11/12 Lliga: Real Madrid - FC Barcelona 1-3

Nice Video Mate,


And Nice Pic too.

ammarfcb said:

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dalitis8 said:

BS, from start to finish. I am certain that this writer, was one of many who back in late 2008, were saying that Pep's Barca look good, only because they play against teams of SPL level.

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"Messi had an off day" was my favourite part. Followed by the "Xavi looks past it" part.

FCBarca said:

But Manuel, assuming things now at Jornada 16...Barça are even on points but with RM with a game in hand...And you concede that Barça will win the Clasico...Doesn't that put them back at even on pts, even with a game in hand turning into 3 pts?...Plus, they'd have the tiebreaker...So I fail to see some advantage let alone 'pole position' with more than 60 odd pts yet to play for...That's seriously glass is half empty - regardless of form, away or otherwise

I know where you're going with the tempering of emotions/hype etc...I do...But, and I'm usually pretty even keeled with these things, Barça are superior to RM...That gap is not going to close anytime soon, it can only widen at this point...I am quite certain of that because of reasons we all know, in terms of this squad yet having found their groove...And because of that, La Liga is Barça's to lose, IMHO...It's in their hands, actually in Pep's hands...And we all know how that turns out

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Yeah, I'm assuming that we'll win the second Clásico, although I would by no means say it is a lock. That would in theory put us level with them, making the games vs the other teams decide the league. There are 63 more points left to play, and right now Madrid look more likely to get the majority of those 63 points than we do, that's why I said that they remain favorites. Last season, it was the exact opposite, we were blowing teams left, right and center while Real were struggling a bit in some games, namely away from home.

I'm in no way saying that Real have won the league already or anything, but to me they still have the upperhand, and that will be the case until we can improve our away performances and results (assuming we maintain the ominous home form). Based on how the team has been performing so far, it'd be a bit wishful thinking to believe we'll get a bigger share of those 63 points than Madrid, we really need to up our game.

And yes, in a way La Liga is in our hands. If we win the 22 matches remaining, we'll win the league regardless of what Madrid do. But will we win all those games? Last season I'd not have bet against us winning 22 matches in a row honestly. We played the greatest football I've seen in my lifetime, especially from October to January (but even after that it was awesome). This season? I know this team is capable of it, but I'm a bit more reserved. Hope Pep and the guys prove me wrong by going on a winning streak similar to last season's (16 in a row).

I am certainly now convinced that Barca is superior to RM head-to-head. If La Liga was going to be decided by 22 more clasicos, I'd bet the farm on Barca. But only one of these 22 will be another clasico, a few will be against teams that are pretty good, but most will be vs. teams that are somewhat or quite a bit weaker. So far this year, Barca has been very good but not great against the rest of La Liga, whereas RM has been great. This is why I still think RM has to be the favorite to take La Liga this year. This will change if RM fades any or Barca regains the consistency they had for so much of last season.

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This is exactly my point.

dalitis8 said:

We are favorites for La Liga now:

1. Psychological sucker bunch has been served to Madrid (as i have noted millions of times before)

2. The gap is at max. 3 points, that is if Madrid beat Sevilla on Saturday. With their morale at rock bottom, Sevilla may take something off them.

3. We have been incredibly unlucky so far this season, both with injuries, and with how games played out. That will change.

4. We are nigh indestructible at home, and can win almost all games, without breaking too much sweat. This is extremely positive, for both La Liga, and even more importantly, the Champions League.

5. Cesc and Alexis seem like the best signings in years. They can only get better from here on then.

6. Madrid have been playing at their peak. There is no higher for them to go me thinks.



All I want to see, is Puyol and Abidal being fit and potent for the season to go through, and Messi + Xavi getting some rest. Otherwise, all is under control.

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1. Don't think that will be a problem. Last season they lost 5-0 at Camp Nou and went on to win their next several matches. Their mental block is just against Barcelona.

2. They might indeed. That'd actually be excellent.

3. There's an element of truth to that, but injuries and luck are part of the game. And every point lost is crucial in La Liga. Our margin of error is very small at the moment.

4. Eh we were indestructible away from home last season, although not as great at home. I wouldn't take that very seriously though. Just because we've easily been winning at home doesn't mean we can't be upset at Camp Nou and will just win all games.

5. The jury is still out on that one. Let's see how much they help Barcelona win before we judge it. So far, they can't really be compared with signings that helped the club achieve great things (Piqué, Alves, Villa, Mascherano...). I think they will soon though.

6. This is wishful thinking, to be fair. Their team is incredibly young and arguably the second strongest on the planet at the moment. They will keep improving for sure, we'll need to be ready for the challenge.

I think we're up to the challenge, though. Our squad is great this season. Other than the Holyy Trinity of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, every player has a replacement of at least similar quality/impact, or at least not very far.

Last season, players like Pedro and Villa, among others, had to play every match even if they were about to collapse from exhaustion, this season we have a lot more options. Pep can rotate, keep everyone fresh and select his lineup based on form/characteristics of the opponent. In that sense, we have a much stronger squad this season.

But despite that, we haven't reached a level even close to last season's though, which was personally the highest level of football I've seen in my lifetime, especially from October to January.

"If that header had been against Granada, no sooner would he have arrowed it into the top corner than he would have been trotting off for the boobies celebration."

this line is so true though

So much butthurt

I can't wait until April

Trillske said:

It wasnt awesome in my opinion though I suppose it depends on what kind of games you like. I´ve seen worse classicos, but in this one the defence was superior from both teams. Could be that neither Messi nor Ronaldo had much success, or that the defenders where just on top form, dont know. What I do know is a lot of defensive tackles from Real looked absolutely sick, and Barcelona with Puyol in lead put up an insane barrier.

There wasnt a lot of diving and only some individual whining so in that regard - huge step up, hopefully the classicos are finaly passed that.

I think it didnt help that the game didnt have a real flow, the goals wherent very logical either way and the outcome allways felt a bit arbitrary.

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Hey man thanks for responding :thumbsup2:

Can't believe we won this...

VISCA BARCA!