand, Barca wanted all three to start the European campaign and in the 80th minute, Messi struck again, this time heading from close range to seal the win for FCB. Highlights! Not in English, not even in Spanish, but hey, it's in HD. Unai Emery, former Valencia coach and Spartak made a game of it, and the away fixture will be difficult, but we travel there before winter really settles in, so I expect at least a point from that fixture.

With a perfect record in the league and in Europe, I don't want to say there is a defensive 'crisis', but a back four of Adriano, Song, Mascherano, and Alves doesn't quite instill a lot of confidence. Abidal is still recovering from his liver transplant, and Puyol might be out until mid-October.  Piques injury appears to be a foot sprain and might keep him out for the next two league games as well as the trip to Benfica. Hopefully he will return before the Classico. Jordi Alba should be returning shortly to help on the wing. I expect Marc Bantra to get a look in the league game against Granada on Saturday, but Barcelona should already be looking at who is available during the winter window.

Barcelona host Granada this Saturday and look to keep their perfect domestic record in tact. Week 5 in La Liga has some good games on the docket, with Mallorca hosting Valencia, Malaga traveling to Athletic Bilbao, and Real Madrid still looking for their first away win at Rayo Vallecano. I can only hope their nightmare continues.

See you next time!

Liga de Campones. Oh, and Barca went to Madrid, and won!

Life has been hectic, and thanks to BeIN not being carried on Time Warner, my ability to watch Barcelona live has been difficult. Last weekend saw what could have been a tricky away fixture go Barca's way. Traveling to Getafe coming off an international break that saw Messi, Villa, and Dani Alves on the bench to start the game. An early Adriano strike gave Barca the lead going into the half, and they refused to let the Burger Kings into the game. Messi brought his invisible bike (which he now rides with no hands) and scored two off the bench, with Villa getting on the score sheet as well. A late own goal courtesy of Javier Mascherano gave Getafe a glimmer of hope, but it would not be their day in the Capitol.

Oh look, I can add videos too! Interactive Blog, ENGAGE!

Looking ahead, in La Liga, Barcelona will enjoy a spell of 10 days off as this weekend they do not play a league game, having drawn a Wednesday Champions League match against Spartak Moscow, set to kick off in a few short hours.

A quick look at the top and bottom of the La Liga table
1. Barcelona       12 pts  4-0-0
2. Malaga           10 pts  3-1-0
3. Mallorca         8 pts    2-2-0
4. Sevilla            8 pts    2-2-0
5. Ath. Madrid   7 pts     2-1-0
6. Rayo Vall.      7 pts     2-1-1

Where's Real Madrid? Surely I have forgotten the Blancos, no?

Oh, here they are.

12. Real Madrid   4 pts 1-1-2

I'll be back after a Barcelona win to kick off the 2012-2013 Champions League!

Victory!, and CL predictions.

Yes, as if he doesn't have everything in the world, Leo Messi has an invisible bike, and he rides it during league games. (also, even though it's super easy, i just learned how to put in pictures. chances are I will abuse this feature.)

I was on holiday this weekend, so I missed out on the Valencia match, but from all reports, and having watched Adriano's super strike, it was a deserved win for Barca. These 1-0 wins always make me nervous, more so when team strikes woodwork 2 or 3 times, and finds a counterattack leaves them with a single point. This was the same Los Che who gave Madrid fits, holding them to a draw, and they surely deserve better than their current 17th place standing, only 3 game into the season.

The 2012-2013 UEFA CL Draw has came and went. I wanted to wait until after the weekend, for the last deadline transfers to come through and then address the draw, rather than speculate on who might go where, case in point, Hulk, whom everyone believed was going to Chelsea, ends up in Zenit, who then stops their pursuit of MUFCs Nani, whom everyone assumed was headed to Zenit himself. So, onwards, to the draw and predictions.

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, Dinamo Zagreb.

Speaking of the Brazilian attacker, his shipping off to Zenit will most likely affect Porto's ability to get out of the group stage. Portuguese teams are very difficult at home, but you need points on the road to advance. PSG would be a massive disappointment if they did not go through, but in a fairly weak group I do not expect them to finish anywhere other than first. PSG and Kiev to advance.

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier.

