Barca draws Man City

[ZenI]

Puyol at RB AND Song starting?

 

[Messi_Goal]

go watch the game with puyol at rb against ajax

 

[ThwiX]

Oh, and I hope Pellegrini will start Demichelis vs us because he is a complete joke, gets dribbled really easily, not Nastacic, who is a beast, especially with Kompany

lol at you if you think Messi was wasted on the wing vs Madrid and could have helped Barca to score more if he played a centre-striker. I'm not going to tell you every tactic aspect, but in general if Messi played the false 9 in that match, he would have been surrouned by 3 players minimum. That basically means that Messi wouldn't have had time and space to receive the ball between Madrid's defense and midfield. That is because Ancelotti put Ramos as a holding midfielder that game to stop Messi, but when Tata saw it he moved Leo to the right flank and told him to switch positions with Cesc, and that worked. Ramos was lost and clueless, not knowing what to do, that's why he started fouling everybody.

I don't agree. I hope Messi has told Tata that he won't play on the wing anymore after the Real Madrid match. We won, yeah, but something didn't feel right. Ancelotti's beyond bad tactics and the fact that Messi's qualities were wasted by instructing him to do too much defending and using him to create space for the rest of the team. This is an important and necessary role, of course, but Messi shouldn't be the one playing this role, he is simply too good for it.

 

[Messi_Goal]

If Song plays we will get knocked out he is not good enough,so slow on the ball and stops any sort of Rhythm

 

[ThwiX]

Puyol at RB? He was shit there against Ajax.

My lineup for the first leg:

Valdes
Alves-Bartra-Pique-Alba
Masch
Busquets-Xavi
Alexis-Messi-Neymar

Alves and Alba HAVE to be disciplined though. One has to stay back when the other is attacking. And I'm also not sure about returning Masch to CDM after so long. Maybe Song would be better.

Now that's the line-up I want to see. Bartra, and Messi being the false 9. No Messi on the wing BS.

 

[ceefoo]

Puyol has lost his pace and won't have good times vs Nasri/Silva, I tell you. I also doubt Song's ability to play a ball-winning midfielder, because he sucks even at it. Agreed on Sanchez, the guy is on fire and hopefully he can destroy Clichy.

That is the one position that I struggled with to be fair. I did consider Masch, but I don't remember him playing there before. Or possibly moving Bartra to RB, but he has been performing well at CB, so I didn't really want to switch him.

Puyol doesn't have the pace he used to, but he won't need it against Nasri, or Silva, who are not speed-merchants. Unlike Navas on the other flank, who Jordi Alba will have to contend with. Plus he'll have Alexis ahead of him helping him out.

 

[darthvader7888]

and they were one (Bendtner) kick away from knocking us out at Nou camp,

They had 0 chances besides that, while we dominated and had a shitload of chances.

a shit chelsea team in 2011 also beat us at Stamford bridge.

With an absolutely ridiculous amount of luck.

 

[ZenI]

Puyol at RB? He was shit there against Ajax.

My lineup for the first leg:

Valdes
Alves-Bartra-Pique-Alba
Masch
Busquets-Xavi
Alexis-Messi-Neymar

Alves and Alba HAVE to be disciplined though. One has to stay back when the other is attacking. And I'm also not sure about returning Masch to CDM after so long. Maybe Song would be better.

This I like, thought about it myself. We could of course also play iniesta or cesc insted of Xavi in this lineup.

 

[ceefoo]

go watch the game with puyol at rb against ajax

If your judging him on that game then you must also be suggesting we drop the entire team after that performance.

And HOW LONG had he been out for up until that game? Be Fair!

 

[pawanme10]

Away game:

VV
Alves-Pique-Bartra-Alba
Busquets-Masch-Fabregas
Alexis-Messi-Neymar

2-2

Home game:
VV
Alves-Pique-Masch-Alba
Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta
Alexis-Messi-Neymar

2-0

Through we go to the quarters.
This is what happens when you make the simple mistake of calculation, Mr. Pellegrini.
You face BARCA.

 

[te amo barca]

I remember Puyol actually owning Ronaldo on the right, even outpacing him, but that was 3 years ago. He is too old for that position.
I predict a 2-1 loss on Etihad, but a 4-1 victory at home, Messi hat-trick and Neymar one goal

 

[darthvader7888]

This I like, thought about it myself. We could of course also play iniesta or cesc insted of Xavi in this lineup.

True. We could try Busquets in a role similar to Xavi's.

 

[mazp]

I remember Puyol actually owning Ronaldo on the right, even outpacing him, but that was 3 years ago. He is too old for that position.
I predict a 2-1 loss on Etihad, but a 4-1 victory at home, Messi hat-trick and Neymar one goal

I prefer a win or draw, but if we had to lose I'd sign up for a 2-1 lose right now. And finish it at the Camp Nou.

 

[ivan_barca]

How you guys imagine Masche will play as a DF when he never had so far under Tata,and under Tito,and now for the most important game of the season they will put him in that role, and 2 of the best midfielders ever - Iniesta and Cesk will be benched..

 

[Meitux]

Mascherano has played like not even 10 games as DM for Barcelona? And there's a reason for that, he's not a type of player who can do the job that Busquets also does there. Mascherano can't spread the ball around easily in tight situations, he's only a destroyer in fact. I wouldn't risk it playing him in midfield after such a long time. It's a huge risk and for me it won't work in any way.