Chances of Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League - Part 2
Last year, before the FIFA World Cup 2010, Xavi managed to help Barcelona lead the Spanish La Liga and helped them become Spanish champions once again. He assisted 14 goals and out of those 14, 11 were scored by the legendary Lionel Messi who became a total
menace and found the net 47 times throughout the season.
Xavi Hernandez is simply outstanding when it comes to passing the ball and the Spanish midfielder really helps the team as he is known as the mastermind. All the moves that are made by the team go through him. It was clearly seen in the last match against
Mallorca that Xavi’s absence was greatly felt and the “wonder ball” was simply not being delivered to Messi and he could simply not finish the ball into the net for the second time to help the team win the game.
Besides Xavi, Andres Iniesta is also considered to be one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. His last minute goal against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League 2008 and his last minute goal against Netherlands during the FIFA World Cup 2010 final
simply shows that the Spaniard does not believe in coming under pressure.
Iniesta is also a player who is missed when he is not around for Barcelona; however, last year Iniesta’s season was totally injury plagued and that is the reason why he was so fresh throughout the FIFA World Cup 2010. Iniesta does have fitness issues, but
currently he is the freshest player in the Catalan squad and whenever he is on the pitch, he is there to perform.
The “humble” player has always been the key figure whenever Lionel Messi has not been there for Barcelona and he is definitely not over-rated whenever the experts talk about him. He superbly controls the ball at the feet and does a few tricks that many midfielders
lack. The way he moves up from the flanks and becomes a threat to the oppositions is simply outstanding. All in all, Andres Iniesta is a complete midfielder who can move up front to help the team score goals and can also pass the ball around to help the team
make a slow build up.
A newly introduced striker, David Villa is definitely one of those players who cannot be counted out. The “goal scoring machine” has been a bit out of luck since he has worn the Blaugrana jersey but he is still one of the best out there in not only Europe
but also the world. Currently, he is the leading goal scorer in the history of Spanish football and the former Valencia man has been consistently scoring goals throughout his career.
Even though the critics mark him as “lazy” when he is on the field, but the Spaniard can sniff the area where he really needs to be and he is at the right place at the right time to help his team score goals.
The 40 million pound summer signing is currently replacing the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is currently out on loan to the Italian side Milan. After the departure of the Cameroonian weapon, Samuel Eto’o, Barcelona always wanted a goal scorer
and they never found that goal scorer in the Swedish sensation Zlatan Ibrahomvic. However, David Villa can easily become the successor to the current Inter Milan sensation, Samuel Eto’o.
The goal scoring machine can easily bag a few goals for the Catalan giants and that is because he is a Spanish football specialist. He can easily adapt Barcelona’s style of play and help the team win games. However, he is not a player the whole team can
rely on and for him to become a Lionel Messi or a Samuel Eto’o is difficult.
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