La Liga News from La Liga Talk » barca

Can Barca Go Undefeated In La Liga?

Rami Soufi — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:16:17 +0000

Barcelona have yet to suffer a defeat in la Liga and will complete half of their season’s fixtures this weekend. In 18 matches played, the Catalans have won a remarkable 14 matches and drawn the remaining four games. Barca have the best defensive record with a mere 10 goals conceded and have scored a league high 46 goals.

A quick glance shows Barca have really no glaring weaknesses and if there are any minor deficiencies then the talent of Lionel Messi, the class of Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, the leadership of Carles Puyol and the contribution of the others will likely compensate for it. The club exited from the Copa del Rey after losing on aggregate to Sevilla (1-2 loss in the Camp Nou followed by a 1-0 win in Sevilla) but took revenge with a 4-0 hammering of the Sevillistas in la Liga.

The Catalans also lost once in the Champions League to Rubin Kazan so obviously they are not immune to dropping the occasional match but the question remains whether they can finish the league season without a defeat. If there are no major injuries (particularly to Messi) and everything goes as expected then it would not be shocking to see the club end the season without suffering a single defeat. It will also depend on whether the Coach Josep Guardiola rests some of his stars during the remaining fixtures of the season. It is quite difficult to accomplish such a feat but who can argue against the quality of this entertaining side?

Messi Reaches The Century Mark With Barca

Rami Soufi — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:00:59 +0000

The world’s best player ensured Barca avenged the Coppa del Rey exit at the hands of Sevilla when he scored two goals in the 4-0 rout of the Rojiblancos. Lionel Messi not only helped the Catalan club thump Sevilla but also made sure the lead over Real Madrid got extended to a comfortable five points. Along the way Messi has reached another landmark in Barcelona history and made sure his name will be forever etched in the club’s folklore. He became the youngest player in the club’s prestigious history to reach 100 goals.

The humble Messi did not take the opportunity to gloat about his achievement but rather warned the season is still young with many games to be played and insisting it is too early to start celebrating. His maturity and focus are exemplary and the Coach Josep Guardiola must be counting his lucky stars for having such a talented player who is concentrated on achieving glory for the club as opposed to playing for personal achievements. Messi has actually scored 101 goals in 188 appearances for the club, including a remarkable 68 league goals in 124 matches.

Messi has scored 14 goals and assisted on six others in just 15 league matches while his totals for the season are 21 goals in 27 appearances in all competitions. More importantly, Messi led Barca to winning all six trophies in 2009 (La Liga, Copa del Rey, European Champions League, Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA World Club Cup) in a historic and amazing feat unmatched by any other European club. Messi also had the honour of scoring Barca’s 5000th goal La Liga goal in February 2009 against Racing Santander.

Barca will be challenging for trophies for many seasons to come as long as the 22-year-old Argentine star remains with the club and does not suffer any injuries. If he remains with the club for several years then he will probably be considered Barca’s best player ever. Some pundits and fans are already calling him Barca’s best ever. For now, Messi is satisfied with playing his part in bringing trophies to the club.

Messi Versus Ronaldo!

Rami Soufi — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:20:49 +0000

After covering the Barcelona versus Real Madrid topic, it is only logical if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were discussed due to their pivotal role in both teams. The two wingers are currently playing for two of the best clubs in Spain and two of the most popular outfits in the world.

Barca’s Lio Messi is a graceful and diminutive yet extremely skilled and fast player while Real Madrid’s Ronaldo is a well-built player who relies on sheer speed and power allied with a plethora of tricky moves up his sleeve to torment defenders. The Messi - Ronaldo comparison cannot be limited to just elegance against brute efficiency since the Portuguese player can showcase a catalogue of nifty moves. Though both can score from free-kicks, Ronaldo normally opts for power and precision at the expense of curling and placement of the ball which seem to be the preference of Messi.