Arsenal through, provided they can find the net, but even then they shouldn't have too difficult a time. I don't know if Schalke has the manpower for Europe anymore, and the Greeks can be tough to crack at home. Frogs are frogs. Arsenal and the Greeks to advance.

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga.

Deceptive group. With Zenit getting crazy on the last day of the transfer window, they sealed a place in the knock out rounds. Anderlecht will hopefully enjoy their short stay in the Champions League, leaving the top two places to be hotly contested. Milan seem to have gotten off to a fine start in Serie A, with a significant shake up in the starting XI, seeing Ibra leave, and bringing in the likes of Cassano, Bojan, and De Jong. It's crazy to pick against AC Milan, as they always over perform in the CL, so I will take them and Zenit, leaving big spending Malaga out.

Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund.

I guess this is the 'group of death', although i don't see anyone but Madrid and City going through. Dortmund offloaded Kagawa, and Ajax is a good club, but the Dutch domestic league is quite a ways away from Liga and the EPL.

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, FC Nordsjaelland.

This could be an interesting group, for whatever reason, nobody I know is high on Juve, despite their incredible year in Serie A last season. Di Matteo is off to a good start domestically, but this will be his first time managing a group stage along with the regular EPL schedule. Juve get stuck traveling to Donesk in December for their last group stage game. If they don't have their spot tied up by then, they could be in big trouble. Chelsea and Juve to advance.

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, BATE Borisov.

Poor suffering Valencia will be the story in this group. Early in La Liga they held Madrid to a draw and Barcelona to a single goal, but find themselves 17th in the table early on. Soldado is a fantastic striker, and I expect him to be near the top in group stage goals. Valencia should make up for their terrible group stage showing last year by making it to the knock out rounds. Should be Bayern and Valencia, no problem.

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic.

Poor Celtic. They finally make it to the group stage and draw Barcelona. The two clubs share some history, mostly Catholicism and the hatred of Protestants. Expect the crowds to be electric for these two games. Barcelona face another trip to Russia, although in early November, hopefully the temps won't be so cold as to affect the play. Barcelona clearly goes through, but the other three are a crapshoot. With the Russian domestic schedule, it will probably hurt Moscow more than help. As much as I want Celtic to advance, i see the sneaky shitbag cunt Portuguese getting through.

Group H: Manchester United, Braga, Galatasaray, CFR Cluj.

Oh look, Manchester United draws another group of death! For whatever reason, I like Cluj to nip a spot out of this group. United and the Romanians.

Barcelona are on international break, but are back against Getafe next weekend, before starting the CL campaign against Spartak Moscow. The Burger Kings beat Madrid early in the Liga season and may be solely responsible for Christina current bout of depression.

Andddddd moving on.

I don't think in the last 5 years i've ever described a Barcelona match as an unmitigated disaster. Of course, there is a first time for everything. In probably the worst 45 minutes i've ever watched them play, Barca gave away a trophy to Madrid, losing 2-1 in the second leg of the Spanish Supercup.

Now, not everything is doom and gloom, as once we get over the two goals given up and a red card in the first half hour, it actually became an entertaining match. The two goals were absolute fuck ups on the center pairing of Mascherano and Pique, the latter whom continues to insist he hasn't lost a step over the last year. They missed their Captain dearly today and Higuain and Ronaldo both put balls past Valdes. Ronaldo's goal in particular (his fifth straight in game against FCB) made Pique look the fool and Valdes simply ran out of miracle saves for the day. Once Adriano got shown off for dragging down Ronaldo as the last man, a defensive switch finally got the game under control, and as the clock ticked towards half time, Messi scores an absolute cracker from a free kick to tie the aggregate at 4-4. Even though the score would hold through the second half, and Madrid takes the cup on away goals rule, Barca put up a hell of a second half fight. They kept possession, made some great runs, and had a handful of excellent scoring opportunities. Iker Casillas once again was the whites savior, making incredible stops when Madrid should have put their foot on the throat and killed the game up a man, but credit Barcelona and a real turn around from Mascherano who did everything he could defensively to make up for his earlier mistake. While the trophy would be nice, Barca is off to a great start in the league, 5 points ahead of Madrid (with only 36 to play!) and they can be proud of the effort they put in when everything was going backwards for them. Naturally, commentators and message board posters want Pep back, and Pique sold, but that's garbage. Both Barcelona and Madrid's newest summer signings made debuts as Song and Modric came on within minutes of each other, and while Song will have to wait a little longer for his first trophy, Modric is celebrating a trophy tonight after 15 minutes on the job.

