Proper Football: Barca vs Real sat 9pm

KdjaCL

Few days to go till El Classic, both teams on mixed form ,barca were expected to win easily but last weeks results may have changed that opinion.

For all the PL goodness, Man U Arse pales into shadows compared to the best players in the world in front of 100,000. La Liga teams are like having 1 Duffers , every player on the pitch can beat you so rushing into tackles not a good idea

Possibles:
Starting XI
1. Víctor Valdés
4. Marquez, Rafael
5. Puyol, Carles
12. van Bronckhorst, Giovanni
23. Oleguer
6. Xavi
10. Ronaldinho
20. Deco, Anderson
32. Tamia, -
8. Giuly, Ludovic
9. Eto`o, Samuel
Substitutes
28. Ivan, Ruben
16. Silvinho
19. Navarro, Fernando
14. Gerard
24. Iniesta, Andres
30. Messi, -
7. Larsson, Henrik

Starting XI
1. Casillas, Iker
2. Míchel Salgado
3. Roberto Carlos
6. Ivan Helguera
19. Samuel, Walter
5. Zidane, Zinedine
10. Figo, Luis
14. Guti, Jose
23. Beckham, David
7. Raúl
9. Ronaldo
Substitutes
13. Cesar
15. Bravo, Raul
24. Mejia, Alvaro
27. Arbeloa, Alvaro
20. Celades, Albert
21. Solari, Santiago
11. Owen, Michael


:eek:

Not bad lineups.

kdjac

Big Nelly

Coverage Starts at 8.30 on Sky SPorts Xtra.....will be a classic......

Gangsta

it will not, last years EL CLASSIC was s***. Man U v Arsenal a few weeks ago was waaay better.

_blank_

Nah, this years eL Classic was Drogs 2 - 5 Shels.



I'll get me coat!

mr_angry

Gangsta wrote:

it will not, last years EL CLASSIC was s***. Man U v Arsenal a few weeks ago was waaay better.

Last year's wasn't a great scoreline, but the quality of football was excellent. Likewise, Real Madrid vs Valencia and Deportivo vs Barca (with Luque's incredible injury-time miss) were fantastic.

There probably isn't another game on the planet that will have the quality of passing and ball-control as this match.

Makaveli

Gerard is out.
Puyol is a slight doubt.
Beletti will hopefully be fit.

As for last weeks result, Barcelona nearly always lose away to Betis. 4 out of the last 5 they've lost there now so it was in no way a shock result. Real Madrid played Albacete who are crap. Anyway, forget about past results when it comes to this game.

David19

I can't wait for this game. Real are four points behind barca I think, so they could do with a win, especially after they're relatively poor start to the season. Barca can't lose this game because they're at home to real. I'd put my money on barca for this one.

ianomccabe

ive got iniesta's jersey that was issued to him for the game against celtic
just thought id share that!!!

Makaveli

Puyol, Belletti and Giuly have been included in the squad.
Hopefully they're all fit to play.
Puyol would be a major loss and it's good to see Belletti back. Damia has done a decent job filling in for Belletti when he was injured, but he lacks experience and I don't think he would be ready for a match like this.
Giuly is a great asset, lost his form after he picked up an injury a while back, but he's is slowly but surely regaining that form. Considering Roberto Carlos' tendancy to roam forward it could leave gaps that Giuly can exploit.

Confirmed sqaud:
Deco, Giuly, Valdés, Márquez, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Sylvinho, Belletti, Oleguer, Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Gio, Fernando Navarro, Larsson, Rubén, Messi and Damià.

eirebhoy

Hopefully Barca get a few short term injuries tonight coming up to Wedensday's CL game. Puyol, Xiavi, Ronnie and Larsson would do nicely.

KdjaCL

eirebhoy wrote:

Hopefully Barca get a few short term injuries tonight coming up to Wedensday's CL game. Puyol, Xiavi, Ronnie and Larsson would do nicely.

