We need someone to play the old Keita role, come on late and help preserve victory in close games. Here I'd like to see Masch on for a forward. But maybe one of our mids could play that role too (again coming on possibly for a forward or the already out Iniesta).
Chill guys! Its a freakin' CdR first-leg match! No idea how some of you survive late-round CL matches or stressful situations in (*gasp*) real life if you lose all control of your bodily functions for this match. Shitting your pants because one guy from the Grand XI is rested for a first-leg CdR match! My goodness....
Barca coaches rarely make defensive subs, that is put more defender on just to keep things under control. It's like they think it's a crime having 5 defenders on. Haha Illara gets first card for Real in 93rd min [emoji23]
Hopefully there will be no reason to trot the newer photo out in 5 much less 10 years to show the squad which won at Anoeta. Only two of the same players in both photos, one in exactly the same spot, one just one spot over. 2007 (5 May): Front: Leo, Gio, Xavi, Andres, Carles Back: Ronaldinho, Zambrotta, Edmilson, Thuram, Valdes, Eto'o 2017 (19 January): Front: Leo, Neymar, Andres, Luis, Lucas Back: Roberto, Umtiti, Rakitic, Busquets, Pique, Jasper (I don't like spelling his last name). Andres subbed off in both games, hopefully Gomes will prove to be more useful than Eidur was! This time Andres felt pain in his calf and will be evaluated to see about availability on weekend (Eibar) and in return leg v. La Real (both at Camp Nou).
Iniesta will miss Eibar in 2 days, not clear if Rafinha will be available. I hope Denis or Turan starts in Iniesta's spot (no Gomes start), next to Rakitic and Busquets. Anoeta Falls Down (or Down goes Anoeta (and its curse)): The Exorcist:
Almost in the semifinal but could easily draw Atletico, celta, or Real in a tough semifinal before the final. Also just 1 away goal lead over Sociedad so if they score at our place first. . .
Hard to see them win because they'd need to attack in order to beat Barca. MSN would be able to do more damage.
MSN has been in scoresheet often since the beginning of this year, including yesterday. Cant be a bad sign.
So in between legs of the quarterfinals here are the current odds to win it all: Barca 1.1 (11/10) to merely advance 1/14 is best, whereas La Real is 20:1 Real 2.25 to merely advance 5/6 whereas Celta is just 10/11, so the short odds for Real are about winning it all Atletico 4.5 Celta 18 Alaves 40 La Real 100 Alc and Eib 1000 http://www.oddschecker.com/football/spain/copa-del-rey/winner
Well it is all in how you look at it, if I wager $100 on Barca and they win, yes I "get" $210 but that $210 includes my $100, so I am only up $110. Thus I express it in that manner, what is your "net gain" if you are correct? Also my way of expressing it is consistent with how the bookie sites present it. I simply reduce their fractions to a X:1 ratio. So Barca's best (longest, most favorable) odd was 11/10 so I convert that to X/1 and get 1.1. 1.1 is you net gain, your winnings, if you bet on Barca multiplied by what you bet. But again I see your point, if I actually pay my bookie up front $100, and he pays me $210, it does feel like I won $210. But really it is all about the gain to me. If I invest $1000 in a stock and the stock doubles to $2000, has it gained $2000 or 200%? No, it has gained $1000 or 100%.
I don't know if @Viscaelbarca is still jammed up but I will try to start a thread after my work day ends and kids are in bed if none is up by then for tomorrow's return leg. The big question is that we have two injured starters, both midfielders, and a third injured midfielder as well: Iniesta, Busquets, and Rafinha. But we still have one mostly still regular starter, Rakitic, who might be played out of position as DM but who should play no matter where. We also have far more depth this season having signed back Suarez and newly signed Gomes. We also have two defenders who could play in midfield, Roberto if we started Vidal at RB, or Masch at DM if we started Pique and Umtiti or Mathieu as CBs. So still lots of choices. I really liked Rakitic's play at DM when Busquets went out so I'd start with that. Then Denis gets one of the other spots, I'd say right side (Raki's usual spot), then I'd put Arda in at Iniesta's spot. While I think Denis plays a bit better on the left than right, I like the creativity Arda brings to the Ini position. No one really replaces Ini but Arda can take on players in a way we don't see other Barca mids (besides Ini) do. Gomes is not dead to me but he has been less impressive than the others; however, Lucho probably starts him, oh well. In D we could keep rotating, so after Eibar (Alba-Math-Umtiti-Roberto) that would mean Digne-Masch-Pique-Vidal here, but I don't think Lucho will rotate quite that much. Up front I don't expect anything but MSN till we hopefully get a couple goals and can sub on Paco.