Barça to visit two of seven infernos

In less than 24 hours the UEFA committee will hold the final draw of the champions league determining who plays against whom and where the second game of each round is going to be played. It is believed that whoever plays the second game at home has an advantage but each team knows that to be in the final they need to do well in both game. Tomorrow at this time the speculation will be at its best as everybody will try to predict the outcome, pick the bests for their fantasy leagues and so on.

There Are No Easy Team. From this moment on, there are absolutely no small team. One of the magical aspects of this tournament is that a single play can be a make or break for any team. Many fans of teams such as Manchester, Barça, or Bayern Munich want to face Villareal or Oporto but the fact of the matter is that it doesn’t really make a difference. To win against any team there need to be three main factors present 1) good team 2) you need to have a good day and 3) perhaps the most important yet overlooked fact you need to have luck. Just remember how Monaco faced Oporto in the final just five years ago while big names such as Manchester, Liverpool, or Real Madrid had to just watch it from home.

Barcelona will have to play in 2 of the seven “infernos” if they want to make it to Roma this year and try to add their third cup here is a look at the possible contenders:

Manchester United: perfectly balanced team; with a perfect preparation. This team is a very serious contender to go back to back in this tournament. Their home pitch, Old Trafford, doesn’t bring many good memories to the Barcelona fans as we still have the image of that amazing goal from Paul Scholes last year in the semi-finals. The best quality about this team is the organization with which they play; they practice a solid defence that doesn’t let you move comfortably and just when you lose the ball they can create an attacking play in seconds with which they destroy you.

Liverpool: motivated as hell after two consecutives win scoring four goals against non other than Real Madrid and Manchester United (the last one in Old Trafford). This team is made for the champions’ league. Benitez knows how to prepare these games better than anybody. Their strongest point is the fact that their two pillars so-to-speak respond at big games; Torres and Gerrard almost never disappoint whenever they play a big game. Even in their worst day they’d make you suffer a lot. Anfield is a strong factor as they have by far the best crowd in the world.

Bayern Munich: this is a favourite of mine. The Germans play really solid and have a combination in their front line which is devastating. Tony is a striker that, while not being praised by many, scores a lot and goes very well in the air. Klose feats the same description but has better footwork than his Italian team member and last but not least Ribery; this guy can make it happen…just like that. The only “doubt” that I can find in this team is the fact that they have yet to prove themselves against a big club. I just hope they go against one of the four members of the “British Empire”

Villareal: one Cinderella team some may say; villareal has shown that they are ready to face the challenge. When they play good they are extremely hard to beat. Men like Senna, Cazorla or the veteran Pirlo can come back at any time and make the team win. Their problem is that at the moment they are not doing as well as they wish in Spain. After they lost to Madrid and Barça in December they have been very “hit-&-miss”

Chelsea: second place is not enough for this team and they want to achieve what they failed last year. Anelka and Drogba bring so much experience to their offensive line that it is hard to not consider them for the semi-finals. However, they will need more than Anelka and Drogba to advance and if men like Lampard or Essien do not appear during the game and be decisive they won’t have too much of a chance. Also, with Deco out due to a knee injury it remains to be seen how they manage their midfield. Stanford Bridge is a solid stadium where is really hard to win but since Barça cracked them three years ago it hasn’t been the same. I believe this tournament will make this team stronger or will completely accelerate the renovation in the locker room.

Oporto: the second least attractive team in the tournament along with Villareal; however a team that doesn’t need to do much to make an impact. Whenever Lissandro scores this team create a lot of troubles to their rivals and if they are lucky, and they are very lucky, they can make an upset and advance. Their weakest point is the goalie that can miss a lot of obvious plays.

Arsenal: this team can be very solid but can also be really bad. They are, at least on paper, the weakest member of the so-called “British Empire”. However they faced big teams in the past under similar circumstances and advanced to the next round. Men like Cesc or Van Persie are always the one that you need to be very careful; but also there are men like Adebayor who can miss tons of goals which in these tournament means good bye.

One Game Less...3 Points More

Eleven More Finals. Barcelona defeated Almeria 2-0 in what looked more of a training session than an actual game. Guardiola’s men dominated the entire game and if it wasn’t for the Almeria’s goalie, Diego Alves, we would be talking about a 5-0 result. Barcelona seems to have learnt the lesson at last and now plays more loyal to their game style: pressure, possession, and quick passes. However, in the first half of the game Barça made the mistake of just having the ball but not doing much with it. The game was predictable which resulted in few goal shots. Nonetheless, the few shots that Barcelona made were on target but the inspiration of Almeria’s goalie was out of this world. In the second half Barca realized its mistake and started moving the ball quicker than before and scoring two goals in less than 10 minutes. At the end of the night the objective was accomplished. Barcelona is once again 6 points away from Real Madrid. There are only 11 more games until the end of the season; each of those will be a final.

Bojan’s Time. Last season former Barcelona’s coach Frank Rijkaard decided to give the young 17 year old Bojan a chance to play with the first team; the situation was really bad with a team that had given up La Liga the previous year to arch nemesis Madrid. Samuel Eto’o had a severe injury once again and would be out most of the season; Thierry Henry was not adapting to Spanish futbol at all and his number were not justifying the 24 millions Barcelona had invested in him; and to make things worst the main event and star of the team, Ronaldinho, was in the beginning of his humungous free-fall. Bojan became an instant idol in Barcelona for his youth, passion, background history with the club and on top of that his romance with the goal. This year his presence has not been greater or equal than last year when he became a regular striker. In fact, he’s been playing way less and only in the King’s Cup he is member of the main team. However, people seem to overlook his age, 18, and the fact that what happened to him last year was unusual. Bojan had a golden chance yesterday and he did not disappoint. He’s a player that is not involved in the game a lot; his skills are not of the striker that runs with the ball, enter the area and score; instead, he’s a predator of the area waiting for the right moment to strike. Yesterday he only had 2 chances and both of them entered; goals that come in the crucial moment of the season when Barça is fighting for 3 championships and need to know that all players are there to respond when needed.

Waiting For a Rival. This Friday is the final draw in the Champions League in which the best 8 clubs in Europe will be paired so that all possible matches are known. There are no small teams at this stage. Nonetheless, many would prefer Porto or Villareal than any of the British teams. Johan Cruyff mentioned on his column this week that at this point any rival is going to be tough. If Barça gets paired with Liverpool or Manchester (both serious title contenders) they would then have a golden opportunity to eliminate one of the bests. The trick will be for Guardiola to figure a way of keeping his men fresh both mentally and physically to face this challenge. Madrid on the other hand has the “advantage” of playing only once a week which means that they can afford this coming 11 finals in La Liga in a better way than Barcelona who could feel the intensity of all competitions affect their game. However, I bet that many in Madrid would love to have the “problem” of playing all tournaments.