Moving on, tomorrow is the group stage draw of the Champions League! Every year I make a pathetic attempt at trying to guess the completely (or is it?!) random drawing of the teams. Here is what my magic 8 ball came up with this year.

Group A:
Milan (ITA)
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Paris Saint-Germaine (FRA)
Malaga (ESP)

Group B:
Chelsea (ENG)
Braga (POR)
Galatasaray (TUR)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)

Group C: (group of deathhhhhhhh, basically whoever gets Juventus will be considered group of death)
Bayern Munich (GER)
Manchester City (ENG)
Juventus (ITA)
Nordsjaelland (DEN)

Group D:
Barcelona (ESP)
Benfica (POR)
Anderlecht (BEL)
Celtic (SCO)

Group E:
Arsenal (ENG)
Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
Ajax (NED)
BATE Borisov (BLR)

Group F:
Real Madrid (ESP)
Shaktar Donesk (UKR)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Montpellier (FRA)

Group G:
Manchester United (ENG)
Valencia (ESP)
Lille (FRA)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

Another update before the weekend once the real draw occurs, and my thoughts on it.

Mes que un club!

A nervy road trip.

Barcelona came out 2-1 winners on the road against Osasuna over the weekend. Osasuna took a deserved lead in the 17th minute, and nearly held on if not for some controversial decisions that fell the way of Barcelona.

Osasuna really gave FCB all they could handle, an early score, and they held out until nearly the end until Messi put a brace into the net and secured a difficult 3 points.

Tito saw his first sending off, as he was shipped to the stands in the 73rd for protesting a call. Shortly thereafter Osuasuna saw Punal sentr off following the first Messi goal for protesting a offsides non- call. WIth Osasuna down to ten mes, Messi was able to bag the winner. During the match, Puyol fractures a cheekbone during a set piece, but is expected to be available during this evenings second leg of the supercopa de espana.

Looking to tonights match up with Madrid, there have been more stats then usual being thrown about. Some of my favorites include;

-If Barcelona wins, they will take the first lead in the head to head record in nearly 80 years.

-Mourinho's Madrid are off to his personal worst start to a season ever, and the worst start to a Madrid season since the 1970's.

-Mou has yet to win a Classico at the Bernabeu.

Heading into Madrid with a 3-2 advantage will be critical to getting Tito his first trophy in charge of FCB. Madrid clearly haven't been their best, so I am optimistic for a Barca win. Hopefully by the next update. Barca will have another trophy in the cabinet.

Visca Barca!

El Classico Supercopa de Espana!

It's like a drug. I just can't go very long without a Classico. Barcelona came out on top of this match, Tito's first Classico victory, and they take a 3-2 result (which coulda/shoulda/woulda been different) back to Madrid to try and win Villanova his first trophy as head man.

Despite only two-ish competitive matches this year, Barcelona look different under Tito, but the same. Still the tiki-taka, but they seem to have an edge now, they aren't afraid to run with the ball, especially the likes of Alexis and Tello. Last nights match saw a number of Barca shots from around 20-25 yards, a rarity under Peps watch. I think this year they will lose some of their ridiculous possession stats, but will find more shots, shots on target and possibly goals, if that's possible.

Iniesta was man of the match by miles. As a supporter of US Soccer I tweeted (@BarceJeremy4Gov) during the match that I wish just one USMNT player had the first touch of any of these guys (exception, Victor Valdes last night). It's almost not fair that Barcelona has two of the best dribblers on the planet in Iniesta and Messi, the best passer on the planet in Xavi, and an entire squad whose first touch never strays. Alas, I humbly submit that someone must like this team, so I will carry that burden.

The most interesting stat to come out of the latest Classico is that since 'The Only One' has been at the helm in Madrid, they have allowed 100 goals in 119 games. 25 of them scored by Barcelona.

