The God's Given Lionel Messi - messilegend

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

A long route for Barcelona to meet Inter

The Preacher of Beautiful Football

Barcelona will meet Inter Milan tonight for the first leg of Champions League semifinal. The team has to travel by bus over 1,000km, with a stop in Cannes before setting the next day trip to Milan, the fashion capital! It would be a huge disadvantage for Barcelona and we will see whether this shortcoming has any effect on the team.

Hopefully it will be another beautiful game by Barcelona, not marred by bad physical tackles on tiny but incredible players.




My prediction:

Inter 1 Barcelona 2 :)

"The Special One" who doesn't understand beautiful football, yet. Still can improve!

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Guardiola expecting Inter to be tougher than Arsenal

Having seen his team create a plethora of chances in destroying Arsenal in the previous round, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola insists his team won't have things so easy against Inter Milan.

The Italian champions host the holders in the Champions League semi-final, first leg at the San Siro here on Tuesday with many still purring over the Catalans' sumptuous play against Arsene Wenger's Londoners.

Barcelona produced a first half of mesmeric proportions in north London but still came away with only a 2-2 draw.

Yet in the return leg Argentina star Lionel Messi produced a majestic performance to score all four goals in a 4-1 dismantling of the Gunners.

But Guardiola believes this test will be much more difficult.

"We played very well in the last two games against Arsenal and we'll try to maintain that level," he said.

"I'd like to create the same number of chances we did against Arsneal but I don't think we will because Inter are so competitive, from the coach (Jose Mourinho) right through to the players.

"We're not the only team playing, there are the others too and sometimes they play well.

"Tomorrow we're playing a team like Inter who are four or five times champions of Italy.

Barca endured a nightmare journey just to arrive in Milan, travelling the 1,000km by bus and stopping overnight in Cannes, but Guardiola insisted they will not be making any excuses.

"It's not an ideal situation playing a Champions League game after 14 hours in a bus but it's the volcano, you can't do anything about it," he added.

"We could have stayed at home and lost the match 3-0 but we wanted to play and we took the bus and wanted to do it in the most comfotable way so we took two buses.

"Of course it's not easy coming by bus but they do it every day in the second and third divisions."


To read more, click on the title!

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The Special Battle begins – but can Mourinho settle a score with his old club?

"Everything is in place then for Inter against Barcelona, Mourinho against Guardiola. The Special One against the apparently even more special one. Mourinho once said: "Barcelona is a great club but in my short time as a coach I have won just as many European Cups as them." That was true when he was starting out at Chelsea, but things have changed. Guardiola made it 3-1 to Barça last season... Mourinho has got some catching up to do."

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Barcelona 3 Deportivo 0

The Phenomenal Barcelona Dream Team!

Barcelona extends its lead to six points over Real Madrid after crashing Deportivo La Coruna by three goals to nil. Barcelona is going to claim its second consecutive La Liga title! Cheers!

After Real Madrid beats Almeria 2-1 yesterday, Barcelona now leads the Spanish League by three points. Barcelona will meet Espanyol tomorrow at Cornella, the first time the two teams play there. It would be a crucial away game for Barcelona, and we have a very strong and hard working team. :)




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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Barcelona shows Real who's The Boss!

Next match - Barcelona vs Deportivo La C0runa

My prediction:

Barcelona 3 Deportivo 0

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Barcelona beats Deportivo La Coruna 3-0
MADRID (AP) - Barcelona edged closer to the Spanish title with a 3-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna at the league leader's Camp Nou Stadium on Wednesday.

Barcelona now has 83 points, while second-place Real Madrid is on 77 before its match against Almeria on Thursday. Valencia is third on 56 with Mallorca fourth, four points behind.

Barcelona's 19-year-old striker Bojan Krkic opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he collected a precise Xavi Hernandez pass in the penalty area and fired home.

The Catalan team pushed forward with several fast-paced attacks as the second half began, with Lionel Messi shooting just over the bar and Pedro Rodriguez sending a shot just wide minutes later.

Barcelona's second goal arrived in the 68th minute when goalkeeper Victor Valdes made a clearance which Rodriguez controlled in midfield before firing a long-range shot over Deportivo's defence and past stranded goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia.

Midfielder Yaya Toure completed the scoring when he chested the ball down and spun to smash a right-footed shot with such force that Aranzubia could only deflect it into the top of the net in the 72nd minute.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Barcelona Shows Real Who's the Boss

Barcelona took over the lead of the Spanish League by kicking out Real Madrid from the top of La Liga. Wooohooo!

