Barca round-up

I've been having a crazy time lately with my holiday job, hence the lack of posts. Some thoughts below on all matters Barca recently.

La Liga

Good to keep the winning form going, especially away to the most defensively solid team in the league in Mallorca - well, not anymore. It's still looking very tight in the top 8, so Barca are going to have to hang on through our injury problems and grind out results when necessary.

Having said that, I've already discarded the 3 points against Atletico Madrid. We almost never win against them. A club is only allowed one 'black beast' club in my book, and ours is Atletico - and, by implication, Torres. (He'd be a great buy if all that your club needed to do was beat Barcelona every week.) But that's okay, because a lot of the other top 8 teams are playing each other in the next few rounds, and will probably take points off each other in the process.

Champions League

I was so relieved we won in Sofia - 'without playing', as Sport claimed - which keeps the club's qualification chances in its own hands. By the way, I've been very impressed with the way Levski have approached the Champions League - with positive football and sensible responses to defeat. Fair play to them.

Chelsea of course lost to Bremen 0-1, a result which ensures that they will qualify and places Barca in the position of having to win against Bremen in the last game to get through. I'm not blaming Mourinho - he fielded a strong side and no doubt went out to at least get some sort of result. Hell, he even complained to the press later that Frings went down too easily in winning the freekick that led to the Bremen goal, so you know he took it seriously. In fact, I wouldn't have blamed him if he'd rested some players with the Manchester United match coming up, so his behaviour has been above what I expected.

As for Bremen, they need any result they can get. A good win for them, and they now have everything to play for - and pretty much nothing to lose, unlike Barca. Fair enough.

As both Motta and Deco have insisted - neither of them fans of Chelsea, kind of like yours truly - Barca should not hope for favours from Mourinho's team. It's their business what they do, after having gotten such good results from their first 4 games, and they have every right to do whatever makes them happy.

On the other hand, it's up to Barca to make sure that qualification does happen. A team with aspirations of defending their title shouldn't have to - or want to - rely on anyone else's sportsmanship or results. It's all down to a single game, at the Camp Nou, in which we have to win. There's nothing wrong with that.

Food for thought

Here's Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf on what his team is going to do at the Camp Nou:

"We set ourselves ambitious aims and so far we have reached them all in excellent fashion, but we shouldn’t travel to Barcelona thinking that all we have to do is defend.

"If you allow them to play their game, they’re going to hammer us. We have to take the game to them instead."

I don't know if we're in the kind of form (or have the kind of players fit) to 'hammer' a side like Bremen, but if they do take the game to Barca (and judging by past record, they will), with the way Barca almost always play at home it could make for a good encounter. Like against Chelsea, Barca cannot afford to give away cheap set pieces, since Bremen have some - to quote a Mourinhoism - 'giants' who are very good at capitalising.

Medical problems

Something's not right here. Poor Belletti keeps getting injured again right after 'recovering' from a short-term injury, and they keep screwing up the recovery times for other players. Please tell me Messi's not going to be out for double the time he's actually supposed to be (again). Or, God forbid, the same happening to Eto'o.

More immediately, Ronaldinho, Marquez and Motta all picked up knocks in the game against Levski. This is very, very bad. Marquez - who has admittedly been a bit out of sorts lately - can be replaced by either Oleguer (competent, but unable to make up for Puyol's lack of speed) or Thuram (again, same thing - awesomely skilled but not the fastest player around, and not quite on the same wavelength as Puyol a lot of the time). Hopefully Edmilson will be available in place of Motta if necessary. It's a shame since Motta's finally hit a good patch of form and to return to his eternal injury hell would set him back once again.

Ronaldinho, though. If Barca lose him, we're in deep trouble. That would be our 4th forward injured, not to mention our entire first choice forward line - enough to send any club into a deep spiral of despair. In this case, the prospect of Ezquerro-Gudjohnsen-Giuly taking on Bremen on the 5th does not fill me with confidence, even if the match is at home.

First impressions are that all three are just knocks, although knowing the Barca medical staff I'm waiting for them to be examined properly first - which will probably happen today.

Player status

To finish on a cheerful note, how good is Iniesta right now? And it's looking like a productive season in terms of goals for him too. Much as I like Xavi - and I like Xavi a lot - it's hard to see Iniesta not starting in this form. Not only that, but he has shown repeatedly that while quiet, he is a leadership figure on the pitch already at the tender age of 22. I was especially impressed when he was the one going around rallying the troops, calming people down and communicating with the referee when necessary against Depor, in a match where Barca desperately needed a leader after what happened against Chelsea and Puyol's tragic absence. He stepped up, even more so than our actual captain on the day - first vice-captain Ronaldinho.

While him and Xavi are both the quiet type, Iniesta seems to me to be even more of a leader figure. Xavi, bless him, is almost too easy-going. I've said this before, but Barca need to hold on to Iniesta. It's hard to see him not being pelted with offers for teams where he'll start every match, but it should be possible for the club to retain him as very possibly a future captain if they play their cards right. There the precedent of Xavi - who has turned down Chelsea, amongst others, to stay at Barca even through the bad old years - may come in useful.

Back to the selection headache, there's also the option of playing both Xavi and Iniesta, which has been used successfully before. The problem with that is that Deco is working his ass off right now, and getting a lot of constructive, if unglamorous work done. I don't think playing all 3 of them is a good idea unless we're at home and the opposition are playing with 10 men behind the ball - and that applies whether Xavi or Iniesta plays in the holding role. Then again, since Messi's out, all 3 might play with more regularity - with Iniesta in Giuly's usual position, instead of further back in midfield.

