A win at the end - that's the most important thing.

It's a good way to bounce back after the midweek loss to Arsenal.

The foul on Messi was as much a penalty as the foul by Busquests. But it's good we didn't allow that to affect the final result.

Pep's lack of trust in the new players is not good. We're going to need these guys at crucial times and now is the time to get them gelling into the team, one at a time. Play Masch today, play Afellay next game, play Adriano another game. Anyways, the objective for today was to win anyhow, but pep has to play these guys more.

Alves! What can I say? His contract must be renewed at any cost o! He is one of our most important players in attack (lol! for a defender!). But he's really vital sha,

Thank God, no midweek fixtures for a while, so the guys can get into a normal training routine & recover their full fitness.

2-1 final score.
All told a close game. Bilbao are always a testy proposition; they already took a goal-less draw away from the Camp Nou, and they were quite lively tonight.
I think our boys now begin to reliase they're not the Harlem Globetrotters . . . well, not yet anyway. Eventually, Messi had to find his A game and force the issue, and even Iniesta woke up in the second half. I have to commend Pinto, he looked rusty, but still showed enough confidence.

The back three experiment obviously didn't work. Masch didn't hold the ball up at all, and Busi is kind of dangerous as a last man, I have to say. He absolutely forgot he was playing in the box, and went in for the tackle.

I think the confidence will come back slowly. February is always a bad month during these Pep years. I remember in 2009, I watched live at the Camp Nou as Espanyol took three points off Barca. Last year it was a draw at Stuttgart, and a loss at the Vicente Calderon, against Athletico Madrid.

RuuDie:

Well. . . . we have just seen first hand what "a pushed to the wall" Barcelona can do, they raised their game - & how they did.

Messi, Messi, Messi. . . . .what can i say; the way he raised his game from nothing, am still trying to fathom. who says this Barca side do not have the mental strength.

Excellent stuff from Messi in the 2nd half.

If only we showed as much mental strength against Arsenal, of cous, that was an away tie in a hostile stadium , so the atmosphere was different.

Anyways, looks like Pep is working on that as the attitude was different in this match: our guys stepped up a gear when pushed.

And oh, I forgot to mention that Messi is now ahead of Ronaldo in the pichichi race. That should put some pressure on Ronaldo - he'll not try an assist in RM's next match & generally behave like a clown while trying to get back level with Messi

Talking bout RM, they go to Lyon midweek. I expect RM to overcome their lyon & round of 16 curse this season. Should be a relatively easy one for RM.

Stealthy:

Excellent stuff from Messi in the 2nd half.

If only we showed as much mental strength against Arsenal, of cous, that was an away tie in a hostile stadium , so the atmosphere was different.

Anyways, looks like Pep is working on that as the attitude was different in this match: our guys stepped up a gear when pushed.

Still not pleased with the team tonight. They practically spent the first half showboating, and only stepped things up when Bilbao started to come at them with 2 strikers. They'd better get their nose back in it before the CL reverse fixture. Arsenal will come to the Camp Nou to try and win. We'd better not assume that we always win at home.

Valdes out for 6weeks?

@aJANLEKOKO

Seriously, by now u shouldnt even be talking about the UECL . . .

U should be thinking, parying and fasting about Real Madrid. They have you where u dont want them to, forget CRON . . .the Pichichi isnt going to be his priority now, the priority is how they will wrest the La Liga from u, win the Copa DLRey and see how well they will fare in the UCL.

As it were, Arsenal will win u even in ur backyard, u wanna bet ?

with a roving, dynamic and flexible, fit NASRI on the field ?a dynamic, pacy and tricky Walcott . . ijaya aburo Ben Johnson  

with that boy Wilshere wanting to prove HE IS THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH FOOTBALL ?

with SONG shackling Messi again and not minding a 2nd yellow card just to advance to the next round if thats what it takes ?

with ur backline already in SHAMBLES (no Pique, even Biscuit sef go hear am)  Puyol sef no sure LOL

ur embodiment of luck - VALDEZ absent ?    