Messi scored the first goal for Barcelona after a delicate one-two with Xavi. He could have scored hattrick if not for the poor finishing on 2nd and 3rd strike (just like the repeat of 1st goal). Nevertheless, to score against Real, when Ronaldo failed to beat Victor Valdes, was a satisfying result for Barcelona fans.

The second goal was also created by Xavi with a neat pass to Pedro, who perfectly controlled the ball and curled to the far left with his left foot, leaving Casillas in agony.

Man of the match - Xavi.

Again, Barcelona shows that team play is the way to play beautiful football.

Next match - Barcelona vs Deportivo La C0runa

My prediction:

Barcelona 3 Deportivo 0



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Barca vs Real Madrid - A Tactical Review

"Ronaldo looked like he is looking to show the world who is the better player, in the end showed the world that he is a seriously one dimensional player."

"Yesterday's match shows that Real Madrid has a long way to go to match this Barca side in terms of skill and grit."

"On a final analysis it was Real Madrid's inablility to work as a team that hurt them the most. There were individual performances but those weren't good enough. FC Barcelona worked really hard as a team, their defense is not considered as the best but they showed that they have the most resolute defense. Pedro and Alves failed to impose in first half, but there work-rate was exceptional. Real Madrid was shocked by the skill of Xavi and Messi creating the first goal and never recovered from it."

Read more: http://www.allaboutfcbarcelona.com/2010/04/barca-vs-real-madrid-tactical-review.html#ixzz0l2f0uk2V

Thursday, April 8, 2010

The God's Given Lionel Messi



"It shouldn't have taken last night to realise it."

That's right!

Contemplating a move to Barcelona, Spain. :)

"Messi is the best player in the world, by a distance!" Arsene Wenger

And I have one for Messi too:

"The God's Given Lionel Messi"

We will never had enough of you!

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'Mythical, universal, the Lord's anointed one' - Spain hails Leo MessiAfter Lionel Messi's performance against Arsenal everyone agrees he's the best in the world - but what took them so long?

Leo Messi did something impossible last night. He got even better (and still he can play better!). He had scored in the Champions League final (what a header!), the Copa del Rey final and the World Club Cup final (with his chest! i think he's the first to score, purposely, with this technique!), emulated that goal from Diego Maradona, hit three in the clasico against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou, two at the Santiago Bernabéu, and scored two hat-tricks in a row. But he'd never scored four before. Until last night. Last night, even Marca and AS, the myopic leaders of the Madrid media dropped to their knees; last night, so did the English. They could ignore him no more. Last night, as El PaÌs, put it, "Messi ate Arsenal". (Messi Shrunk Arsenal) :D

AS has long been proud of its cagumetro - literally, crapping-yourself-o-meter - the tool used to 'measure' the fear they claim grips Barcelona fans every time Real Madrid rear into view, its needle furiously twitching before shooting up towards a million cagahertz. This morning, three days from the clasico, they're applying it to themselves. "Messi," declares the cover of AS, "is frightening". Inside, their headline chanted: "Messi! Messi! Messi! Messi!", while the inventor of this delightful device, Barça-baiter-in-chief Tomas Guasch, was busy saying a prayer: "Ay Manuel Pellegrini, may God guide you!" As for Marca, their cover asks: "And how do we stop this guy?"


It is a pertinent question. Booting him about doesn't seem to work; he just gets even more determined. And besides, it is easier said than done. A few weeks ago, the Mallorca manager Gregorio Manzano insisted that the only way was with a rifle.Last night, Arsene Wenger described him as "a PlayStation footballer". The Catalan daily Sport calls him "football's Picasso", insisting: "We're going to have to expand the dictionary to find new adjectives for him, because majestic, lethal, magic, incomparable and divine have all been used up." Its website implored fans: "Don't say football, say Messi." El Mundo Deportivo went for "mythical, universal, the Lord's anointed one." But most cut out the middle man. "There is," said El Mundo, "only one God: Messi".


Arsenal players, from left: 1"Is that going in??" 2 Its going innn!! 3 OMFM thats unbelievable!!!


But all that's not entirely new. It's less than two weeks since Spain's severe superlatives shortage was reported on these pages. Uncovering new adjectives is an impossible task. Victor Valdés was only the latest person to admit defeat, shrugging: "I can't find the words to define him - I'm just very proud that he's on my team." What was new was seeing Marca and AS lead with him on the cover, and Marca's cartoonist depicting Messi as a little green man with antenna on his head and long, horn-shaped ears under the caption: "From another planet".