It's nice to see Gudjohnsen, Ezquerro and now Giuly getting on the scoresheet, when the team needed them to produce. Especially Guddy - I really like the attitude he has shown so far this season, despite all my criticisms of his technique. It's great that he's finally starting to answer back to all the naysayers. I'd gladly eat my words if he'd score more. As for poor Santi Ezquerro, the forgotten man now has a chance to get some games for Barca and prove his worth.

I've long admired Giuly's ability to suffer in silence given how frustrating it must be to be stuck behind a kid 10 years younger for a starting spot, especially given what he is capable of, and his glittering record so far. Much as I hate the fact that Messi is injured yet again, I like Giuly and would love for him to go on a run of form that will see him challenge Messi even when the Argentine is fit. More goals would also be nice.

Finally, as I mentioned before, congratulations are due to Motta, who is 'benefitting' from Edmilson's various injury problems and after a couple of games seems to be hitting some form. This is great news as he is Barca's best at linking attack and defence when his elusive good form comes about. Long may it continue.

Champions League: early predictions

I don't think we've seen a team that look like they could sweep all before them yet. Sure, that sometimes means nothing in this competition (see Liverpool 04-05, Porto 03-04) but what I mean in this case is a team who are showing consistent form in the group stages so far. Compare Barca's group stage results last year with what they're like this time around: in 05-06 they won all their group stage games, only drawing one away in Greece. They scored 16 goals and let in only 3. This time they're struggling to qualify. But more on that later.

Take a look at the usual suspects. While Arsenal should be contenders because of the quality of their squad and how well they can play, they still have trouble finding their way through a well-organised defence, as their domestic form and both results against CSKA have shown. It will be interesting to see what Porto can make of them second time round. Manchester United? They just got beaten by Copenhagen. Yeah, it wasn't a full-strength side, but that illustrates their problem. I think it's probably better for Sir Alex to focus on winning the domestic battle rather than obsessing about another European victory - his squad's far too thin for both, especially considering the ridiculous amount of games in the English calender (2 domestic cups? what?) Injuries to a couple of players would damage the ability of his squad severely.

Liverpool can never be discounted. Rafa Benitez is very, very good at winning cup competitions, as his record shows. Contrast their domestic form with their CL form. At their best, they don't let anything through in defence and break decisively in attack. It might not be the type of football I like to watch, but it works very well. That said, you do get the sense that they could struggle a bit because of the amount of ground they need to make up domestically to even get near Chelsea and Manchester United at this point. Still, they look the most likely of the English clubs to challenge, with one exception I'll discuss at the end.

Moving on to Italy, I think a lot of people were discounting the Italian teams at the beginning for various reasons related to the match-fixing scandal. But they are notoriously good at cup competitions. Roma don't look like winners, frankly. Their squad is too small and lacking in quality to sustain compaigns on both fronts, especially since their fans want to have a go at winning Serie A this season.

Inter on the other hand do have a big enough squad, but they're also notoriously liable to fall apart in the later stages of big competitions. I watched them play very well in their win over Milan, but got the sense that a well-organised defence (which Milan's wasn't, I can assure you) could stop them. Crespo's a great forward, and Cruz is producing the goods as usual, but Ibrahimovic isn't the most consistent striker in the world and Adriano is next to useless at this point. They're fairly solid at the back, which is very useful in cup competitions, but somehow still fail to convince me that they have the will to go all the way. Opposing arguments are welcome - I'd love to see good old Zanetti lift Big Cup if my team can't.

Just like Liverpool, Milan can never been discounted, even when they seem to be a bit down domestically. They lack a forward who guarantees goals because they let their best go to Chelsea and didn't replace him. That's going to be a big problem when the going gets tough. Kaka can't hit hattricks in every game. And then there's the defence. I get that most of these guys are legends, and Maldini still looked great when he came on in the Milan derby, but I don't understand how the club could have allowed their backline to become such a collection of monuments without bringing in young talent.

Can't Evil Overlord Berlusconi splash out some money to pluck promising young defenders out of the smaller European leagues to learn under the greats? Costacurta is over 40, you know, and 32' Television Set Cafu (nickname courtesy of the Guardian) isn't getting any younger. Even Nesta hasn't been on form this season after suffering injuries before the World Cup. Anyway, they've got some problems both up front and in the back. I don't see them going all the way, unless of course the draw favours them ridiculously, as happened in the group stages.

I wrote a while ago about how Valencia are the only ones who look like potential winners of the Spanish big three. It looks even worse for those of us who love La Liga now. Real are looking better under Capello, who after all is very experienced with winning cup competitions, but I think they still have some issues to sort out at the back. The real test will be what Lyon can do at the Bernabeu. Real are capable of winning games even if they don't play particularly well, which is a plus in the CL, but right now they are very much reliant on the form of a few players up front (Van Nistelrooy most importantly, and Robinho). Injuries could be a problem as the season drags on because of that. They also need to fight on at least 2 fronts.

Capello's choices so far seems like an indication that he's not taking the Copa del Rey seriously, but that still leaves the league, where Barca aren't going to take anything lying down and a whole host of clubs are nipping at their heels. In conclusion, they haven't really put in a performance to convince me yet (keeping in mind I am the type of person who criticized the Barca midfield after we won 5-0), although there are some good signs.