Barcelona perhaps had a peek towards their match on Saturday, away to Osasuna, as the match wore down and Valdes made the sort of mistake I had hoped he was over with two years ago. A simple backpass during a counter attack got caught in his feet, Di Maria poked it away and with 5 minutes left, what could have been 4-1 became 3-2. It's the nature of the beast, and a moot point should Barcelona take the trophy next Wednesday, but a 1-0 Madrid score gives them the trophy and leaves us Barcelona fans already thinking what could have been. Granted we cannot expect Tito to win 15 some odd trophies in 4 years, or win 12 in a row the way Pep did, but this cup should have been wrapped up, and instead there will be 90 nerve racking minutes to play at the Bernabeu.

Puyol, who was pulled early in the Sociedad game, did not play at all in the Classico, hopefully it is not a health concern. Fabregas notched his 50th appearance for Barcelona last night, coming in as a sub. Pedro played his ass off, and got his hand stepped on hard enough to warrant a bandage, I suspect he will be given the weekend off and perhaps giving Tello or David Villa a start on the wing.

Visca Blaugrana! Onwards to Pamplona for Osasuna, who have had a good run of nearly 14 years in the top flight, and have seen improvement in the table each of the last 5 years, finishing 7th last season.

New beginnings.

Another season kicked off on Sunday, as Barcelona played host to Real Sociedad. It marked not only a new beginning of a La Liga season, but a number of changes in the club. There was minimal turnover this summer at the player level, as Seydou Keita, Kerrison, and Henrique left the club, but Barca made a splash in the transfer market, bringing in Jordi Alba from Valencia for $14M, and just today putting pen to paper for Alex Song ($19M), the next in a long line of Arsenal players who have come to the Camp Nou in recent years.While Alba has looked fantastic during the preseason and during the 5-1 opening win against RSO, I question the signing of Alex Song. His role is as a defensive midfielder, but he tends to get caught forward far too often, and Arsenal have allowed the most strikes of any top four EPL clubs for the last number of years. I'm not sure if he is meant to replace Keita, or the place of Mascherano who seems to be permanently set to play center back in a regular rotation with long time and more often injured Captain, Carles Puyol, and younger, although in having a bit of a career dip, Gerard Pique. In either case, it appears as if Song was specifically requested by new head coach Tito Vilanova, and is his first attempt to move out from under the long shadow of his predecessor.

The new man in charge, former Guardiola assistant, Tito Vilanova is the biggest change at the club this year. All reports of Vilanova point to the idea that he is even more of a tactician than Pep was, but isn't as experimental with rotations and shape as his predecessor. Tito's regular season debut was a smashing success, with Barcelona running over Real Sociedad 5-1 on Sunday evening. A thumping header by Captain Puyol opened the scoring less than 4 minutes into the game, and set off a flurry of goals with Sociedad equalizing before last seasons Pichichi and Balon D'or winner Leo Messi scored twice in 4 minutes to stretch the lead to 3-1. Long injured David Villa returned after a 8 month layoff, missing the Euros by finishing the scoring near the end of the game, with a fitting tribute to his fans after his goal.

This Barcelona has all the same parts as last years squad, but perhaps it's the sharpness of coming off a summer break, but this team looked deadly. The darting runs were fresh, the tiki-taka sharp, the one-twos turning into three-fours. Tello looks especially sharp on the wing, and is making an early argument for a starting position in a crowded field of forwards. If early indicators mean anything, this team should be the most enjoyable to watch in some time. When Pep walked away in May he felt that perhaps the team was stale, and needed a new spark. Vilanova seems to have provided that spark, but the first real test comes against Real Madrid on Thursday in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. Madrid looked out of sorts in their draw against Valencia, and will need to be much better to earn their first trophy of the season.

El Classico

I haven't been writing for a few reasons, one of which is that game recaps take awhile, and with two games a week, that's a lot of time i don't always have, so I wonder to myself 'where do i go with a blog'? Especially one about soccer. Do I expand to more teams and more leagues? But if nobody is all that interested in reading about FCB, what good will Roma and Derby County do. In any case, we'll move along, recap the last two weeks and look ahead.

3 games, 3 wins, Osasuna, Betis and Madrid. The win over Osasuna cost Barcelona their promising young defender Andreu Fontas for the remainder of the season with a torn knee ligament. He joins Ibrahim Affelay, David Villa and a rotating cast of characters in the stands. The 4-2 over Betis was a tough one, as Betis fought back from 2 goals down to tie at the Camp Nou, but Barcelona brought on their young star in the wings, one, Lionel Messi, and took the game over winning 4-2. I think they were looking ahead to another Classico, and while Iker Casillas says they are becoming watered down, i think if he had only lost one of the last nine rather than only winning one of the last nine, he would have a different opinion.

