It seems that since pre-seaon training that Barcelona have been battling injuries and six months later Barca’s injury list is getting longer not shorter.
Last nights draw against Real Madrid was a costly one as both Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez limped off and will miss this weekend’s league match against Villarreal.
That means Barca will head to El Madrigal missing six players in total, as David Villa, Ibrahim Afellay and Andreu Fontas are already injured, while Seydou Keita is at the African Nations Cup.
“At the moment, we are not very many in number, but we must move forward,” said coach Pep Guardiola.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola insists his side deserved their place in the Copa del Rey semi-finals after sealing their progress with Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against Real Madrid.
“Madrid only did what we would have done in their situation,” Guardiola said in his post-match press conference. “The [Barcelona] players showed great strength and I congratulate them. Madrid are a great team and therefore this merits our victory – Madrid played a good game, but we were the victors over 180 minutes.”
Barca are currently five points behind Real in La Liga, and will take on struggling Villarreal on Saturday.
Barça are in the semifinals of the Cup after eliminating Real Madrid. The second leg of the quarter final was brutal, with a first phase with the away team on top, a second with Barça in charge, and a third of heart attack proportions where the balance could have come down on either side. In the end, a calm Barça managed the draw that made the first leg win at the Bernabeu a great result.
Pep Guardiola appeared in the Ricard Maxenchs pressroom after training behind closed doors at the Camp Nou on Tuesday, and his message was clear.
“I just hope the ground is full. What would upset me most is for the place not to be packed to the rafters”. He also urged fans not to bring any ill feelings into the stadium. “You will see two great teams put on a very good show. The rest doesn’t matter. Come to enjoy yourselves, to support us, to be with us and to forget about the rest. Watch Real Madrid. Not a specific manager or player … If the atmosphere gets too heated it’s because we haven’t learned from the past, but I’m convinced that we are a mature club. The whole world is watching us and we have to show that we do our talking with our football”.
Despite the result in Bernabéu, Andrés Iniesta made it clear that the team will have to give their all on Wednesday if they want to make it through to the semi final and that Madrid will force Barça to put in “a perfect game – we can’t afford any relaxation. Iniesta added:
“the only thing I want is that the team put in a good performance. We’ll have our fans to support us, but although we’ve got a good result from the first leg, that doesn’t mean anything, this is football and there is 90 minutes more of a great game between two big teams”.
Barcelona vice president Javier Faus expects coach Pep Guardiola to decide his future “in a couple of weeks”.
The Barca boss’ future is almost constantly the subject of speculation due to his insistence on short contracts and while his current deal expires this summer, the former club captain is expected to remain at the Nou Camp.
Faus hopes the issue will be resolved soon and told fcbarcelona.cat:
“We want Pep to stay here for many years. We will know his decision in a couple of weeks, we hope his response will be positive.”
The Barça manager said the play at the 15 minute mark where Valdés cleared a corner and saved, on two occasions, a goal was key in tonight’s result
Guardiola was pleased with his team’s 1-4 victory at La Rosaleda and for the overall behavior displayed by his players. He highlighted that to do well in stadiums like La Rosaleda, “you must do things correctly”
Furthermore, he lauded Leo Messi, who scored another hat-trick tonight, pointing out that the Argentinian’s biggest asset is “his consistency”
Lionel Messi scored his fifth hat-trick of the season as Barcelona posted a comfortable 4-1 victory at Malaga to keep the gap between themselves and leaders Real Madrid at five points.
Before his hat-trick today Messi had scored just once away from home all season in La Liga, but he showed his intent with the first effort of the game on nine minutes that was deflected just wide.
Soon after, though, it was Valdes who showed his worth with three saves from Isco to keep the champions level. The Spain international firstly tipped the Malaga midfielder’s fine long-range effort wide and, from the resulting corner, got down well to parry Isco’s header before smothering the rebound.
Gerard Pique wants Barcelona to take their form against Real Madrid into the La Liga as they prepare for Sunday’s trip to Malaga.
The Catalans put one foot in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a 2-1 victory at the Bernabeu in the first leg on Wednesday, making it five wins and no defeats from their last seven matches at the home of their bitter rivals.
However Barca still trail Madrid by five-points in the league and Pique said:
“We impose our game in the games against Madrid, but the league is something very different. We can’t afford to make any mistakes.”