The Argentine prodigy actually has a scoring ratio that surpasses that of the Portuguese star. That might come as a surprise to many but statistics cannot be argued with. Lio has scored 55 goals in 110 league appearances for Barca while Ronaldo registered 84 goals in 196 league matches for Manchester (he played for Sporting Lisbon prior to that). While Ronaldo’s exploits in the Premier League cannot be marginalised, Messi’s footwork and stunning contribution to the Barca cause is sometimes overlooked due to the presence of Samuel Eto’o (now with Inter) and Thierry Henry.

Make no mistake, Messi was the driving force behind the Catalan club’s record-setting treble season despite Eto’o being the team’s top scorer. Ronaldo toyed with EPL defenders the past few years and in 2007-08 season had a remarkable 42 goal tally in all competitions for the Red Devils. Legendary United manager Alex Ferguson did not want to let go of his Portuguese kingpin last season because he realised how invaluable his input had been to bringing success to Old Trafford. Sir Alex finally had to let go this summer after Los Blancos offered a mind-boggling world record fee of $132 million for Ronaldo.

In their professional career both have won the Champions League and multiple titles in one season. The experience factor might not favor one over the other and actually becomes less of an issue when you consider the talent on hand. However, one crucial element might be age since Messi is the younger of the two (By a couple of years and that can be significant for a player who is attack-minded) and still has time to improve and enter Argentine folklore along football greats such as Diego Maradona while Ronaldo is less likely to do so given the age of some of Portugal’s established players.

One more advantage for Messi is that he has been with Barca all these years while this will be Ronaldo’s first season with Los Galacticos. The onus is on Ronaldo to deliver following his record move which, by itself, could turn out to be another factor working against him. If the burden of being the most expensive player, the pressure of having to live up to his exploits in England, and Portugal’s failures all begin to catch up with him then Ronaldo’s season could gradually fall below expectations.

The match-up between both squads could turn out to be uninspiring- just check the much anticipated Inter-Barca game which resulted in a scoreless draw, albeit not the worst one to watch with some neat moves from Xavi and Messi. The star who ends up winning La Liga or the Champions League and who ends up contributing more on route to victory will most likely prevail as the best in the world. Both superstars have a plethora of skilled players supporting them such as Kaka in the case of Real Madrid.

The presence of Kaka with Los Blancos might tip the balance in Ronaldo’s favor since the Brazilian maestro is better in comparison to Barca’s other star players. Upfront Real’s Karim Benzema and Barca’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic will probably struggle to deliver given their hefty price tag since both tend to struggle in big games. ‘Ibra’ has never scored against the top teams in Europe and has not left his imprint on the international level and the same applies to Benzema. That will leave more for Ronaldo and Messi to do though Cristiano can rely on the creativity and vision of Kaka.

The two league games between Real Madrid and Barcelona could very well boil down to Ronaldo versus Messi though Kaka will likely have a big say. There will be a parade of stars if those two teams end up playing in the Santiago Bernabeu for the Champions League trophy come May 2010. Records and trophies aside, who would not want to have Messi or Ronaldo on his team?

Would You Pick Real Madrid Or Barcelona?

Rami Soufi — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:16:17 +0000

It is mouth-watering just to imagine a match featuring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema taking on an opposing team which includes Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Xavi Hernandez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to name just a few.

The dream of many football fanatics has come true following a spending frenzy by Los Blancos which included the record signing of Portuguese Ronaldo from Manchester United. The club obviously made other big name signings and also fortified its defense with the hope of challenging the Catalan club for honours both in Spain and Europe.

Barca did not hold back and retaliated by capturing Inter’s Ibrahimovic though that came at a steep price. Inter received star striker Samuel Eto’o in return in addition to a hefty payment for the Nerazzurri. The proud Catalan club still has plenty of weapons upfront besides the famous names mentioned above. Andres Iniesta has become an integral cog in the team’s free-flowing approach and often contributes with decisive balls from midfield while young striker Bojan Krkic is beginning to emerge as a threat. Krkic’s playing time will still be limited with the presence of Henry and Ibrahimovic yet he is sure to get regular cameo appearances under Coach Josep Guardiola’s stewardship.

