Not surprised, all of Barca's recent issues, from defense and lack of creativity up front, to legal issues, you just can't beat a team that is in such good form and wants it more than you do.
Next round will be very interesting to watch, even if Barca made it to the next round, they would've faced an even tougher team, rather face a good challenge up front now and get eliminated than just facing a weakened team and go on to the next round only to get shut down by ...
lol I actually find this a bit funny after I read the Penonel messi one.
Let's just go ahead and chop off Neymar's shoulder, funny that in today's game against Betis there's already Madrid fans saying that the handball called was not a handball, yet it was directly to the hand of the defender. Yet some said that there was a handball by Pique in the classico when he clearly had his arm and hand in.
So what is it? Sounds like most of you would make 5 wrong calls in favor of fairness to the game instead of 5 good calls that just so happ...
If they find the right manager and formation then they could make it work for both Neymar and Messi at the same time, no matter what style the team is playing, although I would like Barca to be more direct at times. I think they try to, but they're easily tempted to make 100 passes around the penalty area against 9 defenders, it just won't work, I find that Messi always wants to dribble the ball all the way to the net, it drives me insane!
I don't see how he's missing out...
I don't see Dortmund coming back from this, I really think madrid could pull it off this year, they've been getting very close, and Bayern, I wouldn't say they are any weaker than last year, but Madrid has improved a lot since they met. Hopefully for Madridistas, Ramos isn't allowed to take another penalty kick if they meet and it comes down to pks. :P
@RGB, Pique, although being unfocused sometimes, is still one of Spain's best defenders. But you mention as if Mata or Isco would be able to do the 2010 Spanish team justice. Isco hasn't proven himself internationally imo, Mata is on his way to inconsistency if he's not there already. I only see Silva as a player that could fill that void.
As for Barca being in trouble, I know, I'm not spinning, they had plenty of time to bring in a defender and instead made ...
2 transfer windows, ouch, should've made those moves earlier.
Compared to other teams such as, I don't know, Madrid, they don't buy as many superstars. But let me not even get into that... Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Spain would be nothing without those guys.
I agree, but it's not that he dives nearly as much as he exaggerates. If he gets frustrated with a defender because he's not strong enough(because the guy can dribble) then he needs to work on that. He's already built an infamous reputation for exaggerating and the refs are eventually going to think he's faking a clear foul.
First Valdes and now Pique, the next 4 weeks are going to be hell for Barca, trying to get the points needed in la liga and their match against Athletico Madrid, I guess the only bright side is that Bartra will have more playing time.
They're evenly matched at the moment, 1 point away in la liga, last trophy they played for was decided on an away goal. The only big team they haven't beaten in la liga is Barca, and vice versa. Best of luck to Costa with his injury, same goes for Pique, and hope for a huge match in Madrid.
He did, a few calls were sound, but he was exaggerating and jumping in pain over simple fouls. I don't know why he does that, he has enough talent to have no need for diving.
Athletico Madrid defenders were on the brink of a red card, there was actually an instance in which a defender brought down Messi twice between 2-3 seconds and got no yellow card. But that's just the way the ref was doing his job. Athletico played more organized, parked the bus a bit, which I didn't really expect nor liked, but hey, it's still football imo. Barca lacked creativity and it's hard to score against such a focused and strong defense. Amazing goal by Diego..
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How exactly do you know they get more controversial calls? Or is there more controversy involved when Barca gets a clear penalty or clear handball? At this point I would have to wonder if you even watched some of the Madrid games against other la liga teams. The name Uefalona went big when Chelsea lost to Barcelona in that semifinal. Even worse, that was like what? 5 years ago, pretty fresh considering how extensive football history is.
Recently, the only bad call I can remember...
When Barca gets a "controversial" call in their favor, it is UEFALONA! Even if the other team also had a few calls in their favor. Nobody makes a big deal when other big teams get "helped" by the ref.
No matter what, every time Barca faces Espanyol, they play us like it's their last match, like it's their own little classico, such a tough away match, glad we got the result.
So you would have the ref ignore some basic rules for the sake of the game? You do know that favors Madrid since they are the much more physical team? The same people whining about the clear penalties on Iniesta and Neymar are the same people that Ronaldo deserved a pk for Masherano's contact in the first classico of this season.
Real was more playing more intensely/faster, that doesn't mean they were playing better. First half, Barca scores once, Madrid scores twice...
The distance that Neymar was actually offsides is closer than the distance Ronaldo was to the line on his "penalty". The action was fast and the linesman didn't see it, Ramos dragged his foot to make contact with Neymar just like Alves did with Ronaldo. Both defenders knew they had lost their mark and made a risky, slick foul. Ramos was the last man, foul = red card. And what Bale penalty? Xabi Alonso's foul was not soft. He built a wall and fouled Iniesta with both legs, c...
At this point, I hope Bayern wins again, screw it, Pep holding another CL, Mou crying, Ronaldo crying, would be excellent.