So was the reaction from England, the unanimous acclaim. "Messi," said Wenger, "is the best player in the world - by a distance." At last everyone seemed to agree; 90 minutes against Arsenal had done the trick. Even Phil Thompson must have given in, despite recently declaring: "Wayne Rooney is streets ahead of Messi." (Which streets, Phil, which bloody streets?!) Yes, which blooody hell streets???

Watching the game on Sky, browsing blogs, reading reports, it's tempting to conclude that England discovered Leo Messi last night. What took you? A match against an English club, that's what. As if that's the only measure of greatness. It shouldn't have done. They shouldn't have discovered him against Arsenal; he has hardly been hidden away.

The winning "Phenomenal" team minus top two defenders

"I really don't want to compare Leo with any other player in the world because that other player would come off so badly - he's just so far ahead." That's what Xavi Hernandez said. A year ago. Yesterday he added: "A player like this only comes along every 30 years or so." (i dont agree with you Xavi, its once in a century!) Rafa Marquez said: "Messi has proven once again that he is the best in the world." The key words were 'once' and 'again'. They would say that of course. But does anyone doubt that they are right?


This is not the place to go over Messi's extraordinary qualities again, that's been done before. It is the place, though, to point something out...


What Messi did last night was brilliant. In fact, it was more brilliant that the goals alone suggest. Just look at the two he didn't score - the curler that clipped the top of the goal, the scamper through that ended with him hitting it into the side-netting. Look at the fact that he didn't just score the first two; it was his passes that made them as well. But, ridiculous though this sounds, last night's performance was not unusual. In fact, it is precisely the consistency of his brilliance that has seen it become almost mundane; he makes the ridiculous routine.


When he scored a hat-trick against Zaragoza a fortnight ago, one fan started shouting something about how brilliant he is. Pep Guardiola approached the fan and replied: "If it wasn't for him, I'd be a third division coach." Last night he became their all-time top scorer in the Champions League. He is top scorer in this season's La Liga. He has provided more assists than anyone else, too. Yesterday was his fourth hat-trick of the season. He has scored 119 goals for Barcelona and he's still only 22.


It is not just about the spectacular. Earlier this season, asked about the pressure on Messi after a 'poor' game, Guardiola insisted: "Messi can play badly as often as he likes." Thing is, Messi never plays badly, even when he plays 'badly'. Sometimes he is not spectacular, sure, but he is never poor. Take the first leg against Arsenal: most people will tell you that Messi did little, but he had more than twice as many shots on target than anyone else and played more passes than any Arsenal player. He even answers the cliché about tracking back and work-rate: Messi has committed more fouls than any Barcelona defender.


One former Barcelona and Real Madrid player makes the point that when Ronaldo plays a pass, the first thing he does is demand it back. Messi is happy just to play, to keep it simple, to keep it moving (Thats the key - attitude). At the Camp Nou only one Arsenal player completed as many passes. Increasingly, Messi is not just scoring but - with Xavi, surely the finest midfielder Spain has ever produced - running games too. Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was "surprised" to see Messi play centrally in Rome last season but he shouldn't have been. As one opponent puts it: "Messi is the best striker for his goals, the best winger for his dribbling, the best midfielder for his passes." That night in Rome Messi did what Messi always does: answered the questions asked of him. There is just one question left - the Argentina one. And on the evidence so far, he will end up answering that too.

Simply Genius!!!

They said he didn't do it in big games - although goodness knows how they had the cheek to say that; did the clasico and the cup final not count? - so he did it in the Champions League final. They said he had never scored against an English team, and after a game in Santander it had been noted that he could not head a ball. Guardiola replied: "I advise you not to question Leo. One day, he's going to score a great header and shut you all up." Everyone laughed. He scored with a towering header, outjumping Rio Ferdinand.


But still they wanted more, and more, and more. There seemed to be a strange, bloody-minded determination not to recognise him. So Messi provided it. He started racking up goal after goal but they said that anyone could score goals in Spain. So last night he became top scorer in the Champions League. For the second successive season. And, for those who had forgotten Rome, he obliterated Arsenal into the bargain. Now they're saying Messi is the best player in the world. It shouldn't have taken last night to realise it.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Messi 4 Arsenal 1

The title says it all!

Messi had at least six chances to score. He could have score doublehattrick, but still he's the top scorer now with 8 goals in the Champions League! Cheers!!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Barcelona vs Arsenal - Match of the Week?


