Lliga | Round 7: FC Barcelona - Athletic Bilbao 1-1

[serghei]

Di Matteo?

Oh yea, forgot about him. That's the kind of luck we need under Valverde though...

 

[ThwiX]

Messi has been a God at the Camp Nou so far this season. Will be interesting how we do without him. Will probably come on at some point.
Disgusted by Valverde in general, tho, and even more so for his treatment of Malcom and Arthur.

 

[BBZ8800]

I am not sure about the goals, but I can imagine us playing and moving way more freely without Messi.

Players won't be forced to pass to him in every action.

I think that we could play like in a preseason and way faster.
Whether we will score is another story.

But yes, I am expecting a faster transition, more direct football and more versatile attacking actions.

Let's see.

 

[khaled_a_d]

the line up is this?

MATS---Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba---Bob, Rakitic, Vidal---Dembele, Suarez, Coutinho

That is my thoughts-and hopes) here,but Roberto on RW is also a possibility

 

[soul24rage]

That is my thoughts-and hopes) here,but Roberto on RW is also a possibility

MATS---Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba---Vidal, Rakitic, Coutinho---Bob, Suarez, Dembele

if this is the lineup, all of our attacks are going to focus only on the left hand side lol

 

[gasgas]

on the plus side we get to see the Semedo-Dembele combo for the first time in a while

 

[Ghostmaster]

Glad that Vidal and Semedo starting, but Roberto in midfield again... it ain't gonna be pretty.

 

[messi15478]

not a disaster, its a team sport, and its not all up to him, but surely it will be a sad fact that he didnt win nothing big with national team and just 3 CL-s with barca (if he doesnt win it anymore), when ronaldo won with real 3 in a row, 5 all together, and he is half of a player then messi is, when it comes to football, i dont care about ronaldo vs messi debate, but im just puting things in perspective... barca board take most of the blame, but lets be honest, messi didnt show much effort in CL, especially season 2014, 2016 and 2017 wasnt much better, so he takes the blame with the rest of the team.

Yeah I know its a team sport but as you said its just sad that the GOAT won only 3 maybe 4 Cls and wasnt able to win a trophy with national team. Now barca has Messi, Coutinho, Suarez, Dembele, Vidal. These are worldclass players and hopefully Valverde will learn how to use them.

 

[ronniecro]

messi benched?who is gonna create anything?coutinho surely can't do anything by himself with this squad,and we will rely on suarez without messi upfront?this has potential to be the shittiest match yet

 

[soul24rage]

[tw]1046029084336295937[/tw]

let's repeat that famous right hand side of semedo and bob. That worked out so well vs Roma

 

[Givenchy]

WHAT why is Messi on the bench?! Bilbao isn't an easy fixture... where is Malcom? fucking hell

if we lose this, is there any chance the idiot gets sacked?

 

[clemente]

Of course Pique is starting lmao, I'll just ALT+TAB every time William is gonna be charging at Pique

 

[henias]

Interesting to see this side without Messi but this setup is not looking pretty.

 

[PhilS]

Well, Valverde is acting like a manager who takes the Champions League seriously. No player can play twice every week, even Messi must rest, especially now that he is in his 30s.

I am relieved that neither Vermaelen nor Munir are in the lineup, they certainly earned bench time from their performances mid-week.

Roberto in midfield and Semedo at RB need to step up. Their performances at these positions have been deficient so far this season.

Messi, Arthur and Busquets could enter this game early, if the team plays as uninspired as it did at Leganes.

 

[FC B]

WHAT why is Messi on the bench?! Bilbao isn't an easy fixture... where is Malcom? fucking hell

if we lose this, is there any chance the idiot gets sacked?

No chance, sadly.