This edition of the Classico was really no different than may games, early pressure, Barcelona endures. While Ronaldo's goal in the 11th minute wasn't as quick as Benzema's 23 second goal in the last game, it none the less put Madrid up, and more importantly to Madrid, kept Ronaldo's head in the game. Past meetings have seen Barcelona freeze out the Portuguese winger, leaving him frustrated, and taking him mentally out of the game. Fans lamented at the inclusion of backup keeper Jose Pinto for this game, but it is the coach's decision to play Pinto in all Copa ties, he was good enough to blank Madrid for 116 minutes in last years final, he was good enough to start this night. While you could fault him for poor positioning, and letting it sneak between the wickets, remember that Valdes gave up a gift in the last game after less than half a minute.

As the half went on, it became clear that Barcelona would take control and it would be a matter of time before the goal came to even the score. Going into the half still down 1-0, this brave writer predicted a 1-2 Barcelona victory. Five minutes into the second half, Puyol raced past a lazy Pepe to head the ball past Casillas, and we were level. Using a combination of Pepe and Lass Diarra, Messi had a quiet day and was forced to track back nearly to midfield to get possession of the ball. In a move that i simply did not understand, Mourinho pulled Diarra for Mesuit Ozil, leaving Pepe, who was already on a yellow card from early in the first half to deal with Messi on his own. Messi thanked the Madrid coach by drawing about 5 defenders and chipping a pass to goal scoring machine (1 goal in 3 seasons) Eric Abidal, to calmly chested down, slipped past Casillas, turned 30 and signed a new contract. 1-2 Barcelona is how the game ended. No controversy, none of the sideline bruhahas that has thrown previous Classicos into disarray.

Well, until Pepe took lazy baby steps and stomped on Messi's hand. If there are three players that I absolutely despise on Madrid it's Pepe, Sergio Ramos, and everybody else except Iker Casillas. Pepe earned a yellow for a harsh challenge within the first 15 minutes of the match, could have earned a second for simulation after making a meal out of zero contact from Cesc Fabregas, and then should have gotten a red, a fat fine and a few weeks off for what he did to Messi. It was disgusting, deliberate, and needs to be addressed by the Spanish Federation. Pepe has a long history of violent attacks on other players, one resulting in a ten game ban in 2009.

This story isn't over yet, as the second leg is this Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if Pepe is in the starting lineup and the reception he receives from the Catalan faithful, and the games referees. Before Barcelona looks to advance to the Copa semi finals, they first take on 8th place Malaga. No smal feat, as Malaga is probably the third most talented team in Spain on paper, taking the Madrid route of attempting to purchase trophies. Unfortunately for all their talent, they do not find the back of the net often enough for success. I predict a 0-2 win on the road for Barcelona.

The hits keep coming.

Where has the week gone? Two Barcelona games, another injury, and the Classico is all of a sudden tomorrow afternoon. With a youth side dispatching Osasuna 2-1 in the second leg of Copa Del Ray, and a surprisingly difficult encounter with Real Betis who came back from 2 goals down before a 4-2 finish, Barcelona is now looking at two games against Real Madrid in the span of a week. I intend to make a longer post regarding all three games in the near future, but with all these games coming so quickly, i hardly have time to finish one game before the next begins.

Catalan Derby, Balon D'or, and transfers!

It's been a busy week for the blaugrana, and for myself, as i blog away on my near death bed, with the impending doom of 6 inches of snow around the corner.

Sunday brought the first Catalan derby of the year to the Cornelia El-Prat as 35,000 Espanyol fans packed the stadium in anticipation of their biggest fixture of the year. This was a derby unlike any that i have seen recently, the crowd was electric, screaming, spurning the periquitos on for all 90 minutes. This is a contrast from years past, as the arrival of the cross city club was always met with a bit more of a subdued atmosphere ever since the passing of former defender and captain Dani Jarque, and the subsequent homage paid to him by Andres Iniesta after scoring the winning (and only) goal in the 116th minute of the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup final. Since then Iniesta has been adopted as an honorary periquito of sorts, always given a standing ovation at the introductions, and never the target of the harsh whistles of the pro-Espanyol crowd. One person who has never been loved by the Espanyol crowd was Dani Alves, who was once again the subject of racist chants throughout the match, something that has disappointingly occurred on multiple occasions when the blaugrana visit.