Valencia are a tricky bunch. I thought they'd be proper contenders at the beginning of the season, both in Europe and at home. Their squad is huge, brimming with talent, and they are a very well organised team. They have 2 brilliant strikers in Villa and Morientes who can't stop scoring, great wingers, a balanced midfield, and a solid backline led by the formidable Roberto Ayala. But their luck with injuries has been absolutely rotten. Half the first choice XI is injured. They've lost their wingers, pretty much all the midfielders and a whole lot of defenders as well. If this injury problem isn't sorted out soon, they can forget about challenging for the league.

Happily they've already qualified for the knockout stages of the CL, so they can focus on getting a complete squad back together in time for those fixtures. If they can manage that then perhaps they will go far. I'm not convinced by the consistency level of Quique Sanchez Flores' team, though. They always seem to crumble at key moments - see their attempts to keep up with Barca in the last 2 seasons, one of which resulted in them being overtaken by Real Madrid near the end and the other just as unsuccessful. By losing to Celta and Racing successively they seem to be showing similar symptoms this time round. That's something they'll have to fix. The CL is unforgiving to teams who fall apart under pressure.

Now we come to the defending champions. Like I pointed out at the beginning, not the best start this time compared to their barnstorming group stage run last season. Admittedly we have a harder group this time, but that shouldn't be an excuse for a team with title winning aspirations. Before even talking about Barca's chances of winning, they have to get out of the group stage, which in itself is going to be very difficult. They need to beat Levski away and then Bremen at home. Bremen in particular are on fire at the moment. Like Deco said, Barca will need to battle to the death at Camp Nou to win on the last matchday.

Assuming we do scramble out of our group somehow even with no strikers (one crocked, one half-crocked, the rest aren't actual strikers), a lot will depend on when Samuel Eto'o gets back, and what kind of form he's in. I believe based on the Chelsea game that Barca as a whole are finally finding some form, but the striker position is still our crucial weakness.

Moving away from the big 3 leagues and on to other contenders. Lyon are arguably the most in-form team in the CL right now. Their problem seems to be falling apart at the later stages. It will remain to be seen whether or not they can change that this time round. One massive advantage is their formidable lead domestically - they really don't have to work too hard to win the title, which will leave more resources for challenging in Europe. I'll reserve judgement on them until they play Real again.

Bayern Munich started this season by declaring that they'd be happy to be in the knockout stages. They've got great results in the group stage, but I'm not convinced they have what it takes to go too much further. Poldoski hasn't settled in; Mark van Bommel, while a good player, is no Ballack; they look shaky at the back and have a tricky domestic campaign this year with Bremen looking stronger. All in all, I don't see what's going to take them far.

Speaking of Werder Bremen, they would have a fair shot of getting past the round of 16 if they managed to qualify. Now, given my allegiances and the situation in the group I have to hope that Barca get through instead, but if it does happen (to much wailing and gashing of teeth on my part) at least Bremen are a positive, attacking team. To qualify they have to get a result at home against Chelsea and then away to Barcelona. Given their recent domestic form that looks very possible, although last season they arrived in the Camp Nou on the back of similar barnstorming domestic feats and were well beaten.

That said, they have improved from last season. Klose is as deadly as ever, especially with young strike partner Aaron Hunt helping out up front. Frings is as good as ever, and even their much-mocked defence is improving with the impressive Naldo and new signing Mertesacker impressing in particular. When on form, they can trouble the defence of any team. I'm stuck hoping that they don't qualify, which is not a nice position to be in because they play lovely football. Still, how insane is group A? The league leaders of England, Spain and Germany battling it out for 2 places.

PSV have looked pretty good at times this season, and they're always contenders, but I'm not sure how genuine their challenge will prove to be in the later stages. Same goes with Porto, if they manage to get through the group stages. I think one of the dark horses this time around could come from their group, namely CSKA Moscow. Their defence is notoriously wall-like and they've got quite a few skillful Brazilians up front, not to mention an exciting homegrown winger. A Villarreal-like run? Maybe. They've got the necessary qualities.

All of which brings me to the team who look most like winners right now. That's Chelsea. They have a big squad, no matter what Mourinho insists, full of quality players. They have a healthy mix of experience and young talent. They have a manager who knows how to win in this competition. Their only weakness as far as I can see is vulnerability along the wings, but hardly any teams use the wings properly these days. Lyon might give them a hard time, but otherwise they have the potential to beat anyone else, and they know it. Of course, whether or not that attitude will prove to be a stumbling block depends on how well Mourinho can regulate his team's mental state, and he can do that very well indeed. Unless they meet nemesis Liverpool again, or an on-form Barca with Samuel Eto'o back, I don't think too many teams stand a chance against them.

picking over the wreck that was Bremen-Barca

I know this is incredibly late, but I only got to see the match yesterday. It is an interesting time for Barca, which is why I bothered with the long analysis at all, given that the match is now more than a week old.

