The title race in La liga got closer over the weekend with Barcelona squeezing out a result away at Granada, and Real Madrid having to settle for a draw at home against Europa League hopefuls Villareal. … [Read more...]
Infographic: Lionel Messi’s penalty misses
If there's one glaring weakness in Lionel Messi's near-perfect game, it is his penalty taking. Lately the Barcelona record-breaker has made headlines because of his awry penalties rather than the bucketload of goals he grabs every week. His miss against Manchester City last night was the fifth penalty Messi has missed in the last 12 months for club and country, proving that he is in fact human after all. It is a weakness slowly growing into Messi's game after he had almost perfected the art of penalty taking, rarely missing from the spot. However, it appears as if an element of pressure has … [Read more...]
Messi outshining CR7 as Barca surge continues
Barcelona and Lionel Messi are breaking records once again, rekindling the memories of the team that won multiple honours under Pep Guardiola. The club have won their last 11 games since defeat at Real Sociedad, equalling the run set under Guardiola in 2008/09. Manager Luis Enrique received plenty of criticism early on in the season, yet is quick to dismiss these records comparing him to Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. "I care about titles, not records," the former Barca man was quoted at the weekend. Enrique may receive his titles with the club firing in all three major competitions, and Real … [Read more...]
La Liga Title Race: Mid-Season Check-in
With half of the La Liga season completed, the table is shaping up to look exactly what everyone thought it would. Currently Real Madrid (with a game in hand) sits atop of the table, one point ahead of their rivals Barcelona and 4 points ahead of last year’s winners, Atletico Madrid. All three teams are still alive in the Champions League and after next week’s Copa Del Rey matchup between Barca and Atletico, only one team will remain in that competition. Therefore, with 19 more games to be played (20 for Real Madrid) all three teams are more or less on even ground and can control their own … [Read more...]
Liverpool Transfers: Reds want £17m Barca keeper
Liverpool are monitoring the situation of Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen ahead of a reported £17 million transfer this January. According to the Daily Star, the Reds want to bring in the German either on loan or permanently to solve their current goalkeeping nightmare. Current number one Simon Mignolet has been heavily criticised this season for a series of errors, leading to him being benched at the end of 2014. Liverpool want ter Stegen to become their new number one for the forseeable future. It is thought that Barcelona have similar intentions for 22-year-old ter Stegen, who … [Read more...]
What Luis Enrique and President Bartomeu apparently don’t understand about Barcelona
After Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 last weekend—with their best showing of the season— Luis Enrique said, “Victories are the only thing that can calm this wave [of noise]…as soon as we make mistakes, the crisis will be back. That’s very clear. I will concentrate on what I can control.” A few days later Barcelona’s President, Bartomeu, is quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying, “There is a lot of tension around the club. I don’t like it. With this announcement that there will be an {Presidential} election hopefully we will reduce the tension.” … [Read more...]
Analysing Barca’s 3-2-3-2 formation
Predictably, after Barcelona’s 7-0 2013 Champions League semifinal defeat to Bayern Munich, when they were physically overpowered by a compact and organized 4-4-2 press, many of their future opponents adopted Bayern’s tactics in an attempt to nullify the attacking strengths and exploit the defensive frailties of the Catalan giants. It is then no surprise that Barcelona would transition to a back-3 to counteract the advantages their opposition obtained from mimicking the formation that dominated them. Playing a back-3 provides Barcelona an extra defender and free player to bring the ball out … [Read more...]
Reaction to the Champions League Draw for Spanish Sides
The top three in Spain are all in left in Europe’s elite competition, and today at 11am (GMT), they found out who their opponents would be for the round of 16 stage in the competition. After all 3 teams finished top of their group, the available teams they could face where Manchester City, PSG, Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco, Porto, Shalke 04, Juventus or Shakthar Donetsk. The first Spanish team to come out of the draw where 4 time winners Barcelona, who face Manchester city in the last 16. This will be a difficult task for Barca, who haven’t got the greatest of defensive records this season, … [Read more...]
Suarez displays for Barca come under heavy criticism
Luis Suarez once again failed to fire as Barcelona lost pace with league leaders Real Madrid at the top of the table, following a surprising a goalless draw to Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Saturday. Though missing the services of the injured Neymar, and Lionel Messi uncharacteristically misfiring, it was Luis Suarez who has came under the heaviest attacks from fans and Spanish media. … [Read more...]
Paul Scholes says Barcelona and Lionel Messi are Bored
Ex-Manchester United ace Paul Scholes believes that Barcelona are a ‘ghost’ of the side they once were, adding that Lionel Messi is bored of having won everything the club has to offer. Writing in his independent column, Scholes said: “When I try to find a way of summarizing the attitude of the team, and of some longer-serving individuals, I keep alighting on the word "bored". … [Read more...]