Champions League preview: Schalke vs Barcelona, Tuesday 4 p.m. CT, ESPN Classic

Very average performance. Bojan was lively. First touch by Eto'o wasn't great. Henry was average but thanks for the assist. Xavi and Iniesta were better and Yaya was more reliable than at the weekend.
I am getting the feeling that we should give Abidal a "rest" at the weekend. The other defenders and Valdes were solid.
I miss Messi. He has the real spark that we still need. He is the real difference maker.
By the way, Man Utd looked like they will comfortably be waiting and right about now I'm hoping Ronaldo gets suspended or something

not a pretty win...we seem to lose some fizz after scoring...

If Schalke had better strikers then you would have lost that one and say Frank say goodbye to Catalonia. But they were very wasteful of the space you gave them, so you live to fight another day. Due Spain proud and beat ManU for the title!

Yep, this is killing me. Happens far too often.

we r gonna concede, if we keep playing defensively...

Sub Henry now!

Looking at that replay of the goal, keeper should of held that first shot by Henry. As always we score then just play keep away. Barca has to push forward after scoring.

Nice ball to nowhere Henry.

...

Barca 1-0 Schalke

halalalalalalalalala!

Tor für FC Barcelona durch Bojan!!!!

If things go as always Schalke equalize.

Goooooooal!

BOJAN!!!!!!!!!

ESPN is calling Schalke's lineup today a 5-2-3. That's a new one to me.

I like Bojan getting Champs league seasoning already. Let's go Boj and let's go Barca!

Im going to feel really dumb if we dont beat Schalke.

We all know how much Ronaldo loves to flop. Abidal will have to be very careful not to be clumsy. Especially near the box where Ronaldo can pick Valdes apart from free kicks.

Isaiah, why does this blog have such a screwy time on the posts. Is it located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? It's noon my time, but the post registers at 10am? Last time I checked California was only an hour behind me, maybe it's set on Alaska's time. Just wondering?

Ballbeav and Xavi...you gotta love that devotion and optimism! Now optimism is one thing, previewing Man U. is quite another, way too jinxing. I guess I'm too superstitious to think that far ahead. I'll focus on the game at hand, thank you. You know...take it one day at a time. Maybe cautious is a better word for it. Kxevin, sorry you have to work and to anyone else with their nose to the grindstone today. I'll be watching, but thanks to Kxevin and Jay's Man U. forcast I'd better pull out the lucky underwear for this one! hehehe!

I'm going with 1-1. We can't expect too much in an away leg. Of course I would *love* to see us bag 3 and allow zero, but that's not likely to happen, so I'll keep my expectations in check this time around.

If we return to Spain tied, we'll be in a good position, if not quite a fantastic one.

I also will be laying low during this game because I watch the replays on ESPN Classic at 5pm here in NY -- though today I'll miss the first few minutes thanks to a meeting that doesn't get out until 5pm. Thank God I live 15 minutes away.

3-0 Barca. xavi gets one of those.

dare to dream.

Oh, and as usual, I'll be laying low once the match starts. The DVR will be rolling at home, and I'll watch after my loooong day at work today.

Jay, I'm not as worried about Man U as I am a letdown at Camp Nou against Schalke. Man U's strengths (pardon me for looking ahead) play to ours. Abidal can control Ronaldo, that up the middle stuff to Rooney just ain't gonna happen with Yaya, Milito and Puyol in the house. We'll also have Marquez back, which will help a lot. Man U have lost to teams who are aggressive in the box, with strong midfields that negate them being able to play with the ball. That's us.

United thrive on ball control, but who plays better ball control than we do, when we come out to play?

They do have exceptional team speed, so the counterattack will be a worry. The wild card will be Tevez. If he's on, I'm worried. They're going to have their hands full with Roma, though. That isn't the same side that rolled over at Old Trafford last season, as the Evil Empire found out.

And we should have Messi back for at least one match of the semi-finals. He's on schedule to come back early.

Isn't C ronaldo the best person to replace ronaldinho?

Superstition all day, Jenny. But I'm thinking that today will be 1-0, good guys. Goal for Henry, who should thrive in the defense that Schalke plays. And Schalke has had great difficulties in scoring goals, not only in Champions League but in Bundesliga, as well (I have to watch something on weekends while waiting for our matches to come on). I think that we'll be tight today, shape and formation-wise, and that will keep the score down. I expect that you'll see Iniesta, Krkic, Henry and Eto'o moving up and attacking, along with Xavi, and a more reserved role for everyone else. It worked great that first half against Betis, then they started moving around and look what happened.