Without futher ado:

Werder Bremen (4-1-3-2): Wiese; Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Schulz; Baumann; Frings, Borowski, Diego; Hunt (Owomoyela 91'), Klose

FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdés; Oleguer, Thuram, Puyol, Sylvinho (Zambrotta 82') ; Motta, Iniesta, Deco; Giuly (Messi 65'), Eto'o (Gudjohnson 65'), Ronaldinho

Goals:
1-0 Puyol o.g. (56')
1-1 Messi (89')

The Match

Barca were disastrous for the first 15 minutes. Just incredibly poor, no coherence, inability to string two passes together, Motta, Iniesta and Giuly invisible against Bremen's physical approach.

Both Ronaldinho and Deco said after the match that Barca's troubles stemmed from lacking a man in midfield, and I think that's evident from the match itself. As Ronaldinho dropped back into a midfield position the team improved greatly, got lots more possession and started getting shots on goal. Before that we were just getting out-hustled and out-manned in the middle of the park, which is just not something that happens to Barcelona. That said, Motta, Iniesta and Giuly were still not getting involved enough. I expect that kind of thing out of Giuly because he just has a game like that once in a while, but not people like Iniesta and Motta who have aspirations of becoming starters ahead of very good players in Edmilson and Xavi. To be fair, Iniesta improved as the game went on, but that's not going to change his supersub status. Motta is a whole other kettle of fish I will discuss later.

Nice to see the edge come into Barca's game after the own goal, although I wish it could have been there from the very beginning. After that it became more of an even game, with Barca picking up greater steam after each of the substitutions. Messi immediately made the right wing threatening again and in fact lifted the whole offence to a better level. Zambrotta's entrance meant that Barca's ability to recover lost possession got much better immediately, which was invaluable leading up to the goal. In the end, Deco and Messi combined to rescue a point for Barcelona with a typically Barca move.

I disagree strongly with those who say that Barca were outclassed all over the park. If they were, why was Bremen's only goal scored by Puyol? Hunt had a great game in every other aspect, but his finishing was pretty bad. So many chances wasted with speculative efforts from range. Klose on the other hand couldn't be blamed for not scoring since he wasn't even fully fit and was a bit unlucky as well. I agree that Barca's midfield were beaten by Bremen's, and all credit to them, especially Frings and Diego, but the two teams were in no way a class apart from each other. That said, Barca will need to get into form quickly if they even want to get out of the group.

Barca

Forwards

I'm going to miss Eto'o a lot, no matter how well his replacements do. Did you see that run he made on about the 22nd minute mark? Intercepted the ball from a Bremen corner, ran the whole length of the pitch lightning quick and was only stopped by Frings' interception just outside the box. This is why I love him as a player. The forward line as a whole were ineffective before the double substitution, but Eto'o worked as hard as ever before he had to go off. Get well soon, Sammy.

Gudjohnsen looked a little shaky, but comparisons with Eto'o are never flattering and he did the best he could, making some good passes and holding off defenders well. His ability to penetrate a good defence by himself is something I'm not yet convinced by, but we'll see.

Ronaldinho was ordinary. I think that's the best way to describe his performance. He improved after Messi and Gudjohnsen came on, but if Sylvinho wasn't the nice guy we all know he is, he could have smacked Ronnie for wasting the nth great pass/cross from him. I won't slam him, because he always starts slowly and maybe things will improve soon, but it is worrying.

Like I mentioned above, Giuly had one of those games. Undoubtedly a great player, he's nevertheless prone to unstable form - one moment he's scoring the goal that sends Barca to the Champions League final, the next he's unable to get a touch of the ball all game. Not his fault, especially against such a big, physical team, and not exactly worrying given how good his replacement is.

Stand up Leo Messi, or as some Barca fans cheekily call him, the 'Messi-ah'. Visitors to this blog will have seen my rambling rebukes of what some in the media have called his loss of form. Like Rijkaard said, though, one flat match does not a loss of form make. Cutting through all the arguments about his deficiencies in front of goal, his age and physical strength, I believe that what counts is the fact that Messi always delivers when Barca needs him to. Case in point: scoring the vital game-tying goal.

Midfielders

I thought Deco was the best of the midfielders, which - it has to be said - is not a great achievement in this match. He did the best he could while being constantly harried by 3, 4 Bremen players and coped better than Iniesta with the physical aspects of the game. Tracked back to help defend well, as always, and was rewarded for his labours by making the Barca goal with a great pass. For those who wonder why Deco is never rotated (including yours truly), I guess we have the answer. Truly a born winner, and Barca are lucky to have him.

If my assessment of Iniesta above in the match report sounded harsh, rest assured he's actually one of my favourite Barca players. Great runs through the middle of the pitch, good passing vision, spirited hard work and a nice shooting touch combines to make him a potentially fearsome player. He is, however, young and still growing. The defensive aspect of his game needs work, since the great effort he puts in doesn't always pay off. He also needs lessons from Deco on how to cope with being kicked around - not by diving, god forbid; that's the one thing I dislike about Deco, and hopefully he won't pass it on to the young guys. Right now Iniesta does great work regularly as an impact sub, but I do have to question Rijkaard's decision to start him against a team like Bremen. Maybe Xavi was tired out from the difficult game against Valencia or nursing a knock. Otherwise I can't see his reasoning.

