Greetings fellow Barça fans. Winning sure does cure everything.
Crisis? What crisis? A draw and a win and all of a sudden the press is off Barcelona’s back and
saying they are back. Well they were never gone. They just hit a slump like every other team. The
players are human and Guardiola is still a rookie coach, so this club was never going to keep
winning every game. La Liga is never that easy or else it would not be La Liga. Barcelona got over that Atletico Madrid loss with a tough performance in Mallorca. The Copa Del Rey
Semi-Finals had been a nightmare for this team the last two years but Barcelona made sure they
would not fail this time thanks to Pinto. It what could be the most important penalty save since
Urruti’s penalty saves in 1985. We will find out in May if this will be remembered as much as Urruti’s penalty save against Real Valladolid where Barcelona won the league or more as Urruti’s penalty save in the semi-finals shootout against IFK Göteborg in the European Semi-Finals in which the team would lose in the final against Steaua Bucuresti.
Sure the game ended in a draw, but that draw had the euphoria of a win and that carried on to this
past weekend’s game against Bilbao. Many called it a Copa Del Rey Final but I never believe a
league game is the same as a cup game; just ask Celtic fans. Nevertheless, Barcelona came out
with their guns blazing and defeated Bilbao by a score of 2-0 that was never ever that close. With
Real Madrid not winning finally, the gap increased back to six points for Barcelona and all is well.
Barcelona will be hosting Lyon this Wednesday and many believe that the away goal basically
sealed this tie. I usually never believe anything is done but part of me thinks Lyon will just repeat
another quick exit in the elimination stages. I sure would be feeling more confident if Puyol was
playing. Sadly, the captain will be out for three weeks and thus we are forced to watch the non-
dynamic duo of Rafael Márquez and Pique as the centerbacks.
Guardiola has brought a lot of changes to this club, with health and conditioning being a blessing for
a team that had been haunted with long term injuries. However, for many who thought this club had
too many defenders, we now find ourselves wondering if it’s possible to get Henrique back from
Germany now. We have been accustomed to seeing forwards and midfielders getting injured, but not
so many defenders during this season and hopefully this won't lead to more wear and tear on the
defenders. The good news is that Oleguer is not the one to fill in this time.
So Wednesday will have a banged up Lyon against a slightly banged up Barcelona team and here’s
hoping for a great night of European football.
Until next time, here’s hoping for less injuries.
Visca Barça!
Crisis? What crisis? A draw and a win and all of a sudden the press is off Barcelona’s back and
saying they are back. Well they were never gone. They just hit a slump like every other team. The
players are human and Guardiola is still a rookie coach, so this club was never going to keep
winning every game. La Liga is never that easy or else it would not be La Liga. Barcelona got over that Atletico Madrid loss with a tough performance in Mallorca. The Copa Del Rey
Semi-Finals had been a nightmare for this team the last two years but Barcelona made sure they
would not fail this time thanks to Pinto. It what could be the most important penalty save since
Urruti’s penalty saves in 1985. We will find out in May if this will be remembered as much as Urruti’s penalty save against Real Valladolid where Barcelona won the league or more as Urruti’s penalty save in the semi-finals shootout against IFK Göteborg in the European Semi-Finals in which the team would lose in the final against Steaua Bucuresti.
Sure the game ended in a draw, but that draw had the euphoria of a win and that carried on to this
past weekend’s game against Bilbao. Many called it a Copa Del Rey Final but I never believe a
league game is the same as a cup game; just ask Celtic fans. Nevertheless, Barcelona came out
with their guns blazing and defeated Bilbao by a score of 2-0 that was never ever that close. With
Real Madrid not winning finally, the gap increased back to six points for Barcelona and all is well.
Barcelona will be hosting Lyon this Wednesday and many believe that the away goal basically
sealed this tie. I usually never believe anything is done but part of me thinks Lyon will just repeat
another quick exit in the elimination stages. I sure would be feeling more confident if Puyol was
playing. Sadly, the captain will be out for three weeks and thus we are forced to watch the non-
dynamic duo of Rafael Márquez and Pique as the centerbacks.
Guardiola has brought a lot of changes to this club, with health and conditioning being a blessing for
a team that had been haunted with long term injuries. However, for many who thought this club had
too many defenders, we now find ourselves wondering if it’s possible to get Henrique back from
Germany now. We have been accustomed to seeing forwards and midfielders getting injured, but not
so many defenders during this season and hopefully this won't lead to more wear and tear on the
defenders. The good news is that Oleguer is not the one to fill in this time.
So Wednesday will have a banged up Lyon against a slightly banged up Barcelona team and here’s
hoping for a great night of European football.
Until next time, here’s hoping for less injuries.
Visca Barça!
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