UEFA Champions League: Rubin Kazan vs. Barcelona– Match Preview
Barcelona are going to face Rubin Kazan as they are going to visit the Russian side's home ground today. Barcelona are going to look for revenge as it was the same team that managed to defeat Barcelona on their home ground, the
Nou Camp. It was a shocker for the former UEFA Champions League winners as they were the ones defending the title last season but this time round things are going to be different. Barcelona have a new striker David Villa in their squad but it is the little
Argentinean magician Lionel Messi that they are missing out on after a "dangerous" tackle on his foot by the Atletico Madrid defender Ujfalusi.
Even though Lionel Messi was seen training with the squad normally, he is still not given the "go" pass by the doctors. After the devastating tackle by Ujfalusi, people expected Messi to be out for at least a month but the Argentinean
showed great recovery and the doctors told the press that the best player in the world was only going to miss out on 3 fixtures, including the one against Rubin Kazan today.
Josep Pep Guardiola has already given out his starting lineup for the match and Lionel Messi is not included in the squad. With Lionel Messi out, Pedro Rodriguez, Andres Iniesta and David Villa are going to be the "striking force"
for Barcelona. The newly signed Javier Mascherano missed out on most of the matches that Barcelona played in La Liga, but he is also included in the squad along with Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets featuring in the midfield as well. Even though Eric Abidal
was included in the players that went out to Russia to play against Rubin Kazan, he is still not included in the starting lineup as the Brazilian striker Maxwell is going to be the left back for the Spanish Champions while Gerard Pique, Carlos Puyol and Dani
Alves are going to play in their favourite defensive position. Victor Valdes is going to be standing between the two poles as a goalkeeper and the Number 1 for the Catalan giants is going to be performing his duties in the "rainy" Russian field.
The Russians haven't changed much since the last time Barcelona visited them to play during the Champions League group stages. Chori Dominguez and Sergei Semak have left the club but the team has found suitable replacements for
both of them as Martins and Carlos Eduardo are now a part of the Russian Champions' starting line-up.
Rubin Kazan are going to feature Sergey Ryzhikov as their goalkeeper along with Cristian Ansaldi, Cesar Navas, Salvatore Bocchetti and Vitali Kaleshin in the defence. Aleksandr Ryazantsev and Noboa are going to be in the mid with
Rafal Murawski and Gokdeniz Karadeniz on the wings. Sergei Kornilenko and Lasha Salukvadze are going to play as the two strikers for the team.
Last time when Barcelona visited Kazan's home, the turf was under snow but this time round the weather is only rainy. The temperature is going to be between 9 degrees Celsius to 11 degrees Celsius, however last time it was -11
degrees Celsius.
This time the turf is going to be almost the same as it is at the Nou Camp, while last time the grass was "too long" for the Barcelona players to adapt.
Both the teams are going to give it their best because Barcelona are going to try to maintain their record of staying on top during the group stages. On the other hand Rubin Kazan needs to win the game in order to stay in the competition
as their chances are going to go bleak in case they lose tonight.
If Barcelona scores today, it is going to be their 400th European Cup goal. For Sergio Busquets it is going to be his 100th first team appearance. Let's see how it turns out for the young Catalonian.
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