ABEG MAKE UNA FORGET THIS SEASONS' UCL JARE! we wont fault you for trying though  

Three piont in the bag! The recovery process is working. Pinto can really be trusted.

I think Pinto is a good goalkeeper. . . .confidence & composure he's got; & i can't emphasize more about his presence, height & reach which will come good when they meet "route-1" sides!

Barca were akward in defence because of the back-3 formation & Alves kept bombing forward, leaving a lot for Pique & Abidal to cover, made more so difficult by the fact that when Busquets & Masch tuck in to help, there was a bit of confusion about positioning - so the defending was sorta very narrow.

But i like the resilience Barca showed and it doesn't matter that it was a home game. . . .it was tense & nervy but yet they kept the cool & controlled possession. Nice to see Pep being a bit more versatile; changing the formation & trying different stuff - finally thinking like a footie manager

Close. . . Very close. I opined before the Arsenal game that Pep should play with 2 DMs to curtail Arsenal's fluidity but I was like we sacrifice Villa for an extra DM and play with Messi and Pedro up front. What suicide this would have been, seeing how Villa has been on a purple patch ever since; three goals in his last three games. It's good to see Pep show some tactical flexibility though.
I don't think we had gone through too much to down the lads morale so I love the way we responded after Bilbao levelled up.

This 2nd half of the season is going to be real tough. We still have Valencia,Villareal, Real Madrid, all away, then Espanyol at home.

Stealthy:

And oh, I forgot to mention that Messi is now ahead of Ronaldo in the pichichi race. That should put some pressure on Ronaldo - he'll not try an assist in RM's next match & generally behave like a clown while trying to get back level with Messi

Talking bout RM, they go to Lyon midweek. I expect RM to overcome their lyon & round of 16 curse this season. Should be a relatively easy one for RM.

Yeah, but according to Marca(the Pichichi organisers), CR is on 25 goals. They awarded him a controversial goal. It really sucks. Anyway, Messi is level.

First off, Im really impressed by Pintos performance. I think we have
nothing to worry about in the course of Valdes's absence. The composure
and confidence he put up was quite surprising and astonishing. I
pray he continues that way as we have 2 away (killer) games.


I must confess that Messi is truly our savior, that lad is super brilliant
and sensational. The way he dribbles in between players in small spaces
is breath taking, and  Abidal  also  has been wonderful. IMO he is
currently our best defender.

Finally, I agree that Dani V's contract must be extended.Most of our
recent goals comes from his flank, he has been absolutely incredible I must admit.

Anyways 3 points bagged. Lets look ahead to the next game against Mallorca
which to me seems to be one of our toughest away Match. Forget Valencia and
Madrid, Mallorca will give us the test of our lives if we are sure to secure 3 or 1 point
then we must be out there with motivation, determination and the winning spirit
to at least secure something meaningful away from home.

1 Luv yall.

NB: I think Pique sees Shakiras backside whenever he tries to defend. That dude is dropping form?Does
any1 share the same thought with me?

eyoniggar:

NB: I think Pique sees Shakiras backside whenever he tries to defend. That dude is dropping form?Does
any1 share the same thought with me?

If na you nko? Seriously, I think the absence of Puyol is the challenge he has. Most times he takes on the pressure of the defence, and with Alves not tracking back quickly enough, and him having to keep an eye on both central and right full back may be a bit challenging for him. Just like Van Persie, Llorente turned him easily.

@House,
Apparently, Alves is unavailable against Mallorca on suspension (5 yellows). So it will likely be an Adriano/Pique/Abidal/Maxwell selection. Not so bad, only we won't have too much of pressing on the right. Messi and Xavi can combine on that flank anyway.

I do not agree that pique is dropping form. He only looks tired and weak - indeed all the players! They had had some tiresome month. I hope this near-free week will give them that rest they so much desire and deserve. I also wish captain Puyol rejoins the team as soon as possible. His leadership and coordinational ability, is exceptional. Xavi should not be bothered with these responsibilites. He does well as a midfielder and midfielder alone.

On Barça i stand!