On to the complicated problem of Thiago Motta. For those of you who don't frequent Barca fan forums, Motta is a regular hate-figure for Barca supporters along with Oleguer, who I'll discuss below. I'm usually reluctant to join in with what I see as unfair blame being heaped on the poor guy, but in this case...well. He's actually not a bad passer of the ball, but defensively rather worrying. In that aspect I would rate him ahead of Iniesta and Xavi but still not good enough for a defensive midfielder. It is said that Rijkaard rates Motta because he sees the young Brazilian as a player in his own image, but I really don't see it - yet. He is far from effective as a midfield destroyer in current form. I'm not saying he doesn't put in the effort. The problem is that his tackling is often so untidy and badly timed that it leads to either comedy defending or him being booked. That said, I'd like to see a midfield of Deco-Motta-Edmilson against Chelsea again, if possible, since to me Motta does provide a combination of defensive muscle and forward movement that meshes well with Deco and Edmilson's game against a side like Chelsea.

Defenders

Sylvinho played a blinder offensively, I thought, and the lack of product was more due to the forwards (particularly Ronaldinho) not being able to do anything with his wonderful crosses and throughballs than anything else. He faded towards the end of the game and the decision to bring on Zambrotta was the correct one, but that doesn't affect the overall strength of his performance. Not too many problems in defence, which was a pleasant surprise.

As for the great Lilian Thuram - what can I say? Yet another commanding performance from the ageless Frenchman. Let almost nothing past him, great tackling and marking, domination in the air - the best of the Barca defenders, to me, even with the errors he did make. I've just been amazed by his defensive style. He's played 3 games for Barca this season and you can count the number of times he's been called for a foul on the fingers of one hand. Motta should take lessons in how to time your tackles from this guy. Definitely the new Larsson, since he also began with lowered expectations from the fans because of his age and has gone on to win their affection with his attitude and general excellence.

Poor Puyol. The great folks at a pretty move call him the Armoured Saint, which I love because it's a great reflection of just how committed, genuine and hardworking he is, and how much the fans adore him for it. He looked so crushed with the own goal. As much as Bremen deserved a goal, Puyol certainly didn't deserve that. What a comedown after scoring his first goal in European competition against Levski Sofia. Other than that, he was fairly solid in central defence. Late on a couple of Bremen moves, but made up for it by working his ass off, as usual. No Barca supporter would have blamed him even if his own goal had cost the team all the points, which to me says it all, really.

I don't like to criticize Oleguer because he gets so much stick from the fans as it is, but if you look at Bremen's attacks, the most threatening ones came through the right, and he failed to close that wing down. That said, he grew into the game as it went on and made some great interceptions in the last 10 minutes or so. My guess is that having not played a full game since the beginning of the season, he needed sometime to get back to match sharpness, and throwing him in at the deep end wasn't a good way to do that. To me, he's a center-back, not a right-back. Barca have 2 actual right-backs in Belletti and Zambrotta, and while Belletti is defensively questionable that shouldn't mean poor Oleguer gets to play out of position and get blamed for everything that goes wrong.

Lastly, pride of place goes to Valdes, who did very well coping with being put under constant pressure, especially in the first half, a position he's not exactly used to. Some great saves, and generally an assured performance. I remember watching El Clasico from November of last year and swearing at the TV as he flapped at Madrid's ineffective crosses and mishit shots. Thankfully, he's improved since then. Perhaps Valdes should be given the benefit of the doubt now, especially after doing so well in the Champions League final.

Rijkaard

I do not understand why this man is constantly belittled by the fans. I do not understand why even now some fans want him replaced with a 'big name'. Maybe he doesn't shout enough? To me, Barca's recent successes could not have come without him. He's admirably forthright, level-headed and very, very good at man-management. Sure, some of his starting choices might seem a little inexplicable, even to a fan of the man like me, but his substitutions are usually pretty much spot-on. Those who were bitching about the starting line-up after the game might want to recall that the team had just played a gruelling match against Valencia a couple of days ago in which half the team got the stuffing kicked out of them. Hence the rotations. Anyway, enough of that, another rant for another day.

Team

Not impressive, frankly. I know that Barca's style can be hampered by teams who snap at their heels all over the pitch, but that should not be an excuse for a team with title aspirations. Almost every team will try to stop Barca playing their game that way, and we should be dealing with that. That said, it is a good sign that the team is able to continue playing in the same style even when a goal down and come back strongly. Everyone is working hard and doing their best. Considering that it took Barca until mid-October of last year to really start playing well, I'm not panicking just yet.

However, the loss of Eto'o is massive. My initial reaction was one of complete despair. I felt like we could kiss all the titles goodbye. But if the team can click with either one of his replacements - both quality players in their own right - then all hope is not lost. Let's just see what happens over the next month.

Bremen

Klose is a great forward who I quite like, but there's just one thing I can't stand about him. It's the way he always looks like he's going to injure the goalkeeper crashing into him going up for 50/50 balls in the box. Remember that knee in the ribs of Argentinean goalkeeper Abbondanzieri which meant he had to go off with an injury in the World Cup quarterfinals? I do, because I'm convinced that started the chain of events which led to Argentina losing the game. My heart stopped everytime him and Valdes crashed into each other. Thank God nothing bad happened. Anyhow, that's enough bias from me.

That Naldo, though, what a great defender. So fast and good with his positioning as well - I haven't see a defender keep up with Eto'o so well for a while, and he completely shut Ronaldinho down when the Brazilian went up against him.

Frings and Diego both had great games, and I've already talked about Hunt. Borowski was less involved, but the point about Bremen's performance isn't who did what - they performed well as a team. Everything clicked together, everyone gave their all. If they can continue playing like this, they'll trouble Chelsea when they come to visit, which makes it even more important for Barca to win their other games against Levski and Bremen and try for a result against Chelsea.

