Copa semis: Villarreal-Barca 1-3 (2-6 agg.)

[Vilarrubi]

Rakitic, in my opinion, should only be used to cover up Xavi or Iniesta and give more verticality to our game. I have difficulties in trying to figure out how he would do against teams that are very strong technically and tactically such as Bayern. Defensively , he is very solid but his technique is still an issue in my opinion.

lol what? He started in the 3 games against Atletico which we won and against City. He didn't start in Clasico and look what happened there...

 

[raki]

Rakitic is an absolute starter in midfield.

 

[DinhoR10]

Our best midfield is Iniesta-Busi-Rakitic and thats the midfield we should always use in big games if we don't wanna be run over and be stuck playing keep ball.

 

[Gasgas]

Forgot about the Neypenalty.

If we were any good at taking them then we wouldn't have to worry about either of the cups for the moment

We should have signed ourselves a Penaldo

 

[instinct]

We should have signed ourselves a Penaldo

Rodgers apparently doesn't want Balotelli anymore.

 

[NotInHere]

Have a very bad feeling about this, Villareal is at home for starters, and they have their backs against the wall, they have nothing to lose, they will come out guns blazing. Barca cannot afford to take this lightly or else they will regret, this Villareal is no push over.

 

[Kerrybai]

Have a very bad feeling about this, Villareal is at home for starters, and they have their backs against the wall, they have nothing to lose, they will come out guns blazing. Barca cannot afford to take this lightly or else they will regret, this Villareal is no push over.

Yeah they will go full pelt in attack and we can tear them up on the counter. The league game was tough because they were happy to sit back, tomorrow shouldn't be an issue, now if we just take our chances we will go through.

 

[Barcaman]

Have a very bad feeling about this, Villareal is at home for starters, and they have their backs against the wall, they have nothing to lose, they will come out guns blazing. Barca cannot afford to take this lightly or else they will regret, this Villareal is no push over.

Atleti came out guns blazing at Calderon.

 

[Flavia]

I wouldn't play Masch or Suarez, as they are one yc away from suspension.

MAtS - Alves Pique Mathieu Alba - Rakitic Busquets Iniesta - Pedro Messi Neymar would be my pick.

 

[Kerrybai]

I wouldn't play Masch or Suarez, as they are one yc away from suspension.

MAtS - Alves Pique Mathieu Alba - Rakitic Busquets Iniesta - Pedro Messi Neymar would be my pick.

I tend to agree but seeing Lucho take Suarez out on the weekend suggests he will start.

 

[vinni]

I think we will go through. My only fear is if villarreal go all out on us and we apply the counter-strategy. Then it fails.. Villarreal might run us over then.

In the second leg against Athletico it worked out nicely but i felt like we could have lost that match just as easily before we sealed the tie. The players seemed insecure and uncomfortable with just hitting the ball up the pitch. We dont look too comfortable either when we are playing defence. We are as allways much more comfortable with the ball. That unfamilliarity with counter-attacking coupled with our defence might just get us knocked out of the copa.

Anyway pretty sure we will go through. I just dont hope this tactic will come back to bite us at some point because of what i mentioned.

 

[Darko]

We don't just hit the ball up the pitch, against Bilbao we tried playing from the back but since they pressed us so high there was lots of space to exploit and we did so with long balls and backheels and passes into space. We played possesion football but we played safer and didn't commit as much men forward, and countered with quick transition when they lost the ball and the space was there to exploit.

 

[Bucky]

I have utter faith in the squad and a lot more confident & comfortable going into this game than I was before the Man City game, then now with the return fixture in a couple of weeks (as long as Man City play like that again, but if going by last seasons performance they kicked it up a notch at Camp Nou).

I cannot see them dominating the game or creating too many chances, just can't see Barça allowing that to happen. If we make silly mistakes like the cock up vs Malaga, the almost moment vs Levante, the mess up against City, then yeah we may well be punished. If however Ter Stegen is in goal I have more confidence as Bravo just doesn't have that awareness. He was trying to play like MAtS but not as effective.

 

[vinni]

We don't just hit the ball up the pitch, against Bilbao we tried playing from the back but since they pressed us so high there was lots of space to exploit and we did so with long balls and backheels and passes into space. We played possesion football but we played safer and didn't commit as much men forward, and countered with quick transition when they lost the ball and the space was there to exploit.

It was mostly a figure of speech. I was just trying to point out that we didnt seem so secure playing like this. I might be wrong though. It was just my impression after the match against Athletico Madrid.

 

[PhilS]

Villarreal has little choice but to play wide open. Sitting back and hoping to hold off Barca while scoring one on the counter will do them no good. Villarreal is a very good running team, on offense. I love watching their forwards do their stuff at full speed. Their problem is that no team can beat Barca playing wide open, let alone beat Barca by at least 2. You might score a goal or two, sure. But Barca is going to score bunches, like 3, 4, 5 or 6. You give MSN space to run, they will put on quite a show.