A Nice Bit of Tote

Close your eyes and imagine FC Barcelona losing in Alicante today. Can you see it? You can't? Well nor can anybody else. Yes, Hercules threw Barça to the ground in the Camp Nou earlier in the season, but that's just another reason why FCB will not lose this evening.

Reasons to be Cheerful (parts 1,2,3):

i) FCB are going for a record breaking 15 leagus wins on the trot and will be very focused.

ii) Whereas FCB are without half their PP at the back (Puyol is out) Hercules are missing both their regular centr-halves, Paz and Pamarot.

iii) As Colsa said after Racing were beaten 3-0 recently, "they are on a different level, they make you stop feeling like a footballer".

There are players to watch out for, in particular the wonderfully elegant Tote in midfield. How come so many of the best players to watch are left- footed? Tote started off at Real Madrid, stood out in Valladolid and has been a constant cause of oohing sounds at Hercules for 5 seasons now.

Barça are also missing jeffren and Boyan, but expect Pep to put out the strongest 11 possible to ensure 3 points and a 7 point lead over the Men in White. RM travel to Pamplona tomorrow to face an Osasuna only beaten once at home this season.

Isn't it wonderful when the only pre-match question is how many your team will win by?

Prediction:

Hercules 1-3 FCB

p.s. The best ref in Spain, Matheu Lahoz, is having a well-earned break this weekend after a great performance in the FCB v Almeria game last Wednesday!

FCB v Almeria (my hero comes to town)

Before we say anything else let me just say how keen I am to meet tonight's referee - Matheu Lahoz. If diving is the joke(r) of modern day football meet Batman. This ref had a brilliant game in the Bernabeu in the derby between the 2 Madrid sides and it was great to see the faces on the players as they pleaded for free-kicks only to see the ref wasn't interested.

FC Barcelona entertain Almeria, and probably the few fans in the stadium and the many more watching on TV, this evening in the Kings Cup semis at 2200hrs. It does seem strange to complain of crowds of "only" 50000-70000, but given that the the best football in the world is on offer, maybe not. Attendance is affected by the cold weather (not so bad if you look at this photo from this morning), the fact every single FCB match is televised and the kick-off times of 2200hrs. When are the football authorities (clubs, leagues and TV companies) going to realise that half-empty stadiums don't make for good TV?

On the footballing front Pep Guardiola is having to battle against complacency. Understandable given that FCB beat Almeria 8-0 in the league in November and although they have drawn against Real Madrid and beaten both Deportivo (cup game) and Osasuna in their last 3 games they are still in the releation zone. Watch out for key players Crusat and Piatti on the wings for Almeria and we will all be waiting to see whether José Luis Oltra, Almeria's manager, sticks with cup goalie Esteban or brings in the excellent keeper Diego Alves. Surely he will have to put in his first choice as Almeria want the second leg to be "alive" and avoid the attendance figure of 3,300 in the quarter finals?

FCB will be without Carles Puyol who will miss this plus the return league match in Alicante on Sunday v Hercules (only team to beat FC Barcleona in the league this season). Boyan and Alves have also had fitness problems, but should be OK for this evening. Expect Pep Guardiola to put out 90% of his gala team.

In the other semi-final Sevilla take on Real Madrid in what should be a fiery encounter in the Sanchez Pizjuan after Sevilla made a ridiculous advert delaring "war" on Real Madrid. RM have signed Adebayor and one can only wish them luck in bringing the best out of the Togo international :-)

Prediction:

FCB 3-1 Almeria

P.S. Happy Birthday to the best orchestra leader in the world - Xavi Hernandez 31 yesterday!

FC Barcelona and Kajagoogoo

Do you remember the song Too Shy by Kajagoogoo? You do? Well then you may well be able to remember the last time Racing Club Santander won in the Camp Nou.

We enter the second half of the season and FCB sit on a record total of 52 points, leading the Men in White by 4. The thing is that it isn't just 4 points, is it? Comparing the way the two teams play is like comparing Michael Jackson's dancing ability with that of Michael Robinson. Hey I'm not saying the Canal Plus star isn't a snazzy mover, but you know what I mean. FC Barcelona have a recognisable style of play and Real Madrid have some great individuals, but are still some distance from being a synchronised outfit. The problem is not so much how far FCB are ahead of RM, more so how far they are from the rest of the league. No the Spanish league is not turning into the Scottish league, it's turning into a football version of how golf was before people started tampering with Tiger Wood' balls.