Their under 11s would still get 3 points of Celtic.

barca real is football , 22 gifted players and not a Neville in sight. How can it not be bad game

kdjac

A Dub in Glasgo

Looks like only one short term injury - Larsson

Barcelona are the business though, beat Real easily. Celtic will defend and hold out for a draw in midweek :eek:

A Dub in Glasgo

KdjaC wrote:

Their under 11s would still get 3 points of Celtic.

March 2004

Celtic 1 - 0 Barcelona
Barcelona 0 - 0 Celtic

Apparantly their full strength team. Barcelona will beat Celtic on Wednesday night though

barca real is football , 22 gifted players and not a Neville in sight. How can it not be bad game

kdjac

Real were terrible tonight, Barcelona were excellent.

mr_angry

Real hardly got a kick tonight. Barcelona were fantastic - first to every ball, great passing, took their goals well, and Ronaldinho was on hand to provide plenty of tricks when they needed it.

3-0 to Barcelona, for those who didn't see the game.

Makaveli

Legends!
That's how football should be played. A fantastic performance by Barcelona, well deserved victory. Real Madrid were crap, but they never got a chance to play Barcelona ran the midfield.
The inter-play between Ronaldinho and Deco was unreal at times.
Eto'o always up for it when playing against the club that didn't want him, and what a nice way to give him a goal. The perfect gift. Casillas must have been day dreaming.
Then the second goal, oh the passing movement was just spectacular. Granted the Madrid defenders didn't press much but the pass from Ronnie to Deco and then the little slide pass from Deco to Gio who showed alot of composure and slotted the ball under the keeper.
Raul was non-existent. Guti showed he's still a petulant little twat. Zidane and Ronaldo were just shells of themselves. Samuel showed his nasty side yet again kicking Damia in the closing minutes, I dunno how he got away with that.
Certainly a penalty, Eto'o was just to quick and skillful and got taken out by both Samuel and Guti. Ronnie with the peno to get a well deserved goal. Then they just kept the ball for the rest of the match. Xavi, once again a tireless worker in midfield, pulled all the strings. Does he ever give the ball away?
Puyol did very well for the little he had to do. The interception of the Beckham cross being the most notable. Oleguer did a great job against Figo, showed alot of composure and really played very well.
Considering 7 of the starting players were making their debut in this fixture compared to just one on the Madrid side it goes to show how well this side has gelled this season.
3-0 final score.
Viva Los Culés.
7 points clear.

eirebhoy wrote:

Hopefully Barca get a few short term injuries tonight coming up to Wedensday's CL game. Puyol, Xiavi, Ronnie and Larsson would do nicely.

Well looks like Larsson may be out now.
Looked bad in the first half when he was streterched off, but he played well until he felt pain again in the 2nd half and had to come off. Barcelona cant afford to have more players injured. Hopefully he's back soon, apparently it doesn't look to serious.

PiE

Well played Barca, wish I'd been able to watch it

Memnoch

arghghghgh!!! fffssfss I sooo wanted to go down to the pub to watch this match but stupid frigging girlfriend refused... and now I've missed a great game of football

KdjaCL

Good match shame Madrid never showed up, Barca roasted them and at times 5-0 didnt look impossible.

Ronaldinho is a god with ball at his feet, could make a whole video out of some of th **** he was pulling off last night. left Salgado (Reals best defender) for dead a good few times.

Dont think Larsson adds much to the Barca team Etoo can play the lone striker role perfectly with Ronnie and Xavi playing just off him.

kdjac

ianomccabe

ronaldinho gave one of the best first half performances ive ever seen. for him to try and pull of some of the skills he did in the highest profile match on the planet confirms that he is at the minute, the worlds best player.
Xavi was his usual self, protecting the back four along with marquez leaving deco and ronaldinho to link up with eto'o. A great advertisement for la liga and shows the gulf in class between that and some of the other so called "great" leagues. For technical ability, skill and flair nobody can touch them!

eirebhoy

KdjaC wrote:

Their under 11s would still get 3 points of Celtic.

I know there's very little chance of Celtic getting anything but I don't want to see a 10-0 pasting. Anyway, I'm just happy that Celtic managed to dominate the best team in the world ATM for around 20 or so minutes in September.

