Preview: Villarreal - Barça
Saturday, 20 December 08, 11:43 AM · Comments (27)
Pep Guardiola has named 19 players for the game at Villarreal tomorrow (kick off 7pm local time) and there is no place for Rafa Marquez, who has complained of a muscle strain in his left thigh, or for Andres Iniesta who will have to wait until after christmas for his comeback. Gerard Piqué will probably come in for Marquez but the rest of the team is likely to be much the same as that which beat Real Madrid 2-0 last Saturday.
A win for Barça would mean a record seven consecutive away wins in the league and extend the run to eleven in all competitions. It would finish our excellent run of games against our closest rivals and leave us with a very handsome lead at the top of the table over christmas. However, Villareal have always been a difficult rival for Barça and we have only won three league matches out of nine visits to El Madrigal. Last season Villarreal beat us home and away and of the 18 league encounters between the two sides Villarreal have won eight, Barça only seven while there have been three draws.
Since Manuel Pelligrini took over as coach Villarreal have really become a force to be reckoned with, finishing third, seventh, fifth and second in the league in his four seasons in charge: quite a feat for a club of limited finances. For tomorrow's game they will be without defender Javi Venta who is injured and striker Joseba Llorente who is suspended after being sent off in last week's 1-0 defeat at Sevilla. Villarreal are currently fourth in the table on 29 points, nine behind Barça, and are going through a poor run of form, having only won one of their last eight games. However, they always seem to raise their game against Barça and I fear this will be no easy game. Pelligrini has named 18 players for the game but there is no place for ex-blaugrana Jose Edmilson who has been left out for tecnical reasons.
A win would be a fantastic result but right now I think I would be happy with a draw. We will have to hope that Leo Messi can recover his electric form after a couple of quiet games against Valencia and Madrid, and also that Samuel Eto'o can continue his fantastic run of scoring.
Villarreal's 18-man squad: Diego López, Viera, Angel, Capdevila, Fuentes, Gonzalo, Godín, Bruno, Senna, Eguren, Ibagaza, Cazorla, Pires, Cani, Matías Fernández, Nihat, Rossi, Guille Franco.
Barça's 19-man squad: Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Caceres, Sylvinho, Abidal, Toure, Busquets, Victor Sanchez, Xavi, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Hleb, Messi, Bojan, Eto'o, Henry.
Barça's possible starting XI: Valdés; Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal; Xavi, Toure, Keita; Messi, Eto'o, Henry.
My prediction: Villarreal 1 Barça 1
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27 Comments · Add yours
i would also have been happy with a draw but madrid just won so i would really like us to maintain the 12 points difference for the break otherwise, there's likely to be many ridiculous stories over the break of how madrid will catch up
prediction
villareal0-2barca
2-2 tough game small pitch
I am actually in spain for my Xmas break and I just finished watching the RM game with some serious RM fanatics and it seems as though everyone in the rest of this country is either anti-catalan or anti-basque: what a divided country. It really feels like 3 countries (Catalunya-the Basque country and the REST)...but I don´t care about all that...I love the football, the food is great aand chicks are pretty cool so...to hell with the politics.
Villareal 1 Barca 3
Forca
Anyway, I
villareal have always been a tough nut to crack for Barca..so I m not expecting an easy game at all...and besides, couple of draws here and there don't hurt at all...
Villareal 1 - 1 Barcelona
Winning this game would go a long way toward winning La Liga this season. Psychologically it would really affect all our rivals. If we take away maximum points from all of them and go into Christmas with a double digit lead (with the possible exception of Sevilla) it would be remarkable. The rest of the league would be quite worried about their ability to catch up - the season not even halfway over.
Further, our next 6 or 7 league games are all very winnable. If we keep a winning streak going through that, it will basically crush the teams below us.
The sooner we can consolidate our position in the league, the better. That way, when really important Champions League games are coming up we won't have to worry so much about the league.
If we lose this game the season will be much more of a battle. We could be up by as little as 5 points. The league would be very much up for grabs.
That being said, I think we'll pull this out. I see it being tough, though. Let's see, 4-0, 3-0, and 2-0...
I'll say 1-0. Our defense will win us the game.
Final round of the murderers' row and this is definitely the most difficult fixture out of all the four games. It will be tough for Barcelona but I hope they come away with a victory.
Just got back from my weekend holiday.
Barca 2 Villareal 0.
Would make my Christmas complete if we win
villareal tough club! only 2 defeat..me must win this game!!
This is probably the toughest of the 4 games. Their ground is small and have a vibrant crowd. I hope we do it.
Btw for those of you watching the Madrid game, did u notice how the players were getting the crowd physed? And they were responding. I have to say, they got right behind their team, and i hope in these good times we remember to do the same if things go bad.
Although Villarreal seem to have had the upper hand on Barça when playing at home but their defence is weak . Getafe , Valladolid and Aalborg BK have managed to score three goals each against them . Atletico Madrid scored four times. With Barça's record breaking scoring , something has to give . Let's hope Barça can break Villarreal's jinx and hit them for three or four goals !!
Villarreal 2 - 1 Barcelona
i think we shouldn't settle so easily or be too content with a draw. we're not halfway through the season and we're still competing in 3 competitions. it's better to do chalk up the points in the league right now and create a comfortable cushion of points between us and our nearest rival.
when the tough gets going with knockout stages in the champions league/copa del rey at least we know we can dedicate more attention to those matches next year.
villarreal will still be a tough team to beat despite having a poor defence against other teams. i really hope barcelona gets all 3 points, but i'm not expecting the prettiest of football to win.
plus it'd be amazing to have earned 12 points against sevilla, valencia, madrid and villarreal on the trot =)
all in all i feel we should win.
my prediction:
villarreal 2-- 3 barca
Line up confirmed - no Toure!
Valdés; Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal; Xavi, Busquets, Keita; Messi, Eto'o, Henry
ok now barcelona are begging to be the best!
Looks like Villarreal are going for a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Diego López; Ángel, Gonzalo, Godín, Capdevila; Senna, Eguren; Cani, Pires, Cazorla; Rossi
2-0 to Barca.
Henry wasted an easy chance with only the goalkeeper to beat. Haven't we seen this before ? If it was Messi instead, it would have been 1-0 !!
Barça's left side of Abidal, Keita and Henry is absolutely worthless crap !!
WOWOWOWOWW WHAT A GOAL BY HENRY!!!! THATS FOR ALL YOU HATERS! UP BARRRCCCCAAAA!!
Hey, FCB-Holland,
Good thing our "crap" left side just scored both the goals...
Caleb:
Just because Henry and Keita made contact with the ball in front of an empty goal does NOT make them better players. A good win nevertheless !!
FCB-Holland -
All I'm saying is we're winning and the left side is contributing. I'm not sure why some Barca fans insist on demeaning our players not only when we're struggling, but also when we're having perhaps our best La Liga season ever.
Caleb, there will always be people who does that, no matter how things go. I was absolutely blown away by this performance. It might not have been the best, but wow the fighting spirit was phenomenal.
Caleb:
I agree with you that we are having a great year so far . However, I can't wait for Iniesta to come back to fill in at left wing . I still think we need a quality left back !!
FCB-Holland:
Fair enough. I'm happy with Abidal, but I can understand where you're coming from.