I'm not going to give this subject too much time at the moment, but suffice to say it's a disgusting, and despicable act, making both the club, city and county all look archaic. Racism is still prevelant in football, and it happens all across the world, even the Barcelona ultras have been accused of throwing racial taunts at players, but at Espanyol it isn't a small group, it's a song that everyone in the stands knows and sings along too.

This time at the Cornelia El-Prat was different though. This crowd wasn't going to let Barcelona walk away with a victory, or allow Barca to set the tone, score early, take the crowd out of it, and coast to another league victory. One that it's difficult to say it needed so far from the leagues conclusion, but Madrid won their game, and had a 6 point lead at kickoff.

Like most catalan clashes, this game would be heated, and have a number of controversial moments that could have guided the game in either direction. With a gigantic banner reserved for Barcelona matches saying 'Catalunya es mes que un club' (Catalonia is more than one club) the whistle blew and the action began. Espanyol began the game as many Barca opponents have, pressing high, sending two and three players to hassle possession, but the difference here is that they would keep this pressure for more than 10 minutes, more than 30 minutes, but for extensive periods for the entire game they tackled, toe poked, shouldered and made Barcelona play physical, and it did it's job, upsetting the tempo of Barcelonas attack. The first five minutes saw two desperate and impressive saves by the Barcelona defenders as a well placed header by former Barca midfielder Joan Verdu was saved by a diving Victor Valdes only to fall back at his feet, and forcing Gerard Pique to clear the ball off the line. Momentum would swing back to the catalan giants and after a goal was disallowed for a handball, Cesc Fabregas scored his 14th of the season with a rifling header from near the top of the box. It was an impressive start from the champions, but the blanquiblaus wouldn't fall back into a defensive shell and the intense home crowd never felt out of it. Halftime came with a 1-0 lead to the visitors.

The second half action saw a near Messi goal in the last quarter hour but his close angle shot smacked off the woodwork. The last ten minutes of the game provided a fast and furious finish, and saw another Catalan derby end in controversy. In the 85th minute, Espanyol sub Alvaro latched on to a flicked cross and the El-Prat exploded as the home side tied the champions at 1-1. It was a gorgeous goal from Alvaro, and Espanyol deserved a share of the points to that point. In the closing moments Barca pressed forward, and were almost rewarded for their efforts when a Pique drive went off the post. The rebound fell to Pedro who looked to smack home a winner into an open net before Espanyol defender Raul Rodriguez deflected the shot with his arm. I jumped up from my couch, pointing at the television, my pointing fingers aimed at the spot and then quickly following the penalty spot off frame as the ball was cleared away. no whistle, no penalty, no card, no goal. Now, with all the success that Barca has it's slightly ridiculous to ever complain about being robbed of points, but this one hurts a little. I've noticed in game, especially the ones where Barca is ahead early, and are holding a 3 goal lead in the last 20 minutes that the fouls that are called in a 0-0 game are no longer being called in a 4-1 or even a 2-1 game. This was particularly the case in the first Barcelona/AC Milan group stage match, and AC Milan ended up with a late goal and stealing a draw. It was a clear handball in the box, and the ref was blind to it. If he would have blown the whistle and pointed for the kick, he might not have made it out of the stadium, but the call has to be made. I lean more to the cliche that you can't allow the refs to decide the game, but when the game is close, and there is an obvious penalty, it can't be let go on account of a hostile home crowd, or one teams domination of another. In either case, the game was exciting to watch, the hostile crowd was a distinct separation from the quiet atmosphere of Barca home games, despite the teams playing only miles away from one another, and the fans living together and working together in all aspects of life. It was a Catalan classic, and depending on the rest of the season could have serious ramifications in the title race.

