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There is an incredibly misconception about the Ballon d'Or that unfortunately seems to have become widely accepted despite being completely wrong. People love to say that "Messi won because of goals yet the criteria has changed bla bla" to whine about their favorite player not winning. But...

No. If Messi's greatness was indeed only because of Xavi and Iniesta, those two should be the undisputed best players in the world. Their achievements, consistent world class performance + creating a myth like Messi (making everyone believe Messi is so great) should make them the best. If that...

Fair enough. The starting XI should be Piqué + 10 of the 13 rested players. 4-3-3: Valdés, Abidal, Puyol/Mascherano, Piqué, Alves; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Sanchez, Villa, Messi. Subs: Keita, Cesc, Masch/Puyol Thiago and Pedro might also have a role to play despite not being included in those 13.

13 players won't train until Tuesday or play vs BATE: Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Abidal, Busquets, Keita, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc, Alexis, Messi and Villa Strange that Pedro and Piqué aren't included. Pedro I can understand, he's just come back from injury, might not be in top form yet, but...

1-Iniesta 2-Cesc 3-Cuenca Iniesta 1st with a clear distance, he was unplayable today. His assist to Cesc's first goal :worthy:

Surely the most logical lineup would be the manita one: Valdés; Abidal, Puyol, Piqué, Alves; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Villa and Messi. If Pep chooses a 3-4-3: Valdés; Puyol/Abidal, Piqué, Alves; Busquets, Xavi, Cesc/Thiago, Andrés; MVP If it's 3-5-2 as some are suggesting: Valdés...

Iniesta is generally a better big match performer. Sure, Messi scores more (obviously) but Iniesta can fully dominate matches. CL Final 2009, all our home CL ties last season in the knockouts. Messi has flashes of unparalleled brilliance, but Iniesta can be more dominant overall. The 2009 CL...

Andrés and Messi. Simply put, we're not going to dominate without Andrés. Just check our past seasons. Our success is directly related with Iniesta's fitness, all our bad patches have come with him out. Even in 2008/2009 we almost surrendered the league to Madrid when Iniesta was out.

1)Well, he's surely up there with Messi and is arguably even more influential. 2)Indeed. Even in 2008/2009, when we lost steam in La Liga it was through Iniesta's absence. He's been the difference maker. 3)Got the games mixed up, edited it now. But still, Iniesta is a huge difference maker for...

When fully fit, Andrés is the best player in the world. For better or for worse, Iniesta's fitness is going to decide the outcome of this season, as has been the case in seasons past. It's no coincidence that our worst periods under Pep have come with Iniesta sidelined. Historically, this...

These stats aren't surprising at all. Puyol is a legend and still our best defender (when fit obviously) IMO. We definitely need Tarzan in order to succeed.

Prime or no prime, Xavi is almost 32 and is still fighting for best player awards every year, that's phenomenal and almost unheard of in a time where the sport is more physically demanding ever. I doubt even Messi or Iniesta will be this great and consistent when they're 32. Xavi's fitness is...

So according to you: Villa - shit Caroll - unplayable I'm very rarely lost for words, but I'm afraid this is one of those occasions, I really don't know what to say.

Fair enough. Although it's a bit biased and unfair to count goals scored in international friendlies. Copa/Euro qualifiers maybe. If we're counting friendlies, we should also give Ronaldo all those goals he scored in pre-season with Madrid.

How is this possible? Van Persie scored 22 goals in 2010/2011 and 17 this season. Even that all added up (even considering some of the 2010/2011 goals were scored in the year of 2010) only amounts to 39. This is the actual goalscoring rank of 2011 at the club level: Messi - 51 Ronaldo - 46...

The bold part obviously refers to Huntelaar, not Van Persie. Van Persie is definitely not a tap-in merchant. And yeah, if he can remain fit he should have a great season, especially since this is the most freescoring Premier League I can remember (lots of players scoring for fun). Whether he'll...

That jibe was unnecessary. Messi is the best player in the world, but there are other players who have been excellent this season as far as goalscoring is concerned and deserve praise: Cristiano - 18 goals in 18 matches Mario Gomez - 21 goals in 20 matches Huntelaar - 23 goals in 20 games...

In terms of goalscoring though he's not even the most in-form Dutch striker at the moment. That distinction must go to Mr. Huntelaar. 23 goals in 20 games this season + top score of Euro 2012 qualifying phase with 12 goals. He's an annoying tap-in merchant and a flat track bully (does most of...

Thiago is awesome. The only good thing of Iniesta's injuries this season is that Thiago has been having plenty of opportunities to show his stuff. If he keeps this up, he'll the next great Barca midfielder. He's brilliant.

I agree with most of this, especially Iniesta being the most important after Messi and sometimes even better. And great point about Xavi too. Most people praise Xavi for many things, but his fitness is greatly underrated. He's one of the fittest players in the world. He remains one of the...