Anyway, with the main question being how many goals Barça will score lets look at today's action. At 1800hrs Barça B, with future Barça stars Bartra,Fontás, Thiago and Jonathan Dos Santos will be in action against third placed Rayo Vallecano at the Mini Stadium. You can then walk across the road in time to see the Big Barça (minus Alves and poor Jeffren) take on a Racing Club Santander (without Serrano, Pinillo and, the biggest loss, Pedro Munitis) who know this isn't their battle. That said, they will fight at least until the first goal goes in.

I have for a long time had a soft spot for Racing, but that will melt away if/when they are bought by rich Indian businessman, Ahsan Aki Syed. The same man who nearly bought Blackburn Rovers last Summer, possibly Jack Walker was the last (or only?) time I felt happy about a millionaire buying the Premier League. So they will go the way of Manchester City for me, just another chequebook club. You could argue that West Ham were bought by rich businessmen as well, but they have just turned out to be an upmarket version of Steptoe and Son with wicked witch Brady in tow.

Kick-off time is 2000hrs on a Saturday evening. Just perfect to see some of the sexiest football on the planet before heading out to the Salvador Bar to see who will be the Packers' opponents in the Superbowl Final.

Prediction:

FCB 6-1 Real Racing Club de Santander

p.s. Michael Jackson with Beat it took over from Kajagoogoo at number 1 in the UK singles charts in February 1983.

The Beauty and the Beast

FCB taken on Malaga "City" in the penultimate match of week 19 of the Spanish league. Barça have yet another record in sights in that if they win, their 52 points would be a record for the end of the first half of the season. Just think about it for a moment - it would be 17 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat with over 57 goals scored. And then carrying on to see if they could beat last season's title-winning total of 99 points.

Tonight it's a continuation of the Pep v Pellegrini saga. The Chilean coach earned his spurs at Villareal before taking the poisoned chalice that is the position of Real Madrid manager. He never managed a win over Pep, but is widely recognised as being both a good manager and a jolly decent chap. And he did lead Villareal to victory over FCB in the pre-Pep era. When will the post-Pep era begin? Guardiola still to sign a new contract although noone really thinks that's not going to happen.

FC Barcelona have a full aquad to choose from minus the soon to depart Milito who may well get to know his future teammates today as Malga is his most likely destination. I wonder which team he will be secretly supporting this evening? Expect to see more of Afellay after getting less than 15 minutes in each of the last 3 games. Something that will please almost everyone in the FCB squad.

Malaga are signing a player a day during the transfer window in their efforts to stay up. Just as Zaragoza did last winter - surely there is something inherently unfair in buying over half a new team midway through the season? They have so far picked up Sergio Asenjo (fed up with David De Gea at ATM), the wonderfully named Nacho Camacho (also ATM), Demichelis (B. Munich), Enzo Maresca (ex-Sevilla) and Julio "the beast" Cesar Baptista (yes the man who scored the winner in Real Madrid's 1-0 win at the Camp Nou in 2007).

If you want beauty we have Andres Iniesta - I wonder if Michael Laudrup smiled when he saw Andres' pass to Keita at the end of the 5-0 hammering of Betis? If ever you needed proof that Andres grew up watching the Great Dane surely that wonderful moment of spatial intelligence was it. For beauty on the Malaga team watch out for the left foot of Duda.

Prediction:

FCB 3-1 Malaga

Better beat Betis

Tonight and I mean tonight as although it's Wednesday FCB play Betis at 2200hrs in the Kings Cup quater-finals first leg. The winners playing either Almeria or Deportivo to get to a final where they will face the winners of the Real Madrid/Athletico Madrid and Villareal/Sevilla ties. In theory FCB have defeated the biggest rival in Athletic Club Bilbao (0-0,1-1 going through on away goals) and should now make it to a final, presumably against the Men in White.

The Bernabeu was the scene of the last meeting between the two clubs in an epic cup final that went into extra time with Barça winning 3-2 and Mourinho, then assistant to Sir Bobby Robson, swearing a lifelong devotion to FCB. They have not met over the last 2 seasons because Betis were relegated in 2009. That said, Betis are currently top of the 2nd division and 6 points clear of third placed Rayo Vallecano. They will be looking to finish in the top two places which mean automatic promotion rather than in the next four play-off positions after last year losing out to Hércules and Levante on results between the 3 teams.

Look out for Rubén Castro, their top scorer so far this season with 13 goals and midfield playmaker Salve Sevilla. They will be missing their key, driving midfielder in Emana though. Their manager, Pep Mel, says that the tie is 50/50 and although I'm not sure exactly what he means by that Betis have knocked out Zaragoza and Getafe to get this far.

