Real Zaragoza - Barcelona Saturday 2pm EST

By: Isaiah | April 6th, 2007

A tricky one for Barcelona on Saturday, especially as they travel to Zaragoza without Eto’o. He’s suffering from tendinitis in an adductor muscle his right leg, according to Sport. I’m not even sure what that means, or if I translated it correctly, but it’s serious enough to keep Eto’o out of a pretty complicated game for the blaugrana. I’m sure some suggestions have been made somewhere that it’s because of the racist chanting he’s endured there before, but Eto’o strikes me as the type of guy who would go and show them what was what rather than avoiding the place (his “no juego mas” — “I won’t play more” — episode not withstanding). I just hope he’s good to go soon enough for the club. Barcelona have the quality to defeat anyone in the league when they’re on, but Eto’o’s presence will be missed.

The roster looks like this:

Keepers: Valdés and Jorquera

Defenders: Oleguer, Zambrotta, Puyol, Thuram, Márquez, Sylvinho, and Gio.

Midfielders: Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, and Edmílson

Forwards: Giuly, Messi, Gudjohnsen, Saviola, and Ronaldinho

That means Eto’, Belletti, Motta and Ezquerro are the ones not on the roster. Only Eto’o will be missed, I think, especially if Edmilson plays with any sort of form. It’s nice to see Deco back and his presence should create opportunities for Barca to get going offensively, even without their best forward (I say that because I consider Ronaldinho more of a midfielder than a forward, regardless of what position he is claimed to have).

Sevilla probably won’t stumble again this week as they play at home, but it is to Racing Santander who sit in 7th and only 1 point behind 6th placed Atletico, who play Villareal away in what could be a back-breaking week for them if they can’t put together a game worth 3 points. Valencia play away at woeful Athletic Bilbao who are desperately seeking points to remove themselves from the relegation zone (they are below Celta by only 1 point and only 2 points out of 16th so a victory here would put them in the clear, probably as Celta and Levante play Recre and Betis respectively doubtful that both come away with full points. Real Madrid hosts Osasuna, which isn’t a cakewalk and could trip up the merengues, even at the Bernabeu. Sevilla drew with Osasuna last week in a nil-nil game, so the game isn’t without its dangers.

The picture from above was a wonderful discovery for me. I’ve found Fatheads amusing for a while, but now that I know about soccer-related ones called Wallbangers of all things, the hilarity is growing quickly. The poses are just too much. The cule trio is available, of course.