A note about commentary

The ESPN commentators were better than some of the guys they had for the World Cup, but God - did a player have to kill someone to get booked in the eyes of these guys? Or do they just watch a lot of Premiership games? I mean, yes, the ref did stop play a bit too much, but those Bremen midfielders play rough, and guys like Motta aren't exactly gentle defenders either.

Also, I get so fed up with commentators who keep saying that Barca need to basically abandon their style of play because otherwise they're never going to score. There was a hilarious moment in the ESPN broadcast of the Champions League final of last season when one of the commentators was busy insisting that Barca needed to stop playing their passing game and try hoofing long balls into the box to break Arsenal down when Eto'o completed a lightning fast passing move by scoring the levelling goal. At the beginning of the Premiership season I felt bad for Arsenal for precisely this reason - everyone was saying the same thing about them, except they did actually have a scoring problem. For both teams, though, that style is part of their identity. To insist that a team like Barca need to use long-ball tactics to score goals is to miss the point.


Finally, great stadium atmosphere at Bremen, I have to say. Now if only we can pack the Camp Nou and give the German team a similar reception when they visit. Actually, before that, we have to 'welcome' Chelsea, but I'm sure that won't be a problem for the faithful at all. Reproduce the atmosphere of last season's semi-final home leg against AC Milan and Camp Nou will really live up to its reputation.

Up next, my take on round 5 of La Liga.

Disaster for Barca at Werder

...and I don't mean the result. No, there's nothing wrong with that, and I'll talk about why later. But for now, the worst news for Barca fans is surely the injury to Samuel Eto'o, who is so crucial to the team.

For those who didn't see it, he turned sharply and hurt his knee. Very worrying sight for those who know what he's like, as Eto'o would never ask to be subbed off unless he was very seriously injured. Thank god there appears to be no ligament damage, which this team has had enough of for ten years in the last 2 seasons. In the 04-05 season Barca essentially won the league with a 13 man squad due to Edmilson, Gabri and Larsson being out for almost the whole season. Last season bought similar injuries to Xavi and Motta.

Turns out that Eto'o might be out for up to 3 months. Even 2 weeks is far too long at this point, as Barca have a nightmarish run of fixtures ahead, encompassing teams such as Sevilla, Real Madrid, and Chelsea (home and away). The problem is that Barca don't have a replacement at his level. Not many clubs can replace a man who scores 68 goals in 100 games with someone of the same standard.

There just aren't many forwards in the world who are as good as he is. Thierry Henry, yeah, but he decided to remain at Arsenal, and I think rightly so. Ronaldo used to be that good - in fact, probably better - but definitely not now. I could go on, but the point is that with all respect to Gudjohnsen and Saviola, Barca cannot replace Eto'o.

His injury makes Barca less dangerous going forward. End of story. Now his backups - the aftementioned Gudjohnsen and Saviola, plus Ezquerro when he gets back to fitness - have to prove their worth.

Round-up of Champions League results and previews for the Wednesday games

Results so far

The first half of match day 2 of the Champions League has come and gone, with few surprise results. Madrid and Raul threatened to make me eat my words with a 5-1 pasting of Dynamo Kiev in which the latter scored a brace, but given how Dynamo went down to Steaua (who themselves got thrashed 3-0 by Lyon) I’m not quite convinced yet. Interesting to note that despite press reports alleging van Nistelrooy’s incompetence in the game against Betis (wildly exaggerated, of course) and playing up Ronaldo’s inclusion, the Brazilian only made a cameo appearance. Probably a wise move by Capello, as to me van Nistelrooy and Reyes are their most important offensive players right now. The coach sounded a note of caution after the match in an attempt to cut down on the hype that will no doubt be generated by the press, which I see as a great move, so all credit to him. The Dynamo coach on the other hand said that Madrid would probably be in the final. I’ll reserve judgment on that front , but Capello is very good in Europe, so who knows?

Manchester United were unconvincing against Benfica but came away with a crucial away win, which is really all that counts at this point. Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to rest Louis Saha for the EPL game at the weekend - lambasted by the press and some fans - seems somewhat vindicated now since he scored the only goal. Wayne Rooney continues to struggle with form as the criticisms pile on. I have to say, I’m not his greatest fan – in fact, most of the time I think he’s a bit overrated, but right now I feel bad for him. It seems that with young prodigies like him, Messi, C Ronaldo and Aguero, they’re so hyped up that any slump in form is immediately jumped on by the circling hordes. People forget that the oldest of the four mentioned above is only 21, and the youngest barely 18. An ordinary person of that age would probably be out skipping classes, getting drunk and avoiding responsibility, while these guys have a hell of a lot on their shoulders. I’m not saying that they should have a lower standard imposed on them – after all, if they’re good enough to start for a big team then they should perform. But what I am saying is that anybody can have a couple of bad matches, even prodigies. Just lay off until you’re sure that they’re really having a slump (see: Adriano - hasn’t scored for Inter for almost half a year, now that’s a real slump).

Back to the topic at hand, and Milan failed to get past Lille’s tight defence in France, ending up with a 0-0 draw to take home. No real surprises so far, unless you count out-of-form and injury-stricken Hamburg’s loss to CSKA Moscow, but in reality the Russian side who won the UEFA Cup two seasons ago were always going to be challengers for at least that UEFA Cup spot. With the speed of change going on in Clubs like CSKA who have lots of money poured into them quickly a poor record in the past doesn’t count for all that much.