Kuranyi will be dangerous, as will Asamoah. But I think our defense will be fire-breathing lions today. Plus we have indeed had the spot in front of Valdes' net legally declared a parking space. We won't park the full-size team bus there, but a mini-van will fit rather nicely. :D

You're right about our best back line, Isaiah. But in my role as resident crazy man, I have to offer all possibilities. I'm going to milk that 4-2-4 thing for as long as I can. :D

Im already worried about Man U even though I shouldnt look too far ahead with this team. How in the world are we going to stop C Ronaldo?

Also, Jenny, you can take yourself off the cross now for your misspelling. :) It wasn't a comment aimed at you specifically, but more at the wider world, which has issues with my name. It makes me mad, especially since the most famous living Isaiah actually misspells his name.

I just got an email from Ian Rose about a podcast giveaway and he says there's a ManU backpack and a Barcelona backpack available through a contest on the podcast. Enter here.

Dear all,
I don't know what will happen, i'm not optimistic anymore.. wk i'm happy, the other i'm screaming like hell. The problem even if he (rijaakrd) doesn't want to change his formation, at least change the players. Anyways best of luck, we'll see what happens.

our team seems to be screwing up in parts..first half of the season the fowards could not score, then mid way thru the season, the mid-fielders could not put 5 passes together, and now our defenders have forgotten how to defend..
I guess the next to screw up is the goalie....

One thing what I don't like to see is, whenever our forwards lose the balls, they track back, I know, it's a good thing, but they normally end up picking a foul near our penalty area, and I don't like that.......

Jenny, and Kevin. It's gonna be 2-1 for Barcelona. Actually, change that to a 2-0 cause believe me the defense in not allowed to make any single mistake no more. Bojan will come out and drive a quick pass to Puyol who will reflect it back to Eto and then he will finish the job. As for Henry, the 2 nd goal will be his. What a lovely senario and I hope it comes true for the life of me.

I had the same issue while reading the preview. I thought you wanted Marquez at left back...huh? I know he's a pretty versatile player, but I don't see him there, and after reading the posts, obviously neither do you. Isaiah(I hope I spelled this right!), in all his rational and infinite wisdom, wins this one. Puyol needs to be in the box to command the helm. Let's just hope he does! My limited wisdom tells me that he'll be a fire-breathing dragon tomorrow. His defense, not to mention the team he captains, has been picked apart by just about everyone, including the Offside, so he's gonna have something to prove. It'll be hell-fire and brimstone and I say watch out!!!
Kevin, no predictions on the scoreline? What gives? Was it an oversight or are you feeling a little superstitious? Personally, I'm feeling pretty damn superstitious on this one, so I don't mind the omition.

I'd rather take the "risk" of putting Sylvinho on the left than Zambrotta, especially if that means we keep Puyol in the center with Milito where he has been most effective throughout his career...I understand the desire to shake things up with Marquez in the middle, but shaking things up will be exactly what happened against Betis, which didn't work out so well in the end.

Zambrotta - Puyol - Milito - Abidal

That's our best backline, in my opinion. And as wrong as I've been at times throughout my life and indeed this season, I stand by my thinking that Abidal is more athletic and talented than Sylvinho, so he should start.

Sorry, Kevin, but it's just that your out-of-the-box thinking is crazy even for me and I consider myself open to quite a few radical ideas both in life and soccer. Perhaps my track record here suggests otherwise on that front, but whatever, your 4-2-4 worked pretty damned well, so at least I'll consider your crazy talk...

I was thinking of Puyol dusting off the ol' right back cap and Zambrotta at left back.

Yes, it's another crazy lineup, but don't forget that my 4-2-4 was working like a charm until that Milito red card. So go ahead and call me insane.

Might work, might be crazy. Rijkaard will play Abidal for all the reasons you mentioned, but it doesn't keep me from thinking WAY outside the box.

Guardiola seems to be on call according the goal.com. If thats means anything

My issue with your lineup is the lack of a left back.

Milito, Marquez, and Puyol all play central roles for Rijkaard, so I imagine that the back line will be Zambrotta, Puyol, Milito, Abidal/Sylvinho. If Rijkaard blames Abidal for the loss against Betis, it'll be Sylvinho from the word go; if Rijkaard wants to create some unity, it'll be Abidal starting.

I do think that if we lose this game, Frankie Boy is gone. That'd be sad, I think, but it seems likely.