Raskolnikov

Proper football my ass. For a team that's valued in the hundreds of millions of Pounds, Real Madrid played like a bunch of school boys. Pit Barcelona against Chelsea, Arsenal or Man Utd and they wouldn't dominate the game like they did last night.

David19

Raskolnikov wrote:

Proper football my ass. For a team that's valued in the hundreds of millions of Pounds, Real Madrid played like a bunch of school boys. Pit Barcelona against Chelsea, Arsenal or Man Utd and they wouldn't dominate the game like they did last night.

While real were poor, it was partly due (if not totally) to barca's excellence. I think at the moment barcelona would easily beat any of the teams you mention especially arsenal and man utd. They are a different class at the moment. They should go on to take the league now. Its great that barca are back to their best The last few years have been terrible! Also ronaldinho is clearly the best player in the world. There shouldn't be any doubts now.

Harry2001

Raskolnikov wrote:

Proper football my ass. For a team that's valued in the hundreds of millions of Pounds, Real Madrid played like a bunch of school boys. Pit Barcelona against Chelsea, Arsenal or Man Utd and they wouldn't dominate the game like they did last night.

Agreed! hell of a lot of hype about this game Madrid were a joke and while Barcelona played some nice stuff and Ronaldinho is the best around at the moment Real’s total ineptitude made Barcelona look better than they are.

Comedy defending at times from Real!

A Dub in Glasgo

Harry2001 wrote:

Agreed! hell of a lot of hype about this game Madrid were a joke and while Barcelona played some nice stuff and Ronaldinho is the best around at the moment Real’s total ineptitude made Barcelona look better than they are.

Better than they are? Are you saying than Barcelona are an average team? They are 7 points ahead at the top in the Spanish league (which happens to be the best league in europe) and i would say very strong contenders for the Champions League.

Harry2001

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Better than they are? Are you saying than Barcelona are an average team? They are 7 points ahead at the top in the Spanish league (which happens to be the best league in europe) and i would say very strong contenders for the Champions League.

Not average no, they are a good side but I don't think the overall standard in Spain is as good as in previous seasons, same could be said of the champions league.

Makaveli

Raskolnikov wrote:

Proper football my ass. For a team that's valued in the hundreds of millions of Pounds, Real Madrid played like a bunch of school boys. Pit Barcelona against Chelsea, Arsenal or Man Utd and they wouldn't dominate the game like they did last night.

They totally dominated AC Milan in Camp Nou too, who I would rate ahead of Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd.
It's not like last night was an extraordinary performance from Barca, they pretty much play like that every week.

Gangsta

David19 wrote:

While real were poor, it was partly due (if not totally) to barca's excellence. I think at the moment barcelona would easily beat any of the teams you mention especially arsenal and man utd. They are a different class at the moment. They should go on to take the league now. Its great that barca are back to their best The last few years have been terrible! Also ronaldinho is clearly the best player in the world. There shouldn't be any doubts now.

granted that both teams forms are poor. on their day, Arsenal and Man Utd will beat any1.

faboulous match, barca are the best team in europe and if they dont win everythin this yr il be v.surprised. and yes, ronaldinho is the best player, not henry.

A Dub in Glasgo

Well done to Barcelona for extending the contract of Henrik Larsson despite his injury in the game

Larsson handed Barça boost
Tuesday, 23 November 2004

FC Barcelona have extended Henrik Larsson's contract until 2006, even though the Swedish striker is likely to miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

Contract clause
Larsson faces a six-month lay-off after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament and cartilage in his left knee during Saturday's Spanish league win against Real Madrid CF. This had meant he was unable to play 60 per cent of Barcelona's matches this season and qualify for a contract extension as stipulated in the one-year deal he signed last summer upon arrival from Celtic FC.

'Focus on recovering'
However, in an act of goodwill, Barcelona have decided to renew his contract by 12 months so that the 33-year-old can "focus on recovering without the added worry of contractual issues".

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=1/newsId=259948.html

eirebhoy

He said in his blog that he is considering packing it all in.

http://www.icons.com/HL/diary.html?23.11.04

icons.com is a great site btw, 100% official.