Barca v Espanyol, a.k.a. “Of course you know…this means war.” 3 p.m. (CT) Saturday, GolTV

By: Kevin | September 26th, 2008

Is it really possible to hate anyone more than a neighbor? In-town rivalries are always particularly vicious, and Barcelona v Espanyol is no exception. Eric Abidal could run to the match as a warmup, given the proximity of the two stadiums.

This is the big one. For many cules, they say to hell with El Clasico. THIS is the match that they want our lads to win. And not just win, but destroy them. Put the smack down with an open-handed tolchock that sends them boys from across town into orbit.

I’ll just take a win.

The two teams are surfing different waves of form. Espayol started the season strong against weak opposition, while we started the season weak against weak opposition. They were top of the table, but are now tied with us in the standings. They want to win this match for so many reasons, as do we. There is so much bad blood between these two sides that we don’t even need to get into the whole political thing.

The normally calm Frank Rijkaard punched out a section of the fiberglass bench when Espanyol notched a critical goal against us. Player moves have been vetoed so as to not help the other side. The presidents hardly speak. Laporta’s rictus grin when in the Espanyol stadium is always funny to witness. There isn’t a lot of trouble between opposing fans any longer (aside from folks with a death wish, such as our crazy Cojonudo) mostly because one side’s fans don’t go to the other side’s home matches.

“Give money to them? I’d rather fester in a slow-roasted hell!”

This doesn’t even get into the condescending view that Espanyol fans believe Barcelona has of them, as in “Come back and talk to us when you’ve won something, right?”

In the “recent form” category, they are coming off a 2-0 loss to Sevilla. We are surfing the euphoria of a prollygonnabeatiewhatthehelljusthappened! 3-2 win against Betis. Now. Not to toss in a sports cliche, but you can throw the records out of the window when these two sides clash. (Okay, one. So sue me.)

Our side for the match: Valdes, Pinto, Puyol, Marquez, Alves, Abidal, Pique, Yaya, Keita, Busquets, Iniesta, Gudjohnsen, Pedro, Mesi, Eto’o, Krkic, Henry. (Note that Pedro replaces Caceres. Sylvinho is still not making the cut. Hleb is still about 2 weeks out from being back.)

Probable starting XI: Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Keita, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Eto’o

I think that Guardiola will want the most fluid lineup out there, while still reserving firepower in case the match needs to be stood on its ear. Then the likes of Henry and Pedro are ready to come on. Yaya can come in if we are in control and need to solidify that control. Yaya is the rock, but the side moves better offensively with Keita out there. We might even see Henry get the start over Eto’o, just because of the freshness of the Frenchman, who would take the central striker role. Eto’o was tired as heck when he came out against Betis, and there are still two more matches in less than a week after Espanyol. Rotation, rotation, rotation.

You might see Marquez in the Pique position, but I doubt it. The only balls that really gave us any danger vs Betis were over the top. So stick the pylon out there and let him head some stuff away. Problem solved.

Now, the lineup that I would like to see is: Probable starting XI: Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Yaya, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Eto’o, Henry.

This means 5 attackers in effect, with Xavi pushing up. Yaya controls the space in front of a high back line. Iniesta raises hell on the left wing, with Henry and Eto’o as a dual striker tandem. We saw them becoming rather fluent at that. They will get better. Messi and Alves are the danger men on the right.

It’s an “all in” kind of lineup, that wants goals early and often. Espanyol isn’t going to punk out and pack the box, so it could work. And it would still leave game-turning subs of Keita, Krkic and Pedro or Gudjohnsen, if needed.

We won’t see my lineup, but I sure would dig it.

Fearless prediction: 2-1 good guys, with goals from Eto’o and Iniesta.

This match is also in the middle of a busy period. Matches still to come that following week are Shaktar (Champions League) and Atletico Madrid (a very stern test). Rotation will again be critical.