After the disappointing result on Sunday, Monday evening in Zurich was a cause for celebration as Leo Messi collected his third consecutive Balon D'or award. Joining a handful of legends as three tie winners, and matching UEFA President Michel Platini as the only two three time consecutive winners. The final three for the award were Messi, Xavi, and Christiano Ronaldo. Only two men made it to Zurich as Ronaldo elected to stay with his Madrid team mates to train for their upcoming Copa Del Ray tie against Malaga. (Perhaps a good idea, as Madrid won 1-0, after a tight 3-2 victory in the first leg.) Despite everyone in the world knowing Ronaldo wasn't going to win, i still think it was classless that he spurned the ceremony at all. If you can find it, find last years awards ceremony where both Messi, Xavi and Ronaldo were on the stage, and watch the obvious disgust between the two Barcelona players and Ronaldo, as they inch away from one another throughout the presentation. Messi was the clear front runner, scoring 55 goals in 57 appearances for Barcelona leading them to numerous trophies last season including La Liga and the Champions League. He also contributed an incredible 35 assists over that span.

A last bit of news that literally came across as i was writing tonight. Brazilian defender Maxwell will be completing a transfer in the coming days to French side Paris Saint-Germaine. Maxwell came to Barca with Ibrahimovic and i always enjoyed his play. He has struggled for first team action this year behind both Eric Abidal Dani Alves, and Adriano who is the first choice off the bench. This was a quick and quiet transfer, but i wish Maxwell luck in France. He has won medals everywhere he goes and will no doubt be an asset as PSG looked towards a Ligue 1 title.

Next up for the blaugrana is the second leg of the Copa tie with Osasuna in which they lead 4-0 on aggregate. Should they avoid a historic comeback from their opponents, Barcelona will face Real Madrid in the next round, always an exciting time to look forward to another round of El Classico.

Back in Action Barcelona 4 - 0 Osasuna

Holiday break is over in Spain, and on Wednesday Barcelona picked up where they left off in Japan with a 4 - nil victory over the surprisingly successful Osasuna squad in Copa Del Rey action, who are currently sitting 5th in La Liga, after finishing the year mid table last season.

Pep started the match with a mixture of regulars and bench player, giving Pinto the start in goal as is custom in the Copa matches. There were rumors that Leo Messi was suffering from the flu so he began the game on the bench, but would make an appearance later in the match. With David Villa and Iniesta still recoving from injuries, Pedro was paired up top with Issac Cuenca, rumored to be a Manchester United target, and Fabregas.

The first ten minutes of the game seems now to be the new method of attacking Barcelona. Press high, squeeze the ball, force a turnover, and try and get ahead early. The entire plan is based upon disrupting the rhythm of Barcelona, but the pressure simply can't be sustained for long periods of time, eventually teams need to fall back and are forced to defend. Such was the case with this game.

The 15 minute mark opened the scoring with a Fabregas goal and a Xavi assist, By the 18th minute Cesc had a second goal and a yellow card to his credit. A busy few minutes for the Spaniard. Xavi also provided the assist on Cesc's second goal, a particularly gorgeous chipped effort. With the waves of pressure coming from Barca, it looked like this game was destined to look like the first league match up of the two teams this season, where Barcelona scored a season high 8 goals and blanked Osasuna. Osasuna's defending and goalkeeping were significantly improved this time around, and the teams went into the break 2-0.

The first 15 minutes of the second half saw continued Barcelona pressure, but no additional goals. With a return leg at Osasuna in the difficult confines of the Reyno de Navarre, Pep introduced a not-so-fluish Leo Messi at the hour mark. Less than 15 minutes later Messi found himself on the score sheet as he headed a Xavi cross home, reminding us all that he can score with literally every part of his body. In injury time, Messi wrapped up the game, and the tie with a 2nd goal, and Barcelona will travel next week to Osasuna watching closely the results of the second leg of the Real Madrid - Malaga tie to determine their opponents in the next round.

Coming out of the holiday Barcelona will have to hit the ground running as tomorrow they face their city rivals Espanyol, and then depending out the outcome of the Madrid - Malaga tie, we will have our first two Classico's in 2012 as Barcelona would ace Real Madrid in the round of 8. Unlike Barcelona's emphatic drubbing of Osasuna, Madrid struggled against Malaga, down 2-0 at the half to storm back and win the first leg 3-2 at the Bernabeu, which means perhaps a more difficult task than they would like to admit awaits them at La Rosaleda against Manuel Pelligrini and a talented Malaga side, who have been disappointing in league play thus far.


The coming week will be an exciting one for Barcelona, with a intense derby on Saturday and then the possibility of a two-leg tie with Madrid looming in the coming weeks.