FC Barcelona go into Saturday’s clash with Villarreal looking to build on the superb performance in the 6-1 thrashing of Celtic on Wednesday.
However the ‘Yellow Submarine’ also have a penchant for attractive football, currently sit fifth in La Liga and will be no pushovers at the Camp Nou.
Villarreal
Newly promoted Villarreal have a young talented side performing way ahead of expectations and is in a straight fight with Athletic Bilbao for the fourth Champions League place at the moment.
Villarreal traditionally do well at Camp Nou as well and have only lost six times in 13 outings since winning 3-1 there in their first season in La Primera back in 1998. They have twice gone back and repeated that feat since with 2-1 victories in 2000-01 and 2007-08, so history says the team from the ceramics town north of Valencia have a good chance of getting at least a point.
Villarreal will be more of a test than Celtic but could have their most important player missing. Ruben Gracia, professionally known as Cani, has an ankle injury that could see him miss the game and that can only be a good thing for Barca.
Cani signed for the club the summer after Villarreal came so close to beating Arsenal in a Champions League semi for a place in the final against Barcelona in 2005-06. Since then he has been a mainstay, making things tick in the centre of midfield, rarely misses a game and has to be one of the best current Spanish players to never get a chance at international level.
His absence would be key, but Barca will need to keep an eye on old boy Giovani Dos Santos, who finally appears to have found his perfect home at El Madrigal. The Mexican has seven goals this season and his technique and speed are the perfect attacking assets to his side’s quick passing play.
Gio’s current form and determination to hurt Barca will be a danger. The elder brother of current player Jonathan Dos Santos, he joined Barca at age of and made the first team in 2007-08 but was farmed out to Tottenham the summer after and played for a number of other teams before signing for Villarreal last summer. The quality was always there in his play, but now he is showing it on a regular basis.
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Rounding it off with a convincing victory over an above-average Villarreal side would be the icing on the cake; anything less and the storm clouds will gather once again. As always at Barcelona, there is little margin for error.
(espn.com)
However the ‘Yellow Submarine’ also have a penchant for attractive football, currently sit fifth in La Liga and will be no pushovers at the Camp Nou.
Villarreal
Newly promoted Villarreal have a young talented side performing way ahead of expectations and is in a straight fight with Athletic Bilbao for the fourth Champions League place at the moment.
Villarreal traditionally do well at Camp Nou as well and have only lost six times in 13 outings since winning 3-1 there in their first season in La Primera back in 1998. They have twice gone back and repeated that feat since with 2-1 victories in 2000-01 and 2007-08, so history says the team from the ceramics town north of Valencia have a good chance of getting at least a point.
Villarreal will be more of a test than Celtic but could have their most important player missing. Ruben Gracia, professionally known as Cani, has an ankle injury that could see him miss the game and that can only be a good thing for Barca.
Cani signed for the club the summer after Villarreal came so close to beating Arsenal in a Champions League semi for a place in the final against Barcelona in 2005-06. Since then he has been a mainstay, making things tick in the centre of midfield, rarely misses a game and has to be one of the best current Spanish players to never get a chance at international level.
His absence would be key, but Barca will need to keep an eye on old boy Giovani Dos Santos, who finally appears to have found his perfect home at El Madrigal. The Mexican has seven goals this season and his technique and speed are the perfect attacking assets to his side’s quick passing play.
Gio’s current form and determination to hurt Barca will be a danger. The elder brother of current player Jonathan Dos Santos, he joined Barca at age of and made the first team in 2007-08 but was farmed out to Tottenham the summer after and played for a number of other teams before signing for Villarreal last summer. The quality was always there in his play, but now he is showing it on a regular basis.
--------------------------------
Rounding it off with a convincing victory over an above-average Villarreal side would be the icing on the cake; anything less and the storm clouds will gather once again. As always at Barcelona, there is little margin for error.
(espn.com)