Good stuff from you guys: JP88, RuuDie, medjai, Ajannlekok, switch411 & eyoniggar

We have a lot of tricky fixtures over the next 6 weeks and with Valdes out, I hope Pinto can maintain a good form between the posts. he has performed vey well so far this season, so I'm not too worried.

The backline is more worrisome. Pique looks tired as already pointed out, but he can't be rested in any of the league matches since he will miss the UCL match. Abidal has been our best CB in recent times. Pep needs to try out Busquests in at least one more league match cos he might be the one to partner Abidal against Arsenal (if Puyol isn't back) - otherwise it'll be Muniesa/Fontas. I'll like to see Adriano play more cos we may also need him against Arsenal. Maxwell is ok for the league,

As I keep saying, Pep needs to try out the subs, one at a time in a full match. Our form shouldn't drop too much if we have 1 regular replaced by a sub to start the odd league match. Our over-dependence on the 1st team is not a good thing.

Stealthy:

The backline is more worrisome. Pique looks tired as already pointed out, but he can't be rested in any of the league matches since he will miss the UCL match. Abidal has been our best CB in recent times. Pep needs to try out Busquests in at least one more league match cos he might be the one to partner Abidal against Arsenal (if Puyol isn't back) - otherwise it'll be Muniesa/Fontas. I'll like to see Adriano play more cos we may also need him against Arsenal. Maxwell is ok for the league,

I doubt that will happen again, not during this spell.
There were two negatives from yesterday's game. Firstly, no Busquets to hold up the ball in the middle. Masch actually distorted the free flow of passes whenever he had the ball; he either gave it away easily, or released a late pass easily cut off by the Bilbao back line. He also didn't track back once he pushed up with the attacking midfielders, so the pressure easily fell back to the defence.
Busquets on the other hand is obviously not suited to play in central defence. While he can initiate the buildup, his defensive ability to either foul or win fouls is a bit of a danger if you have to defend the 18 yard box. See what happened yesterday; he lost the ball and went straight into the tacke - in the 18. Even a 50-50 ball in the 18 can cause a penalty.

We have to remember something, it's Barca's attacking threat that creates a problem for opposition. Our defensive capabilities pose no problems for the opposition. If they have space, they will attack and attack, and eventually get a goal. That's what happened with Arsenal.

We have two strong teams away in the next two league fixtures; Mallorca and Valencia. Mallorca is always a funny prospect away, and Valencia you know very well how that might just end. We have to be at our A game and blow them away.

This blasted February blues!

Tough matches awaits us but I think we will pull thru. . .Forza Barca!!

There is nothing wrong with Pep and the entire team.every team always has an extra motivation when they plays Barca.if a team lost to Barca everyone would says afterall you played against the best team on planet earth auguably though.however,if you are lucky to grab a point or defeat Barca the whole world will have another supper story to tells.Pep has really set a high standard for the team hence people will always look for slight mistakes to destructively critisize the good job and result the guy had acheived for just less than 3 seasons.IMO Barca is far better in terms of defence,tactical dicipline,consistency etc during pep era than frank era.we dropped 5 points in the beginning of the season and people says we are not going to win anything this season,we clear their doubt by winning 16 league games.our players knows how to react perfectly and they know what is expected of them.i am positive we will have a successfull season.

A friend's verdict

Barcelona struggles in the month February under Pep. . . .check history!

Is it too late to come and gloat on this thread?

I did not know it existed or I would have been here much earlier?#

How is Valdes yansh?

Still sore from the rogering?

ha ha ha ha

Gooners rule!

I am worried about Messi , is he facing some psychological or personal problems ? He came back into the game after bilbao equalized and Pique is weak , we need the return of Puyol as soon as possible or else , Arsenal will win us at camp nou .I am so very worriedm now yesterday's game almost gave me hypertension . It seems like keita has charmed guardiola with some Malian Juju , the guy is simply a Minus One , why play him ? The same substitution killed our game against arsenal because Villa was the only threat up front , Messi was marked out by that Ugly Song  , Barca should get a standing 9 and a good central defender or else we will lose everything we've been fighting for . Forza Barca

Vieira:

Is it too late to come and gloat on this thread?

