It’s another Champions League day, but instead of playing Stuttgart in the snow, we’re going to watch other teams battle it out in their second leg encounters. Arsenal host Porto (1-2 on aggregate) and Fiorentina host Bayern Munich (1-2 on aggregate) at 2:45 on FSC or Fox Sports en Español. Barça, meanwhile, has been practicing in this freaky March snowstorm. Let’s get to them.
-Once again, the team practiced in pretty crap conditions, but this time they were forced to a side field because it had artificial turf instead of real grass. Carles Puyol began the practice with the team, but was taken indoors with a back problem. The official site says the injury “doesn’t look like a serious problem, and he [Puyol] was able to continue working out in the dressing rooms.”
[Note: there's quite a bit of NSFW language in the video below, but the video itself is SFW]
[Note: there's quite a bit of NSFW language in the video above, but the video itself is SFW]
It’s gorgeous outside. It’s like spring finally decided to come around and say hi after winter spent months dumping snow and icy winds on us. It’s supposed to rain later this week, so I’m going to spend as much time this week outside walking around and wearing only a sweatshirt. It’s freakin’ 55F here! Those of you in warm weather climates are shivering at the thought, but I’m actually considering going out without a sweatshirt.
-The opposite is true in Barcelona today, where the team trained in full winter gear as it snowed (here and here). Seydou Keita and Eric Abidal missed through their previous injuries while Dani Alves and Lionel Messi also both missed through injuries sustained during the Almería match. I don’t think either of those latter two are seriously injured, but precautions were taken, probably especially in light of the snow and slippery conditions on the field. Carles Puyol also trained separately from the group, as appears to be his usual routine these days. He’ll be ready to go for Valencia regardless of his physical situation. No legs? No problem! I’ll bite your legs off.
To start with, an apology: No new posts for some two days has the suck. We’re aware of this, and it doesn’t fill our hearts with song. It won’t happen again.
Now, to begin with, an interesting perspective on the Eto’o-Ibrahimovic swap. No, it doesn’t come from a “reputable news source,” but precious little does in this world of ours. The long and short of it is that we came out ahead. Now, I know that this startles some people, who believe that the Ibrahimovic experiment isn’t working and “Lord, how I wish we had Eto’o back.”
While many of Barça’s players are off on international duty (as summarized yesterday), the folks who remained in Barcelona had an intense day of training today, but will get Wednesday off while their teammates are playing internationals. Sounds like a fair deal.
Because it’s internationals, we’re stuck with absurd drivel about transfers, so let’s quickly cover all that is happening in that realm:
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It’s mini-international break, which means that many of our players are away with their national squads. So we’ll start there before getting into other nonsense.
-The Spanish national team takes on France in the Stade de France, with Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, and Andres Iniesta being called up by del Bosque. I hope they don’t get too much playing time. The same goes for Thierry Henry, who has been included in the squad by Raymond “Einstein” Domenech. The main thing I’m hoping for here is few minutes and no injuries for all of our players. What I’m assuming will happen instead is that they’ll all play 90 in a bruising encounter. Sweet. Gametime: Wednesday, March 3, 3pmEST. [a Barça-related aside: do you think that these players will talk about the '06 CL final played at the Stade de France? Will Henry get pissed if they do it near him?]
At the end of yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Stuttgart, I was struck by one of the commentators babbling on about how the result was terrific for the German club. That suggests, then, that it was the opposite for Barcelona. Perhaps what he was suggesting was that Stuttgart was happy not to have lost to us, but that, I think, is insulting towards a club that could very well have come out the winners themselves.
Still, is Stuttgart happy with this result? Are we? Obviously the match itself was frustrating for a Barça fan used to the squad turning in controlled performances rather than a first half filled with grievous errors that really should have been punished by Stuttgart–Die Roten, or The Reds, as they’re known–but instead a missed handball in the box by Pique and a missed handball on a goal line clearance by Molinaro kept the aggregate score lower*, which is a good thing for Stuttgart in many respects. A 2-2 draw would have given Barça the absolute upper hand because only a win or a 3-3 draw or greater in the return leg (March 17) would put Stuttgart through.
We have a few things to discuss, as per some of the very interesting points raised in the aftermath of our rather lackluster victory against Racing, including the qualities of one Sergi Busquets.
But first, some news:
–Aleksandr Hleb says that a resurgent Stuttgart have a “10 percent” shot against us in our upcoming Champions League match. The good thing for us is that we start the tie at their house, which means that if we can steal an away goal or two, we’re sitting pretty for the home leg.
While we all wait in giddy anticipation of Kevin’s review, I thought a translation of Pep’s press conference after the game would lead to some good talking points. Pep always does a good presser. What separates him from other coaches is that he is not bombastic, generally avoids controversy, and is usually refreshingly honest in his answers while still being entertaining. Here are the goods:
With only two days to go before our next match (Racing at the Camp Nou), there’s a lot to discuss. I can’t wait for our next match and might just start on the preview immediately after publishing this post simply because, well, I’m an obsessive fool. While you’re reading this, consider sending in a picture to our background design. If you haven’t done so, please do so as soon as possible.
If the press is to be believed, we’re down in the table by something like ten points to an all-powerful Real Madrid team that shows no signs of losing this season. Only a shocking, utterly unforeseeable, and completely impossible self destruction by the blancos would enable us to get back into the race. It is a sad day in Barcelona history, indeed, when we can only fight for a Europa League spot.
Wait, we’re first, up by 2 points, have scored more goals and allowed fewer than anyone else, have lost just once to RM’s three times, currently own the tiebreaker with the merengues, and face Racing at the weekend while they face an up-and-coming Villarreal? And we still have Messi? Oh. I guess we should accept that we’re the best team on the planet and we’re having some injury problems, but that everything will be fine and we’ll continue to win matches because we’ve got a supremely talented squad filled with competitive mofos who won’t even think about losing, much less accept it as an inevitability.
The willingness to overreact is understandable in the short-term, but given the light of day and the length of the season, failing to put the league away by mid February is not the least bit surprising. Would you want the season to be over by the coming week? I wouldn’t, though I’ll admit that I’d gladly take that over Real Madrid still having a shot at the title, but even better would be Valencia, Sevilla, and someone else still being in it rather than12 or more points out. That’s just me, though. I don’t like losing, but I understand it’s merits in terms of making things a bit more interesting.*
The news itself is, actually, somewhat depressing.
