La Liga preview: FC Barcelona vs Granada CF: Defenders gone M.I.A.

By: Natasha | September 21st, 2012

Not only is he a great centre back, he is also a pro on crutches.

This Saturday our Blaugrana boys will face Grenada at the Camp Nou. And again, we are faced with some kind of centre back crisis. Nothing really changes, does it?

The official FCB site says this: “The team has such strength in depth that it has generally managed quite nicely without its two most experienced centre backs.” Managed? Nicely? I think I’ll have to disagree with you on that. Managed, maybe, but…not nicely. If Barça managed nicely, there would be no universal panic after Piqué’s injury this week. So, as it stands, we will certainly be without those two for this match and for a few weeks to follow.There are mentions of Puyol trying to speed up his recovery in time for the Clasico, which is in 2 weeks, but I don’t see it happening.

Referring to the official site again, they seem rather positive about Puyol & Piqué being injured. Almost like it’s an ideal situation! They tell us that Barça were without those two for the away match against Granada last season, which resulted in a win. So obviously that will happen tomorrow…! What choices of centre back do we have? Mascherano, who will start. And then there’s Bartra and…Fontas. One of those will not even make the bench (sorry Fonti!) and Song and Busquets can also fill in at CB. Apparently. I’d like to see Bartra start alongside Mascherano but I have a feeling Tito will put Busi there and have Song play in the DM position.

It’s not all bad news! It’s hoped that Jordi Alba will be available for selection tomorrow after recovering from his flu. Poor guy. You can catch the flu in Spain too! Who knew. As for the rest of the squad, I believe Iniesta is still out but Alexis received the medical green light earlier this week. I shall now try and predict the lineup…

VV – Dani Alves, Mascherano, Busquets, Jordi Alba – Song, Xavi, Thiago – Pedro, Messi, Tello.

Maybe? I don’t think Villa will start (not yet, anyway – maybe in a week) and there’s also the possibility of Cesc starting instead of Thiago. I don’t think Alexis will start yet either as he’s just back from injury. Hopefully we’ll see Bartra make an appearance in the second half.

On paper, this looks like a fairly “easy” match, but I’m sure Barça will make things difficult for themselves if Wednesday’s match is anything to go by. I hope this will be a 3-0 win, but looking at the defence, there’s a lot of opportunity for mistakes to be made. It remains to be seen whether or not Granada will capitalise on this. I will leave this here and await Kage’s much more accurate prediction…

Finally, on an unrelated note, a waxwork of Messi was unveiled this week. It’s…well…interesting.

It looks like someone, I'm just not entirely sure who that "someone" is.

Some Related Barcelona Posts:

Category: Team News

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Kageglantz

Last comment before game. Villa and Alexis starting, that's good. Song starting as CB, that's bad.

Final score will be: 3-2 Barca. Goals by Messi, Messi, Villa.
Kageglantz

I just got it. Or it's my best guess, at any rate. If you don't have four defenders, play three. Tito went to the 3-4-3 when he got behind against Spartak, and it worked. Why not start with it? Tell Alves and Alba (or Adriano) to stay at home, with Masch in the center. Play four in the midfield, either a double pivote of Song and Busquets in back of Xavi and Cesc (or Thiago) or the group of Busquets, Xavi, Cesc, and Thiago.

Granada apparently counters well (I haven't seen them play yet), so giving up the extra man at the back might be dangerous, but they're a relatively weak team and Barca is at home. They'll probably play only one man up front.

I hope Tito goes for it. If he does, it'll be 4-0. Messi, Messi, Cesc and Villa.
barcarmy

Please rewatch footage of Busquets playing CB.

It is really not pretty. Actually Song is not pretty and bordering on bad at the position. Busquets however is awful there. His poor tackling and lack of pace are super troublesome, while his ability to make great one time passes or cut off attacks before they get going are completely wasted.

Alexis, Villa, Messi
Thiago, Busi, Cesc
Adriano, Masch, Song, Alves

Resting pedro and xavi. brining on alba late if he is ready
Natasha

No, it's not pretty, but it's not ideal to have your two best CBs injured at once. There aren't many options, bar Tito having faith in Bartra and allowing him to start, but I don't think he will. And then I'm not sure Tito will play Song at CB, because he doesn't have the experience (within Barça, that is) but lets face it, the backline is going to be a bit of a mess no matter who Masche is paired with...
Barcarmy

Well it looks like Tito agreed with me for every position, except the placements of the forwards. And that was a mistake on his part; messi needs more more against a team that has no attention of going forward. And villa on the touch line is not effective because he doesn't have the acceleration to go by his man and stay past him. He is a clinical finisher and should be in front of goal.

And song did a far better job than busi would have in the back. And busi did far better at DM than anyone would have done there.