Sunday, the 26th of August 2012 | BARCELONA (CEST), 19:00 | LOS ANGELES (PDT), 10:00 | MONTREAL (EDT), 13:00 | LONDON (BST), 18:00 | MELBOURNE (EST), 3:00 (NEXT DAY) Convert to your local time Reyno de Navarra Pamplona Capacity: 19.800 Stadium Info | Google Street CA OSASUNA Founded in 1920, Osasuna first reached Segunda División in 1932. They made it to La Liga three seasons later.The club achieved their first ever UEFA Cup qualification in 1985–86 after finishing sixth, eventually reaching the third round in the 1990–91 edition. Finishing last in 1993–94, the side spent six years in the second level.After a stellar 2005–06 domestic campaign, Osasuna made history by finishing in fourth place - tied for best ever - synonymous with the chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in the following season through play-off matches. This achievement was made even more dramatic by the suspense that was maintained until the last day of the championship in which Osasuna and Sevilla FC were both vying for the fourth place. Both teams eventually ended the season with the same number of points but Osasuna got through due to their head-to-head record. However, Osasuna didn't make it to the Champions League group phase, as they were eliminated by Hamburger SV in the third qualifying round, leaving the Navarrese to vie in the UEFA Cup for the fifth time in their history. Sun 11/02/12 PRD Osasuna 3 - 2 Barcelona Thu 12/01/12 CDR Osasuna 1 - 2 Barcelona Wed 04/01/12 CDR Barcelona 4 - 0 Osasuna Sat 17/09/11 PRD Barcelona 8 - 0 Osasuna Sat 23/04/11 PRD Barcelona 2 - 0 OsasunaSat 04/12/10 PRD Osasuna 0 - 3 BarcelonaWed 24/03/10 PRD Barcelona 2 - 0 OsasunaSat 31/10/09 PRD Osasuna 1 - 1 Barcelona Muñiz Fernández First name: CésarLast name: Muñiz FernándezNationality: SpainDate of birth: 18 May 1970 (42 years old)Place of birth: Brussels (Belgium) The full squad to travel to Pamplona is: Valdés, PintoAlves, Piqué, Puyol, Jordi Alba, Mascherano, Adriano, Montoya, BartraXavi, Fàbregas, Song, Iniesta, SergioVilla, Alexis, Messi, Pedro and Tello. Tito will have to leave two players in the stands, with La Liga match squads limited to 18....Visca el Barça
Osasuna away fixtures can be very tricky. Like with more or less all the Liga matches, 3 points is the goal, but I for one won't be expecting a walkover. Anyway, we were great at home last season and poor away, and that needs to change - starting with this very match. Predicting 1-2 for us. Would like to see Song get a lot of minutes, maybe even start (as a CB).
Osa may have lost their opener on the road last week to Depor but at home they are a different story. They finished 7th last season and Barça does tend to struggle in Pamplona. In the Pep era the 2nd round liga match has netted one win, two draws, one loss. 2 - 2 away to Sociedad 0 - 2 home to Hercules 0 - 2 away to Getafe 1 - 1 home to Racing Not exactly typical Barça scorelines. I think a lot of that had to do with Pep using odd lineup rotations due to extra matches, international breaks, and trying to fit in newer players or implement different schemes. And already on twitter the feeling from Tito's words is that Song will surely figure in this match at this point. And this match is between two clásicos and the heavy hitters for us played in the 1st leg. This match against Osa won't be a cakewalk.
