Villarreal – Barcelona: Copa del Rey preview, in brief

By: Isaiah | January 24th, 2008

It’s the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, first leg at El Madrigal, a place that hasn’t been kind to us this season (see 3-1 loss), but we’ve got our little “talisman” back and Lionel Messi might just prove the difference. He was there for that loss, of course, but that was a tragicomic moment in the season so far. First off, Oleguer was starting because our backline was ravaged by injuries, then two penalties were called in the first half after a third minute goal, and Deco went off injured. We were already without Eto’o, Ronaldinho, Toure, and Emilson, so the first two substitutions made (Gio for Oleguer, Guddie for Deco) were merely deadweight entrants, and then the third sub was Sylvinho-Bojan and the team had no chance. Ezquerro was on the bench and at least could have been an attacking option, but it wasn’t to be.

My previous suggestion that losing to Villarreal was not embarrassing, despite the embarrassing fact that I spelled Villarreal without the second R every time throughout the post, was completely truthful. Another loss wouldn’t be that horrible either, though would probably start to solidify Rijkaard’s departure at the end of the year (assuming that hasn’t already been decided).

Of course this time we have another injury, this time to Abidal, who injured his left foot, but we do recover Edmilson. The full squad is: Valdés, Pinto, Milito, Márquez, Puyol, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Zambrotta, Henry, Edmilson, Giovani, Messi, Deco, Thuram, Oleguer, Bojan, Sylvinho.

I went ahead and bolded Messi (who should start), just in case you didn’t realize how important he is to any game we play at this moment. Without Eto’o or Ronaldinho, the team needs a symbol up front (you could say Henry, but he’s a first year man and is still learning the system, really; Bojan is too young), a “gamebreaker” who can turn things around in 10 seconds. And that player, right now, is Lionel Messi. Sure, dude is young, but my lord he is talented. And he seems to be able to handle the pressure of being the go-to guy. Let’s just see if everyone else can handle what is required to get him open and running 1-on-1 along the wing.

We’re a better team than we were against Villarreal the first time, but I still don’t expect a win. 1-1, or 2-2 is a good result, really, but anything else will cause us to face a massively uphill battle come next week and the return leg at the Camp Nou.
I hope Marquez starts as the DM, rather than Edmilson, but I’m not sure exactly how Rijkaard will want to approach the absence of Abidal. Will Sylvinho be able to handle the rigors of the left side or will Abidal’s absence be felt? Will Pinto start? These are just a couple of the questions I can’t really find solid answers to at the moment. My hunch is no on both accounts, unfortunately. Expect lots of crosses, lots of Giuseppe Rossi up front, and lots of Marco Senna being a dick (if a talented one) in midfield. On the offensive end, we should see a real resurgence on our part, a real ability to get open looks. Iniesta probably scores off a good Messi cross on the ground through the box (duh, what could be easier?) and Henry might score. As long as we don’t draw 1-1, we should be good.

Is Villarreal looking forward to visiting the Bernabeu this weekend? Or are they going to concentrate on us fully? It’s hard to tell, but I think most teams are gunning for the Copa this year (except Madrid! Woo!), so I expect them to try to make a statement here. They’re only 5 points back of us in the league, so they should be able to put up a good fight…but let’s hope they capitulate like little babies. I’d love to “golear” them 3 or 4 to 0, but that’s just not going to happen; not this year, anyway.

What thinketh thou?