Second half preview

Spartak Moscow v Sporting Lisbon

A potentially tricky away tie for Sporting after the heady heights of that upset victory over Inter. It’s never easy to play in Russia, but the visiting team can be thankful that it’s not quite winter yet, so at least they won’t freeze to death. Spartak got thrashed 4-0 by Bayern in their first game, collapsing in the second half after holding their German hosts to a 0-0 draw for the first. I’ll be looking out for this result mainly because of Spartak’s two Argentines, Clemente Rodriguez at left-back and eternally unsettled Fernando Cavenaghi at center forward. Rodriguez is a regular starter and provides a threat going forward, but Cavenaghi – once so good in Argentina’s River Plate has yet to adapt to his surroundings 2 seasons in and may not play. I think both clubs would be content with a draw here, but a win would mean a lot to Sporting who now have hopes of qualifying for the second round while Spartak would just be happy to finally win a game in the Champions League.

Bremen v Barcelona

Mark van Bommel seems to have enjoyed his one-season stay at Barca immensely, despite not getting enough regular playing time, an unfortunate consequence of a large squad which saw him and the club part amiably at the beginning of this season. He’s now a mainstay for Bayern Munich, attempting to pick up where Michael Ballack left off. Why is this discussion part of the Barca preview instead of the Bayern one? Well, he’s given a fairly gushy interview to a German magazine basically telling Bremen what they already know – that playing an open attacking game against Barca is very risky.

He’s got a bit of a reputation as a trouble-maker, but I’ve never seen any signs of that in his time at Barca. In fact, he seemed pretty popular within the squad, never complained about lack of playing time and made the best of his opportunities. As a result Barca fans were all wishing him well when he chose to leave, and he’s been very good about his departure. I was worried that he’d have some unhappy views to air, since that seems to be the trend for players moving clubs right now, but he’s been a perfect gentleman about it, so all credit to him. I don’t think many could complain about a one-year stay that yielded a Spanish title and a Champions League winner’s medal, but you never know these days.

Turning to actual team news, Miroslav Klose could play despite not being 100% match fit after Bremen failed to win all the Bundesliga matches that he missed through injury. The attacking axis of him and Torsten Frings is undoubtedly Bremen’s main threat, so they’ll be hoping those two have a blistering game. Playmaker Diego looks set to play after recovering from injury. They’ve had a bad run of form recently and a win would really help the team get back on track.

Barcelona have continued their policy of rotation, leaving Marquez, Gio, Saviola and the still injured Ezquerro out of the squad. This means the starting line-up will look something like this (4-3-3): Valdes; Zambrotta/Belletti, Puyol, Thuram, Sylvinho; Edmilson/Motta, Xavi, Iniesta/Deco; Giuly, Eto’o, Ronaldinho.

The reason there are so many uncertainties in the above is because I’m not sure how concerned Rijkaard is about fatigue after that hard-fought game against Valencia. Zambrotta would play most games because of his defensive abilities, but against a team like Bremen who play in a similar style to Barca the defensively dubious attacker Belletti might be in his element. I’m also not at all sure which of the midfield trio of Xavi, Iniesta and Deco will play. Personally, I’d want to rest Deco because he looks like he needs it after playing every match so far. Rijkaard might not want to take that risk, though. In any case, I would like to see Iniesta play some part, taking the place of either of the other two, starting or coming in from the bench. Edmilson is popularly thought of as better than Motta in the holding midfield position, but after his unconvincing performance against Valencia I’m not sure he’d be better than Motta against a fast team like Bremen. Giuly should start as a matter of rotation, with Messi or Gudjohnsen perhaps coming in from the bench later on.

This has the potential to be a very good game between two sides that both use positive, attacking tactics – just the kind of spectacle that, personally speaking, I’d like to see more of in club football. I’m hoping it lives up to expectations, since last year’s group stage opener (also away at Bremen) resulted in a scrappy 2-0 win that really flattered Barca. A better game this time would be great. Of course, beyond that winning the game is the most important thing for us in this very difficult group. Bremen are probably my second favourite side in the group and I genuinely hope they qualify, but not at Barca’s expense. So with no disrespect to the German side, this is a game the defending champions should be looking to win. There’s no excuse for not coming up with a result as Bremen will not employ stifling defensive tactics like Valencia. In fact, their defence is really pretty poor. If the offence finally gets itself together, Barca should be fine. If not, we could be in a bit of trouble.

Levski v Chelsea

The big question hovering over this tie seems to be the fitness of John Terry. Late news seems to be that he will be fit to play, although knowing Mourinho I’m not sure how far that can be trusted. Either way, Chelsea will be looking to pick up a comfortable win here, even though playing away in Bulgaria is sure to be difficult. Since Michael Ballack is available, they’ll probably revert to the diamond formation that so stifled Frank Lampard before Ballack’s suspension in the EPL. Whether it’s a good or bad thing, you decide. Andriy Shevchenko to score, I say. He’s such a class act that it’s bound to happen sometime.