FC Barcelona will have the full monty available for this game with Xavi (who should have been World Player 2010), Alves and Busquets due to return after being rested in the Depor game. I think we may also get a good look at Allefay who has already been given minutes by Guardiola in a demostration of the massive faith he has in him. Pep will want to get a few foals in the bag so that the second leg is not as energy-sapping as the match in San Mames. Messi will be given the World Player award on the pitch before the game and there is no truth in the rumour that as part of a cost-cutting exercise FIFA have also sent over the trophies for the next 5 seasons as well. Lets face it, FIFA is one of the few institutions in the world that do not understand the meaning of the C word.

Expect a game with plenty of goals and....

Prediction:

FCB 3-1 Betis

Two days queue to go to the cathedral

Nice to see that despite the Spanish FC insisting on a home and away match format the Kings Cup still generates such excitement. No these guys are not sleeping over in the queue for AC/DC tickets (that was last year and boy was it worth it), it's the return leg of the last 16 of the Spanish Cup, not even the quarter final stage!

After an heroic (boring if you ask Barça fans) 0-0 draw at the Camp Nou without World Cup winning forward Fernando Llorente, the Basque contenders think they have a real chance of knocking out World heavyweight Champions. The return of Llorente, who has headed 7 of his 11 league goals, is a massive boost that is offset by the loss of their centre-har pairing of San Jose and Amorebieta (what a lovely roll off the tongue name). It was the big No.5 who received a red card for a heavy challenge on Iniesta in their San Mames meeting that led to Andres Iniesta being booed off the pitch here last September.

FC Barcelona will be without Maxwell, but Puyol looks likely to be fit enough to play a part in what should be a fairly physical game. He missed the Levante game after picking up a knock in the Catalunya Christmas match v Honduras. New signing from PSV, Ibrahim Afellay has also made the trip although Pep will have to send 2 of a 20 man squad to the stands before the game. We may get another chance to see the exciting movement of Thiago in midfield in the second half, he helped change the game v Levante in the second half and resembled a Masia-made hybrid of Messi and Xavi (special metion to Xavi's record-breaking 550th appearance in a Barça shirt tonight). Talking of shirts apparently next season the Men in White will face the Men in Black as FCB go to the dark side for the first time ever.

History tells us that Atheltic have not beaten FCB in a meaningful game in the cathedral of football (Athletic's gound's nickname) since 2000. We won't count the one win since then as it was May 19th, 2006, just two days after FCB beat Arsenal, their next CL opponents, in the Paris Final.

Prediction:

Athletic Club Bilbao 1-3 FCB

Athletic will huff and puff (maybe even score the opener), but not blow the house down in the opening 20 minutes before the defending champions go into the quarterfinals.

FCB without Messi and PP

FC Barcelona play Levante at home in the first day of Spanish league action of 2011. I wonder how many people will watch the marathon as we have 4 live matches in a row starting at 1600hrs and ending at Midnight! We only officially knew there would be a jornada last Thursday as the league and players' union are in dispute over various matters, that one will run and run until maybe the players work out that one of the reasons clubs can't pay their wages is because they are quite simply too high.

Levante are from Valencia, indeed they were formed before Valencia CF, and have never won anything ever unless you count the Spanish Cup they won in Sarria (Barcelona) in 1937. Poor buggers, the only cup they have ever won and it is not officialy recognised by the authorities. This is their sixth ever season in the top flight and FCB have won all 5 previous league meetings in the Camp Nou, the last being a 5-1 victory in 2008, Etoò hat-trick included plus a goal by Xavi who today equals Migueli's all-time appearance record of 549 games for the club. Migueli was the first "Tarzan" with of course Carlos Puyol being the second.

Players to watch out for today include ex-Espanyol player Sergio Gonzalez in midfield and Xavi Torres (ex-FCB), watching Xavi Torres in their last game (a 8-0 defeat in the Bernabeu) you can see the Masia written all over Sr. Torres. Unfortunately for the granotas their top scorer, Caicedo on loan from Man City, is out injured so they will rely on Rubén and Stuani (5 goals between them) in their attempt to perform the Herculean task of getting a victory.

FC Barcelona will be without Messi, Puyo and Pique so the back four should be Maxwell, Abidal, Alves and Bartra. Marc Bartra has already played in both the Kings' Cup and CL this season and the 19-year old has shown more than great promise as a centre-half, full back and in the pivot position.

Difficult to see FCB not winning this one and then immediately turning their attention to Wednesday's vital Cup match in San Mames. They go into the return leg 0-0 and will be keen to strike first in a game complicated by the absence of Captain Puyol.

Prediction:

FCB 3-1 Levante