I did not know it existed or I would have been here much earlier?#

How is Valdes yansh?

Still sore from the rogering?

ha ha ha ha

Gooners rule!

In as much as I doubt barca's qualification to the next round of the UCL , we're still your boss Ok ? So sharrap there and concentrate on your Carling and FA cup because those are the only two things you can win this season

HI guys, you guys are wonderful with your analysis, i have been busy all through since then i have been away from thread, i will soon rejoin you my great fellas.
forza Barca

@Eyo bro wats up

Do your thing @ scantee

Guys, una dey try, just watching from the standby, prefer to read great analysis from our new guys and the old ones of course, i'm enjoying it all.


Victory is ours (Barcelona i rep outside Naija)

guy come see soccer tonight real madrid more direct soccer-
we are gonna squash them tonight. you can also see the game in internet either on. just to google and type in tve1 en director that is spanish tv and they are live with it or go to roja director.
vive madrid vive ala madridddddddddddddddddddddddddd

SCANTEE I dey brother. mr stoolwest, u nor get ITV for ya house? Why are u recommending online
streaming for us??

@Eyo
noting do you.
@gravity long time bro.

Barca till i breath no more.

AjanleKoko:

I doubt that will happen again, not during this spell.
There were two negatives from yesterday's game. Firstly, no Busquets to hold up the ball in the middle. Masch actually distorted the free flow of passes whenever he had the ball; he either gave it away easily, or released a late pass easily cut off by the Bilbao back line. He also didn't track back once he pushed up with the attacking midfielders, so the pressure easily fell back to the defence.
Busquets on the other hand is obviously not suited to play in central defence. While he can initiate the buildup, his defensive ability to either foul or win fouls is a bit of a danger if you have to defend the 18 yard box. See what happened yesterday; he lost the ball and went straight into the tacke - in the 18. Even a 50-50 ball in the 18 can cause a penalty.

We have to remember something, it's Barca's attacking threat that creates a problem for opposition. Our defensive capabilities pose no problems for the opposition. If they have space, they will attack and attack, and eventually get a goal. That's what happened with Arsenal.

We have two strong teams away in the next two league fixtures; Mallorca and Valencia. Mallorca is always a funny prospect away, and Valencia you know very well how that might just end. We have to be at our A game and blow them away.

This blasted February blues!

If Puyol is not back by the Arsenal match, Pep may be forced to try Busquests as CB since Pique is suspended (boy, I miss Yaya Toure!). The other options will be Fontas/Muniesa or Milito. I'm not sure Pep will want to throw the youngsters into such a crucial match (if he plans to, then he'd better start playing them in league games). I also doubt that he will want Milito to partner Abidal in CB since most coaches don't like to use 2 lefties as CB.

All scenarios (including Busquests as CB) don't look good and we should all start to pray that Puyol comes back soon.

I mentioned in an earlier post that we have no more midweek matches before the Arsenal game. I made a mistake - the Valencia game is next week Wednesday. It's a really hectic schedule for us: away at Mallorca on Saturday, away at Valencia on Wednesday, home against Zaragoza on Saturday, then home against Arsenal on Tuesday, away to Sevilla on Sunday.

Xavi is out for 10days with a calf injury. He should be back hopefully in time to face Arsenal. Time for Afellay to show what he can do.

Against Mallorca, our line up will most likely be:

Pinto

Adriano - Pique - Abidal - Maxwell

Afellay - Busquests - Iniesta

Pedro - Messi - Villa

With Xavi's injury, our injury tolls has risen to four. I believe we 'll pull through. I hope Pep uses the formation suggested by Stealthy. Xavi will most probably miss Valencia's clash.

On barca i stand!

[size=14pt]Arsenal On Verge Of Agreeing Deal For Barcelona Prospect Jon Miquel Toral Harper - Report[/size]

Xavi out for ten days , chai !!! Mourinho Juju don dey catch us and the games ahead are very tight ones