Barcelona - Stuttgart: Comments welcome
By: Isaiah | December 12th, 2007Heeeeey, it’s the final group stage game and it means absolutamente nada in terms of standings. But it does provide Barcelona the chance to show off its young guns in European competition as well as help its recently-returned stars recover some form. It looks like we’ll start tonight with Eto’o-Bojan-Gio up front, which is a pretty cool lineup to have when you’re just messing around. Speaking of messing, Lionel will not play today because, well, he should rest a bit.
If Bojan scores, he’ll be the youngest ever European scorer, which I guess is pretty cool, but I’d rather Eto’o scored and got his olde-onion-bag-bulging shoes back on. Though having Bojan score would be sweet too, no doubt about it. Maybe Gio can score…and hell, why not Abidal?
Rijkaard will be at home, I suppose, for this game as he’s been banned from having any contact with the team during the match. I think that’s a bit harsh compared to what other managers get when they’re given red cards, but this game doesn’t matter, so I won’t moan too much. Maybe Neeskens will be able to hold the youngsters back, but I kind of doubt anything on earth could hold them back…they want goals goals goals just like all kids. They’re too young to understand how long the season really is and that the goals will come…ah to be young again…and super talented.
Feel free to post your comments here during the game. I’ll be watching via Marca’s commentary or perhaps Radio Barca, if I can get it to stream here at work.
And for those of you who are wondering, David Villa is going to miss the Barca game through injury. While this may be good for the team, it’s not good, in the end, because you don’t want to squeak by, you want to beat the best at their best. I would take my chances against Villa same as I would take them against van Nistelrooy.
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I hope this isn’t jumping the gun, but according to EMD, this is the lineup we’ll see starting off tonight:
Jorquera, Puyol, Thuram, Milito, Sylvinho, Márquez, Deco, Gudjohnsen, Giovani, Ronaldinho, Eto’o
That means Bojan is being held in reserve to replace Eto’o. Smart move, in the end, I think.
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United States
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UEFA.com just confirmed that lineup. We’ll see how it plays out with Marquez playing defensive mid and Gudjohnsen playing as Xavi.
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While warming up, Deco “suffered issues”, whatever that means, but he didn’t start. In his stead will be Xavi. Hopefully Deco is fine and doesn’t suffer a relapse of his injury.
Immediately there’s a goal by Stuttgart from a free-kick. 0-1 in the third minute. Very reminiscent of their game against Depor…
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United States -
GOOOOOL de Giovani Dos Santos Ramirez! He’s been blazing them at goal all night and he gets his just reward, though it seems it was a shot by Ronnie that hit him on the hand and bounced in. He’ll take it, no doubt.
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Jorquera should be playing for the now disbanded Barca C Team. not even good enough for the B Team. Impressed with Eidur Gudjohnsen today though… strangely enough
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Eto’o just scored… brilliant. didnt take him long
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According to Marca’s coverage, Guddie was Barca’s best player so far. Interesting indeed…
And yes, GOOOOOOL SAMUUUUUUUUUU! That is just absolutely the best thing in the world. And Lyon is holding on against Rangers. Wonderful, wonderful.
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Gol de Ronaldinho!!! Woohoo! That’s what we like to see before playing some tough matches. Keep it up, boys!
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Hmmm… Now that the final matchday is done, Barca could draw Arsenal, Liverpool or Roma in the first knockout stage. Celtic, Olympiacos, Schalke 04, and Fenerbahce are also possiblities.
Who’d you prefer Barca draw?
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I wouldn’t like Arsenal or Liverpool but everyone else would be good. Not that i don’t think we would beat either but on a bad day for us and a good day for them it could be difficult. Either way i dont see any problems if we play well. Ronnie was good today. Pity Bojan didnt score but he was trying too hard
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I don’t want the English teams either. Just too much trouble.
Great to see Eto’o scoring, and Ronnie scoring from open play. Any idea what Deco’s status is?
And something I’ve been thinking for a while now: what’s wrong with Zambrotta?
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Ball movement. Hey, what a concept. They created chance after chance after chance through ball movement and pinpoint passing. It was very enjoyable to watch. For those who still have the match on DVRs, give another look to see what I mean. Very little dribbling and messing about. Control, survey, pass. Great stuff. Eto’o is still a little rusty, and the final score could easily have been 7 or 8-1. But those chances will be finished, eventually.
Gudjohnsen didn’t stink out the Camp Nou. He actually played pretty darned well, all things considered. Granted, it was Stuttgart, but still…
And it might just be me, but it looks like Ronaldinho is getting the urge back. He made some great passes, including that cross-fielder that landed right at (Dos Santos?) someone’s feet.
But the thing that excited me most about the match was the ball movement. They looked like Barca again, and the resultant pace and flow were very evident. Again, it was Stuttgart, with the attendant caveats, but the principles are there for greatness.
Eto’o moves so well without the ball, too. Something Henry needs to take notes on. The latter moves when he senses the pass coming, not realizing that movement will create the space that makes you an attractive passing option. Eto’o is almost perpetual motion.
I want Liverpool. They knocked us out last year. Let’s return the favor. Deco is fine, Linda. Just resting before the important matches in the league coming up. Zambrotta has a knee knock that he’s trying to get over.
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Is there a way to find out how many goals we’d let in at this point of the season — in the CL as well as in La Liga? I’m trying to figure whether all the money we spent on defenders and defensive midfielders is paying off. This business of conceding an early goal and then coming back … not good for my ulcers!
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Can anyone talk about the defensive tactics Stuttgart used? Did they press the midfield like Spanish teams have been doing with great success? If so, that’s great to see that Barca has figured it out…if not, well, still fun…
Kevin, I think that Stuttgart is a good team. Hell, they’re in the Champions League and currently 8th in the Bundesliga (10 points behind the leaders), but they get no respect for some reason. Bad showing in the CL, sure, but they weren’t playing patsy teams either.
I don’t want Liverpool cause I hate watching boring games. Arsenal-Barca would be the most exciting, but I’d prefer Fenerbahce or Olympiacos (naturally). Roma would be a good matchup, but if Fernando Torres wants Real Madrid, let him have at them, I say.
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They weren’t pressing the midfield, Isaiah. It was typical, open Bundesliga stuff. That’s why Gudjohnsen was able to show so well.
And you’re right, Stuttgart is good, but they were better last year. They aren’t in Barca’s class. I’ve been watching quite a bit of Bundesliga, and they’ve really opened up. That played right into our hands. They weren’t jamming the wings, either. Dos Santos had a lot of freedom out there, and Ronaldinho had all day sometimes, after taking a pass, rather than being surrounded immediately.
Arsenal-Barca would be exciting indeed, but bad for my heart. Adebayor is NOT the kind of striker I want our back line seeing for any extended time period. Big, strong and fast, with great ball skills.
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Our defensive stats have been very impressive so far this season, Bobby, and IMHO the money spent on defense - Yaya, Milito and Abidal - has been spent well.
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Yes all the defenders that we bought have been performing great. Especially Yaya, who was virtually unheard of before he came. Now, he can’t seem to be replaced on the pitch if he’s out.
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Linda, where can I see those stats? We’ve given away 12 goals in 15 Liga games this year — 0.8 goals a game. We gave up 33 in 38 last season — 0.86 per game. The difference is not dramatic. Are we giving away fewer goals in the CL and the Copa?
I like the looks of Yaya. But if our goals-against average is not getting dramatically, that should be a matter of concern.
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United States
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