Barcelona will take on Arsenal at Nou Camp tonight (2.45am). This match stands to attract a lot of attention given beautiful football played by the teams, especially Barcelona, in the first leg last week. I would like to see Boyan get started alongside Messi and Pedro, after his solid performance against Athletico Madrid. Gasquet just need to be wary by not slipping the ball away again! -which made way for Arsenal to score their first goal.




Messi should take the centre stage and show us some great dribbling skills. LOL! My prediction is Messi to score 2 goals tonight.

Fulltime score Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1!

Good news for Barcelona, Iniesta is named in the squad against Arsenal!

Enjoy beautiful football! Peace!


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FC Barcelona vs Arsenal Preview - Let the Footballing Extravaganza Resume

Update : Iniesta named in the Squad to Face Arsenal
A week has passed since the Barca - Arsenal clash at the Emirates; meanwhile both teams won their corresponding League fixtures but still everyone is talking only about the match at Emirates. With the first leg ending at 2-2, the tie is still widely open. FC Barcelona slightly hold the upper hand with two away goals, but against a team like Arsenal, away goals may not matter. Both teams have a huge number of players out for this tie.

For FC Barcelona, captain Puyol is suspended along with Pique, Ibrahimovic is out of the second leg clash with an injury and Toure will be a doubtful starter. Meanwhile Iniesta is still recovering from his injury. Arsenal has a pretty bigger line of absentees - Gallas, Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas both are injured, the latter is anyway suspended for this leg.

Song is the latest one to be ruled out for the match at Barcelona. Arsene Wenger has announced the squad which will travel to Barelona - Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo, Abou Diaby, Samir Nasri, Denilson, Fran Merida, Theo Walcott, Craig Eastmond, Tomas Rosicky, Armand Traore, Emmanuel Eboue, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Sol Campbell, Mikael Silvestre

Messi and Xavi are the key Players for Barca
Barca fans will be hoping that the team has taken some lessons from the late comeback of Arsenal at the Emirates, especially Gaurdiola. Arsenal players showed that they are a resilient group and will not give up on the task that easily. Coming back from two goals down to earn a draw, Arsenal definitely have the momentum to take on Barca. But it is also to be seen how much the last gasp victory against Wolves taken out of this young bunch.

Arsene Wenger has identified Thoe Walcott as his main weapon against Barca. That means he will be looking to attack through the flanks more than he did in the home leg. Theo Walcott is certain to start the match and his pace on the right flank could spell trouble for Barca. Against Wolves, he was on fire on the right flank. In that background I would like to see Guardiola employ the traditional 4-3-3 formation against Arsenal, rather than the 4-2-3-1. But there are some interesting problems facing such a decision, which I will explain later.

A 4-2-3-1 formation will see Abidal and Alves being left alone to deal with the pace of Arsenal on the flanks. Meanwhile Lionel Messi had an average match by his standard in the first leg ( only by his standard, otherwise had a good match), would be looking to show off his skills more effectively against Arsenal.


Read more: http://www.allaboutfcbarcelona.com/2010/04/fc-barcelona-vs-arsenal-champions.html


Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that Pep Guardiolas Barcelona side is the best team he has ever seen.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Views on Barcelona's match against Arsenal

Missed out the first 20 minutes of the game. Sigh! My friends told me that Barca played probably their best 20 minutes of football game in any competition. Even a good team like Arsenal also cannot tahan. I will make sure I wake up early for Nou Camp match next week! From the first half highlights, I noticed that Barcelona failed too score mostly because of poor finishing.



Barca played better in the first half vs 2nd half. Even though they scored both goals in the second half, its not spectacular goal or involve great movements. The first goal was really simple, and you can blame the defenders, or Pique for the neat cross.

Watch the highlights here:


The second goal was a masterpiece cross by Xavi. You need someone like Xavi in every team. He is a very visionary midfielder. Coupled with strikers that know how to find space and run to the ball, thats all you need to score goals. And Xavi and Ibrahimovic showed its really simple.

Messi didnt perform well. I would like to see something special from him in the next match.

Its not easy to play with Barcelona. Arsenal lost at least 3 players with Fabregas, Gallas and Arshavin unavailable for the next match. The red card for Puyol is imo harsh. Maybe Barcelona can appeal for that. For now, Puyol and Pique are not eligible to play the next game.

Looking forward to two beautiful games in the next two weeks. The return match at Nou Camp (Wed 7/4 morning) and the El Clasico (Sun 11/4 morning)!

Beautiful football game is what I like and how I play. :)