FC Barcelona vs. Copenhagen – UEFA Champions League - Preview
The Spanish giants Barcelona were to collide with their fellow group leaders in the UEFA Champions League, Copenhagen. The Danish champions are going to try to topple the Catalan giants at their home ground, the Nou Camp, and they are going to try to remain on top of the group as Barcelona are at number two with only four points while the Danish side have six and have defeated both their opponents.
Barcelona haven’t really been in good form at home and they have managed to win only two games till now. The first game that they played at the Nou Camp was against the newly promoted Spanish side Hercules and in a surprising turn of events, Barcelona went two goals down at home, and were defeated by them.
Later, Barcelona had to face Michael Laudrup’s side, Mallorca. Mallorca had a really good record last year as they were only defeated by Real Madrid at their home ground, and even this year they are undefeated at home but they had to come to the Nou Camp to play against the Catalan giants.
Even though it was the Argentinean maestro Lionel Messi who made a move forward to help his team score a goal, Mallorca was the side that managed to find the net during the second half while the Catalan giants struggled to find the net later on and the match ended as a draw.
Even though Barcelona “surprisingly” lost a few points while playing at their home ground, they did not lose a single one while being away from home, except the two that they lost against the Russian Champions, Rubin Kazan.
Despite such a dip in form, Barcelona made a really good come back against the Greek Champions Panathinaikos, and the Catalan giants were the ones who defeated the Greek side 5-1 as Lionel Messi found the net two times and even missed a penalty.
Earlier this week, the Catalan giants were involved in the most important match of the month as they had to face the league toppers Valencia. It was a tough call for the newly signed David Villa as he once used to be a part of the Spanish club that they were facing and he told the press early on that he will not celebrate in case he finds the net. The opportunity did come for him to score against his former club but it was well wasted by the “goal scoring machine” as he could not really go pass the Valencia goalkeeper.
Barcelona defeated the Spanish La Liga toppers Valencia 2-1 and the Catalan giants bounced back in the race to retain their league title; however, they are still a point under Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.
The reason why Barcelona have been losing and drawing games is not because they have lost the touch or they lack the same amount of star players but because of the fact that they do not have too many replacements.
Players like Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Lionel Messi and David Villa are simply irreplaceable. With Xavi Hernandez out, there is no player who can help them in the midfield as the class of Lionel Messi and David Villa is simply unmatchable.
The news came out early on that Barcelona’s first choice goalkeeper, Victor Valdes had food poisoning and fever, and he is not going to feature for the team so Pinto is definitely the one who Pep Guardiola is going to prefer. The defensive line up is back and Puyol and Pique will be there to stand guard right in front of goal as Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal are going to be present as full backs.
Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta are going to be present in the midfield as Lionel Messi, David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez are going to be present up front; however, Guardiola might decide to rest Pedro as he recently suffered from an injury.
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