Place: Anoeta, Barcelona Barcelona 12-4-1, 40 PTS, 1st Place, (+29) Espanyol 4-6-7, 18 PTS, 14th Place, (-6) First game after holidays. I hope players rested well and will focus on the game. Last time we played Espanyol, we ended up 0-0 draw(thanks to Kameni). My prediction for this game is 2-0 with Eto'o scoring both goals. Visca el Barça!
This will be a tough derby guys, Espanyol have always played us tough in this city derby and they are coming off a 2-1 away win over a good Depor side. We really have to work harder and utilize our chances. Key players likely to miss this match for Espanyol, Kameni, thier Cameroonian flamboyant keeper and key midfielder Moises Hertado red carded versus Depor. However i think Kameni will be back for this derby, besides i doubt he has joined the Cameroon squad for the Nations cup. This game might as well be won in midfield, whoever controls the middle of the pack will take the day. I suspect Espanyol will play attacking football in their 4-4-2 since it is a derby, they usually want to match us man-to-man and play-by-play. we need to keep an eye on the midfield pairing of De la pena, thier main playmaking threat, Fredson, another good linkman, Ito and Eduardo Costa a good brazilian anchorman. Our defence will particularly be on guard against Tamudo and Luis Garcia, thier twin attack but i think if we can neutralize thier midfielders then we would have cut off the supply link and these two forwards will not get enough support. They also have a good defence, keep an eye on this guy, Albert Lopo very tough hard tackling stopper, 25 years and wanted by the likes of Arsenal, Aston villa, Everton, Bolton and Man United besides Real Madrid were also linked with him. Personally i think if he is out of contract at the end of this season, he would be a good addition as cover for Puyol and Rafa for us. At the end of the day if we play hard we will claim bragging rights, a 2-1 win for us is my prediction and good to have back Van Bommel.
Are they playing the derbi in San Sebastian? Looks like Marquez is out and possibly Santi as well. It should be a tight one actually. Barça should prevail, plus we have an extra day's rest from the Copa Del Rey.
Agreed. This time around Eto'o wants to make sure the pichichi title will be his (and the European Golden Boot, too), even with 4 or 5 Liga games missed when he goes to Egypt to play for Cameroon. So he will want to really pile up his goal tally and leave his competitors gasping. Good luck to those who aspire to catch him!
Which is on Paseo Olímpico. Lluis Companys is the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic. GolTV will show it at 4pm EST on Sat afternoon.
To bad Rafa is out, they might shift Oleguer to central-D and have Belletti man the right flank. As for Santi, i was surprised Frank praised his performance during the Zamora match especially given that he missed a couple of scoring chances. Not sure if he is injured for this derby.
I think Rijkaard wanted to encourage him. Fact is that Ezquerro dont play much so Rijkaard cant just criticize him. But if you look his performance one again you will find out that he played very well, just his finishing was poor. He was well placed in several occasions and he gave that great ball to Sylvinho for third goal. Santi didnt play bad, just his finishing was poor. But while we won this didnt count in the end
Are you talking about Márquez? How serious is this injury? Man this is bad news. I was really unimpressed with Oleguer at CB against Zamora. He's been doing well at RB, but I don't trust him in the middle. Maybe Rijkaard should use Edmílson in Márquez' place in the defense and Motta at DM..?
I was talking about Ezquerro. Marquez has something wrong with his leg. I don't think it's real serious. Rijkaard will probably put Edmilson in the middle with Puyol. Gabri and Van Bommel are also fit. Aside from the sure-fire starters (Puyol, Deco, Ronnie, Eto'o, Valdes), the other 6 are anyone's guess. We should be ok though.
Team for tomorrow match: Valdés, Jorquera, Gabri, Iniesta, Van Bommel, Sylvinho, Oleguer, Van Bronckhorst, Puyol, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Belletti, Giuly, Deco, Messi, Edmílson, Larsson, Motta. Marquez and Ezquerro arent in the team. Rafa is injured and Ezquerro rested.
Messi gets number 19 Leo Messi will be wearing a new shirt tonight, having worn the number 30 shirt so far this season he's now been handed the number 19 shirt. Curiously enough, Messi made his league debut for Barca last October in this same fixture.
this will be a tough game...Espanyol has given us a tough time as of late..I am confident of a win, but more of the close, hard fough 2-1 kind...nailbiter to the end.
according to eurosport (which means probably not 100% correct ) Starters 1 Victor Valdés 2 Juliano Belletti 23 Joan Oleguer 5 Carles Puyol 12 G. van Bronckhorst 24 Andrés Iniesta 20 A. De Souza "Deco" 15 J. Edmilson 19 Leo Messi 10 R. Ronaldinho 9 Samuel Eto'o Substitutes : 25 Albert Jorquera 17 Mark van Bommel 3 Thiago Motta 7 Henrik Larsson 8 Ludovic Giuly 18 G. García "Gabri" 14 S. Ezquerro
Starters: 13 C. Kameni 21 Daniel Jarque 4 Alberto Lopo 18 Didier Domi 19 P. Zabaleta 17 Juanfran Torres 9 Iván De la Peña 6 Eduardo Costa A. Álvarez "Ito" 10 L. García Fernández 23 Raúl Tamudo Substitutes : 24 Jonathan Soriano 20 Ferrán Corominas 15 Fredson Camara 1 Gorka Iraizoz 11 Jofre Mateu Armando Sá 5 M. Pochettino 25 Martín Posse
I am confident in Barca's lineup. As for Espanyol, hopefully Kameni doesn't think he has an S on his chest again. Ito, Tamudo, and De La Peña must be controlled.
Guandong PP Live CLICK ME UBC SuperSport PP Live CLICKME SIPTV Pcast CLICK ME Shanghai PP Live CLICK ME Shanghai PP Stream CLICK ME Shangdong PP Live CLICK ME CCTV 5 PP Live CLICK ME CCTV 5 PP Stream CLICK ME edit: none of these streams are showing the game.
Karmeni has been insanely inconsistent this season. Remeber the Osasuna game where he basically gifted them two goals. That said, he might be their hero tonight, he sure was last season in the Nou Camp.