PBP: 12/13 Copa del Rey Semifinal: Leg 1 | Real Madrid v FC Barcelona | 30 Jan 2013 [R]

In that competition, Europe's finest anyway.

Not sure I buy the "weaker" theory. Entering funky territory if we say this or that year the level was higher in a competition (Liga, World Cup, UEFA, CL, CA etc) than this or that year.

For example ManU. Their absence imo didn't make the round of 16 weaker, as there was a team who beat them in the group stage (Basel). Now, as a participant in the round of 16, is Basel tougher than ManU? Maybe not, but when Basel beat them, is it right to say the weaker team made it through while the better ManU did not? No.

Not saying it's this simple exactly, but: CL is a tourney that decides European club championship. In Group stage, best 32 clubs of Europe. From then on, every round cuts 50% of clubs away. The level in any stage of the competition any year? "The best Euro clubs can offer".

 

We could have a (very) long discussion about the merits of the Champions League. I mean for a start, FIFA in their wisdom filter out all the so called "weaker" teams (i.e. sides from countries who will not bring is as much revenue as Spain, England, Italy and Germany) and you don't have to be champions to play in the Champions League. I would argue that it is a lot otugher to win the Champions League in its current format, that it was when it was jst for champions, but the flip side is that it is a lot easier to qualify for it, meaning that you have more chance of winning it. Anyway, that's the last I will say on it.

I just saw a picture of Casillas' girlfriend on www.goal.com and I went all weak at the knees.

 

Official Barça social network. Anyone on this yet? What the hell is it?

http://www.fcbfeel.com/

 

Nah, not funky territory. For example, nobody believes the final 16 in the FA Cup are the finest teams in England. Every competition is different. Not saying CL is as random as the FA Cup, but it is still a cup competition and bizarre things can happen in the early rounds, especially when the strength of groups are unequal.

 

A couple comments on the lineup tomorrow:

- As mentioned earlier, the fullback position will be an interesting one. Before a couple weeks ago I would say Alba and Adriano should be in there. Recently though Alves has really improved and makes that decision harder. I think Alba is a definite. IMO he's been our most consistent back this season. So between Alves and Adriano I would give it to Alves based on Classico experience and his ability to piss of LPB

- I think this would be a good game to give Villa a start, too. As shown last week...MVP is back! Not only that, but by starting Villa we can push Iniesta back and have him as reinforcement in the midfield. The other forward I think is a given, which is Pedro. Just please not Alexis.

And now for the cliche task of predicting the lineup:

Villa--------Messi--------Pedro

--Iniesta---Busquets--Xavi

Alba---Puyol-----Pique---Alves

------------Pinto

 

This really screwy..

On bein it shows old Classico, b team playing, cdr preview...then old Barca vs Malaga game????

Then post cdr then 90 in 30 of the cdr game..

This is really annoying, everywhere else it shows the same.

Is bein not showing the semis???

 

I'd say Napoli, Benfica, and Marseille of last season were as good as Schalke, Shakhtar, and Porto are this year. Galatasaray, for all the big names they have, are about as good as Basel were last year, really.

Barca, Bayern, and United are stronger than they were last year this time around while Dortmund and Juventus have settled back into CL life well this season.

I'd say a big reason for the Champions League being a bit more clear-cut last season is because some of the stronger sides went out early or weren't in the competition, like Juventus and Atletico weren't. City, United, Shakhtar, and Porto all went out early and that's what made the competition seem a little more predictable than it might have been if some of those teams were there in the knockout stages.

It's going to be a real treat this year though, lots of excitement ahead!

 

I'm in the Champions League is stronger this year camp. I think it will be an exciting knockout round!

Cool, I just signed up. Pretty much half of my facebook usage is to follow Barcelona anyway

 

Don't look at your guide, go to beIN's website.

 

I like your lineup but think Roura will start Cesc and not start Villa so Iniesta moves up to LW and Cesc to L attacking midfielder. Villa may well get subbed on later, and I would not mind him starting either but if we go with our big game 1o plus Pinto I think that's it right now and Adriano is a harder omission than Villa on current form but Alves has 4 assists in the last 3 games and likely starts.

Squad: Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Adriano, Alba, Bartra, Mascherano, Xavi, Song, Busquets, Thiago, Cesc, Iniesta, Pedro, Alexis, Messi, and Villa (so Montoya, Cuenca, JDS, and Tello are all staying home / training in Barca even though not injured).

More interesting will be Madrid's starting 11 and whether they press high or not?

 

I really hope Villa gets playing time one way or another. But it probably would be better on the second half x Cesc when Madrid are gassed out to finish them.

Remember that in the first 15-20 minutes is when Madrid exert tremendous amounts of pressure on us. Cesc dropping down with Iniesta to help in midfield would be a good way to relieve that tension.

 

I wouldn't mind Cesc starting either to put more possession players on the field. Plus Villa coming on as an early sub could give us an edge in attack if need to go on the offensive late in the game.

I think LPB will take their gambles early on with pressure, but not maintain it for too long. If they were smart they wouldn't want to open themselves up too much and concede some away goals.

 

Seems like you and Gilmango are thinking the same thing. Cesc will definitely be an asset in the first half to fight off LPB's pressure....which I didn't think about. Either way like you said those first 15 minutes will be critical.

 

Well, we didnt fail to net against Chelsea, we scored twice and leading 2-1 and then we conceided 2 goals. Are you going to expect the team to score 4-5 goals at semifinal?

 

Actually, we were up 2-1 when Messi missed his PK. Chelsea equalized in garbage time (2-2).

 

A good pre game write up on TotalBarca wound up with this prediction for their starting 11 (our starting 11 was as I and others have predicted): Predicted XI: Lopez; Arbeloa, Albiol, Varane, Marcelo; Khedira, Alonso; Callejón, Özil, Ronaldo; Benzema

Sounds pretty plausible but I was not sure if Marcelo was ready to play yet.

Read more: http://www.totalbarca.com/2013/news/copa-del-rey-semi-final-match-preview-real-madrid-cf-vs-fc-barcelona/#ixzz2JR7l8qBp

 

Has TotalBarca ever predicted a Barca loss?

 

I read that Lopez is cup tied for this and so Adan will probably get the nod ahead for this match, if true.

 

To be fair, this thread was started well over a day before their thread

 

I have a feeling this will be a very tough and even match throughout. RM is playing quite well and their offense is starting to get quite hot. We need to play much better defensively and if we score, not to try and pass them to death. I'd like to see us keep going at them and try to win the leg in the first match.