One of the top 5 most difficult away games we can play all season in this league. Find it interesting that our first two away games this season are at the only two grounds where we lost at last season in the league. Something to set straight and reassure that we are going to push for the title this year. Osasuna is a rough, physical team to play against and their fans will always try to make things difficult for the opponent. Playing in the summer heat in Pamplona isn't such a helpful thing either, but neither is playing on a frozen pitch. It is always a challenge to get a win there, no matter what time of the year you go there. We've only beaten them comfortably away from home once in the last six or seven years, when we won 0-3 right after that Clasico manita in November 2010. Probably fate that this game comes right after another Clasico win for us, but the focus needs to be on this and not the second leg on Wednesday. This is definetly a potential banana skin for us and if we're not sharp and concentrated, we will drop points. For the lineup, I'd like to see Alba start over Adriano this time and maybe include Puyol over Mascherano so he can improve his fitness ahead of the long battle. Perhaps we could even start Tello, Villa, or Cesc over Alexis here as well and put Pedro on the right wing where he can do some damage that he hasn't been able to cause on the left. A win here would put us five points above Real by the time their game starts away to Getafe so it would leave pressure on them to get a result so early into the season. We need to win this. Go with this, maybe; VV A - P - P - A X - B - I P - M - T
Lol I agree with many of your points but this format of line-up is just too abbreviated. XBI is an established thing, but otherwise um heh gotta just type more. I'd definitely play Alba, and would consider Cesc over Xavi. If we wanna use Xavi a bit more sparingly to not outburn him, might as well rest him ahead of el Clasico.
Our defense has been APPA for quite some time now. Maybe the leftback spot could cause a confusion, since both Alba and Adriano start with an 'A' but I already stated in the same post that I'd like to see Alba start so that should have made things easier. 'T' is Tello, obviously. Unless we have another player that can play at left wing and name starts with a 'T' that I don't know about. Xavi over Cesc, for me. Don't think Xavi will have too many issues with burnout this early, he's looking great so far at the start of this season. And with these kind of games, you need to play your best team and not rest anyone key.
Masch has lately played more than Puyi though. But yeah, of course the names are decodable from the single letters (T for Tello) but was just laughing the format (in good spirits, not critically). We are tough to beat this season with a squad like vpappaamsxbitctamvp etc. Xavi is looking great, true, but the season is two matches long. My thought with Cesc is that - after all - he is "starter quality" kinda player, and imo we should use him a lot. Osasuna is tough so we need to field a strong XI, but I think it's absurd that players like Cesc can't be used against Osasuna. If we can't use anyone outside best XI (which, btw, isn't that easy to define anyway) against Osasuna, then we're gonna the best xi A LOT. Besides, if we're supposed to use the best XI, then it should be Masch over Puyi as well (as Puyol is not fit enough at the moment AFAIK). But anyways I was just saying I'd consider Cesc over Xavi, not saying that we should definitely go for Cesc.
We can go with Cesc, I already mentioned that as an option, but I don't think he has to be starting over Xavi for this though. That was what I was trying to get at. I'd have Cesc start on Wednesday though so I'd rather go for Alexis/Tello/Villa here honestly since they're a tough side to break down and we need some directness from the front guys which those three provide while Cesc is more of a creator than anything.
I am surprised that you actually want us to win considering what you said about us when I wanted us to win
In the SuperCopa thread, no? Yeah - I never said anything about not wanting us to win. But misunderstandings happen that's that lol.
I think Cesc starts today. It doesn't make sense for him to not start on either Thursday or today, then start on Wednesday in Madrid. Plus, I can't see Xavi being healthy and not starting against Madrid on Wednesday. Xavi does need rest even if it's early in the year. Gotta be CF today. Of course, someone may have the official lineups, so it might already be out who is playing today.
Line-up Barcelona (official): Valdes - Alves Pique Puyol Alba - Cesc Busquets Iniesta - Alexis Messi Tello Bench: Pinto, Mascherano, Adriano, Song, Xavi, Pedro, Villa
damn I cant see the 1st half of the game cause they are still talking about man city and liverpool and I dont have the red button on Sky sports to switch to the Barca game Keep me informed until 2nd half boys
The jerseys are polarizing that's for sure. Sanchez and Alves are starting to make waves on the right hand side. We're not getting much time on the ball though.