PBP: J27 La Liga 12/13 | FC Barcelona v Deportivo La Coruna | 9 March 2013 [R]

Saturday, the 9th of March 2013

| BARCELONA (CEST), 20:00 | LOS ANGELES (PDT), 11:00 | MONTREAL (EDT), 14:00 | LONDON (BST), 19:00 | MELBOURNE (EST), 06:00 (NEXT DAY)

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Stadium

Camp Nou - Barcelona

Stadium Info

Head to Head

Sat 20/10/2012 PRD Deportivo 4 - 5 Barcelona

Mon 16/05/11 PRD Barcelona 0 - 0 Deportivo

Sun 09/01/11 PRD Deportivo 0 - 4 Barcelona

Thu 15/04/10 PRD Barcelona 3 - 0 Deportivo

Sun 06/12/09 PRD Deportivo 1 - 3 Barcelona

Sun 31/05/09 PRD Deportivo 1 - 1 Barcelona

Sun 18/01/09 PRD Barcelona 5 - 0 Deportivo

My Lineup:

Visca el Barça

Hopefully we dont conceided a goal, at all.

Seems like Messi's is training how to get pass this dirty tricks

I like that lineup you posted Azulgrana but think it shows Alexis too far up, if he plays centrally he'd play more of a false 9 messi role if he was there. That was actually where he really excelled his last season in Italy. Here's what Michael Cox (zonal marking) wrote about his 2010/11 season in Italy when he was Serie A player of the year: Alexis Sanchez, Udinese
Started the season playing poorly on the wing as Udinese lost their first four games – then became a top-class player when played in a new role as a trequartista. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/06/15/ms-european-team-of-the-season-2010-111/

Alternatively, let Cesc or Rafinha play that role or let Villa play centrally (different role).


I gotta say the many training photos of Song (including what Rattlehead posted above) that I have seen all make me believe that he really does fit in well, accepts his bench role, is a great squad player, and will ultimately prove to be a decent or better addition over time. I certainly hope so. But the reason we all hated (or came to hate) his signing was that he was seemingly signed in lieu of a CB. And frankly the club said as much. But that proved problematic to say the least given both limited experience there, positioning, and lack of burst/pace.

Big picture it is all about Tuesday so rest all who need rest, sub in those who might want a little taste of PT to stay razor sharp, save any new tactics (if Roura/ Tito on "skype" can even introduce same) for the game - don't tip our hand here (be it more long balls, long shots, pressing on D, or different starters or formations).

Very good point, Gil. I always thought after his performances in the second half of last season that Alexis seemed best playing in the center just in front of Messi. He scored against Leverkusen, Real (x2), and was one of our best players against Chelsea playing this way. He just isn't able to get the most out of his dribbling ability so far in Spain and his negatives outweigh his positives when he plays out wide, but he seems more of a threat when played through the middle and that's when you can see the real pace that he possesses. Indeed he was a trequartista at Udinese and impressed immensely there, I think we should try him out there for this game and if works, why not go for it again against Milan? We'll need goals and if he shows some positives here playing in the middle (if it even happens), then we should go for it.

Also agreed on Song. I feel bad for him too because he wasn't everyone's preferred signing and didn't fill what we really needed, but he is fighting for his place in the club and trying to fit in. To me he is a very good professional for that alone. If he can adapt here the way Keita and Yaya did, then he'll turn out to be good business.

i like that, other than starting alexis vs milan. what has he done to deserve starting in the most important game of the year? he barely even deserves to be on the bench.

maybe start pedro-alexis-tello against depor and then whoever sucks least between them gets to start vs. milan.

I like that starting line up against Milan, apart from the very obvious exception of Alexis. I'd go with Tello (i'd rather play with 10 men than have Sanchez in the side). But I like the idea of playing Masch in his natural position and it would give our defence extra support.

Starting Lineup:

Pinto

Alves Puyol Mascherano Adriano

Cesc Song Thiago

Alexis Villa Tello

Bench: Masip, Pique, Alba, Busquets, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi

Montoya, Abidal and Dos Santos don't make the final match squad and will watch the game from the stands #fcblive

good lineup with the milan game in mind. with a number of competing players auditioning for a starting spot vs milan:
i see two centre backs who are competing to lineup next to pique
two fullbacks competing to mirror alba
cesc and thiago competing to partner iniesta
and then the front three will be competing to partner messi

there should be a lot of hunger in this lineup with all of these starters having a point to prove

Yes, it is a very good lineup, I agree. The only bad thing about is Pedro not starting: that could mean he starts against Milan and as we've seen all season from him apart from in January, he adds nothing to our attack because he's left too wide and isn't able to make much of an impact that way. His forward runs are affected as a result.

Should be interesting to see how things unfold here, I'm especially interested in that attack to see how they cope.

yea, this probably does mean we start pedro vs milan, unless two of alexis/villa/tello really impress today.
in pedro's defence though, i also think pedro's effectiveness has been hurt by our lack of a real LW. pedro plays much better when we have someone stretching the defence on the other side as well. when he's the only one providing width in attack, he ends up finding less room inside and gets more isolated out wide. with another winger on the other side (as opposed to iniesta), pedro gets more room that allows him to drift inside more and he then poses more of a goal threat.

edit: i also wouldn't be too surprised if pedro and villa each get 45minutes this game

I am actually shocked that we put out this "weak" of a side. I agree with Azulgrana, Pedro not being in the lineup here, means he's almost certain to start against Milan which is not what I wanted. Hopefully he proves me wrong.

Where is Abidal?

I'm free for this option as well. If Pedro can prove everyone wrong and actually make a notable involvement against Milan, I wouldn't mind that one bit. Anything that can help us claw back the deficit.

evil, that would be interesting if Villa/Tello/Alexis are given 45 minutes today and then Pedro gets 45 as well, getting an equal amount of time to prove their case for a starting place on Tuesday.

That was such a fantastic Deportivo team...

Morning everyone.

Stream: http://www.rojadirecta.me/goto/ondastv.blogspot.com.es/

More on http://www.rojadirecta.me/

Let's go Barca!

Decent stream links appreciated. All the ones I've tried so far suck

Passing looking slack at the moment, but its still early minutes.

Decent stream:

http://www.rojadirecta.me/goto/vertigodv.blogspot.com.es/

nice shot by Alves

C'MON, CESC!

Cesc...

WTF not even on traget by Cesc