Barca’s strengths are not limited to the frightening forward lineup or the midfield’s flair and solidity but also the defense’s compactness under the leadership of Carles Puyol. While Xavi and Iniesta supply the attackers with the ammunition to score goals, the energetic Yaya Toure supports the defense and covers the space left by the midfielders roaming forward. Captain Puyol marshals the defense and has found an able deputy in the form of Gerard Pique.

As for Los Galacticos, Kaka and Ronaldo pull the strings from midfield and move forward to support Captain Raul and French striker Karim Benzema. Behind them former Liverpool star Alonso ensures the team ticks like a well-oiled machine while Mahamadou Diarra recovers plenty of balls, breaks up opposition moves and offers cover for the defense. Iker Casillas remains a trustworthy goalkeeper between the posts and often performs incredible saves while Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa were brought in to strengthen the defensive line.

Real Madrid was not able to lure French International and Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery leaving club President Florentino Perez visibly disappointed. While Barcelona appears to be more of a solid, free-flowing and united team, Los Blancos have yet to mesh together and are still reliant on individual talents and flashes of brilliance from stars such as Kaka.

So the question for La Liga and all football fans is probably best summed up in this question: Would you pick a cohesive yet very talented team like Barca or will you bet on Real Madrid winning titles through the contributions of the individual superstars? It is Barca’s impressive talent working for the collective good in a face-off with Real’s awfully talented superstars who are still relying on their skills to gel into a successful team.

Both Kaka and Ronaldo achieved success with their previous clubs but they have not played together prior to this season and Los Blancos have not won in Europe for a long time. On the other hand, Barca have won a historic treble last season and probably have the best player in the world at the moment in the shape of Leo Messi.

Product Review- 2008/09 Barcelona Jersey

Juan Arango — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:07:55 +0000

2008/09 Barcelona Home Jersey (Soccerpro)

La Gent Blaugrana are once again following their “Unconditional Love” this season as they try to come back from two consecutive down years and obtain possible historic Spanish treble. The Nike Barcelona Long Sleeve Home Jersey for 2008-2009 is one of the most aesthetically pleasing jerseys in recent years and is most reminiscent of the jersey they wore during the Centenary Season.

Barcelona Centenary Jersey (Photobucket)

Consider it as Sunday’s best for the football fan. Many might consider a long sleeved jersey as stuffy or cumbersome; it is further from the truth. The jersey does not only feel comfortable, it “feels like Barca”. Wearing this jersey in the brisk fall Saturday or Sunday en route to the Nou Camp, to any other pitch the Blaugrana play at, or simply your favorite pub or friend’s house completes the football experience that you are looking for. In the back of the jersey, instead of a generic tag, Nike placed the lyrics to the El Cant del Barca. It is the same one that plays all throughout the Nou Camp whenever the Blaugrana play in front of the 100,000-plus fans that will them on to victory.

It is part of the immersion that many fans, both hardcore and novice, are looking for. The jersey brings home the history of the club and it does so in style. I personally like the long sleeves over the short. Whenever I can get a jersey that is long sleeved, I go for it. Maybe that is the old-school goalkeeper in me. There is an elegance that the long sleeves give any uniform sans stuffiness that jerseys of the past might have offered, especially in warmer weather.

Lyrics To El Cant del Barca (In Catalan and English)

Get the FC Barcelona jersey soon. This season’s AUTHENTIC Barcelona jersey is bound to fly off the shelves and virtual stores and once again be among one of the most sold jerseys in the world this year as well.

Special Thanks Goes Out To…Soccerpro

If you have any questions or comments regarding the product, please do not hesitate to leave a comment or send us an email at madaboutfutbol[at]me[dot]com.