As for Levski, having handled the roughest start a Champions League rookie could have (away to the defending champs) with admirable spirit, things aren’t going to get easier. A thrashing by Barca in Camp Nou shouldn’t have dampened spirits too much since it was so predictable, and they should run out with the same positive attacking mentality that they showed in the last game. This is just as suicidal against Chelsea as it is against Barca, but good on them for doing what I think is the right thing. Here’s hoping they avoid another thrashing, although I can’t see past a Chelsea win.

Inter v Bayern

One of the big ties of this round, along with Valencia-Roma and to a lesser extent Barca-Bremen. On paper this is an exciting clash between the champions of the German league and the (non-cheating) champions of Italy, but in reality I’m not sure either of these teams have really lived up to their billing so far this season.

Let’s start with Inter. The ‘crazy Inter’ cliché is overused and exaggerated, but it is true that their ability to fail against all odds is kind of amazing. While not being a fan of any team in particular in Serie A, I usually have one eye on Inter because of the sheer number of Argentinean players in the team. It was great to see Cambiasso start the season with a brace in a game against Fiorentina but worrying when the defence then conceded 2 goals when leading 3-0. The same thing happened against Chievo, Inter storming to a 4-0 lead which included a brace by on-fire Hernan Crespo and a header by fellow Argentine Walter Samuel. Then they managed to concede 3 in the last 20 minutes. A win against Roma helped them bounce back from a disappointing defeat in their opening CL game against Sporting Lisbon, and they’ll be looking to pick up points here to steady the boat, qualification-wise.

In team news, Recoba, Argentines part-time striker Julio Cruz and team mainstay Cambiasso are all injured, while Patrick Viera is suspended for that red card picked up against Sporting Lisbon. This should pose no problems given the depth of the Inter squad, with versatile Argentineans (see what I mean about the number of Argentine players?) captain Javier Zanetti and Santiago Solari able to slot in to any number of positions on the field. Crespo is of course one of the most on-form strikers in Europe right now, and I’ll stick my neck out here – Hernan to score at least one.

Similarly, Bayern have not been having a happy fun time at all, although they’ve climbed back up to the top of the league table. They looked particularly poor in pre-season with new signing Lukas Podolski nowhere near match fitness, especially in that 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona at Camp Nou, which was particularly embarrassing given that Barca used a completely different XI for the first and second halves, managing to beat them with both (3-0 first half, 1-0 second). After purchasing the aftementioned Mark van Bommel from Barca they’re looking better in midfield, but I’m not quite convinced that they have the quality to go far in Europe. They’re known domestically as a utilitarian side that grinds out results, but in the Champions League lately there hasn’t even been that, with last season’s embarrassing thrashing by AC Milan no doubt still on the mind of their fans. In Bayern’s last game they took their sweet time breaking down Spartak Moscow in the last game before scoring 4 goals late in the second half at home. On a positive note, though, they have no injury worries for this clash.

Another difficult visit to the always fearsome San Siro beckons for the German champions, and it’s difficult to call this one with both teams displaying somewhat inconsistent form so far. Inter will be looking to win, no doubt about that, but quite honestly I think Bayern would not complain about a draw.

Liverpool v Galatasaray

No one in this group seems to know how to score so far, but with Liverpool’s luck improving in front of goal maybe that’ll change. Galatasaray are difficult to play at home but notoriously poor travelers, so Liverpool should be looking to pick up points at Anfield. Anything less than a victory would be unacceptable.

Bordeaux v PSV

Bordeaux will be difficult to break down at home, but PSV should still expect to pick up points here given their league form and the fact that after drawing at home to Liverpool they kind of need them. I’m not all that certain that the Dutch side will achieve that here though. It’s a good chance for Bordeaux to show that they have quality going forward as well as in defence. 0-0 draw, anyone?

Shakhtar v Olympiakos

The Greek side managed to put 2 goals past a normally water-tight Valencia defence at home but managed to concede 4 for the first win by a Spanish side in Greece. Still-dangerous Rivaldo’s injury is a major drawback for them, especially given their poor away form in the CL. Shakhtar will be looking to get 3 crucial points with the advantage of playing at home, since they also travel badly, having been beaten in the first game 4-0 by Roma despite putting up a decent fight for the first half.

Valencia v Roma

Roma are yet another team who don’t travel all that well, although their recent impressive form in Serie A and a good win over Shakhtar means that they’ll be confident going into this game of getting a result in the noisiest stadium in Spain, never a easy place to for away teams to play in.

Valencia on the other hand are riding high after their impressive away draw against Barcelona and are in great form on all fronts. Their only worries might be the increasingly long injury list and fatigue from a hard-fought game in the Camp Nou, as their large squad is stretched to the limit. Marchena, Albiol, Baraja and del Horno are all injured, which is concerning but not a big problem since they’re all replaceable. What might be worrying Valencia fans more is the sight of their usually indefatigable captain David Albelda getting cramp near the end of the Barca game, and the suspicion that he rushed his comeback from injury to play.

If exhaustion doesn’t set in then I think Valencia should win this game. They’re playing well as a team with a tight defence and some great players going forward. Fernando Morientes nabbed a perfect hat-trick in the last game, scoring with left foot, right foot and his head, but I think it’s David Villa’s turn this time. Valencia to win with at least a goal from the best Spanish striker around.

(By the way, something that I forgot to mention about Valencia last time – they’re really lacking a dead-ball specialist now that Aimar is gone. Villa isn’t bad, but he’s not very consistent on free-kicks, and Joaquin is only accurate from one side.)