FC Barcelona - Real Betis | Sun May 5th | La Liga Matchday 34

Non-Barcelona fan making a thread about a Barça match

Barcelona: Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Xavi, Villa, Iniesta, Alexis, Alba, Adriano, Song and Tello.

Betis: Adrian; Chica, Mario, Amaya, Alex Martinez; Ruben Perez, Salva Sevilla; Pabon, Nose, Ruben Castro; Jorge Molina.

By the look of things we are on the road to *bleep* up a 100% sure thing.

we are shit without messi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN6MXhb2GQw free kick goal!!!!!!! for you guys

Nice to see the frustration from Messi there at the end. The hunger is still there

I missed half of the game.

Xavi and Iniesta were at times. Both losing the ball far more than I expect. There was one time in the game where Iniesta passed the ball, it was intercepted but not controlled and it went back to him, and then he made another pass which was either intercepted or out of bounds.

The league is wrapped up. Can we please play some kids. Xavi and Iniesta have played enough, they need a rest. Thiago and Cesc can do the job, hell even JDS.

Oh, and Villa's finishing

I only managed to catch 20 minutes of the first half and 15 of the second as I was watching the superclasico at the same time. The lineup surprised me. At this stage bartra, thiago and perhaps montoya should be starting every game.I was glad to see deulofeu on the bench but didn't get why thiago was subbed in for a fwd and he wasn't. Villa's finishing left plenty to b be desired, but it was nice to see the instinct was still there. Some of the shots would have been automatic goals for him ladt year though, perhaps he has declined. Alexis had a very good game from the little I saw. I hope we don't sell him, he can be a very useful player. Although if he goes I wont exactly grieve for him either.

Alexis can be a decent squad player, but that's all I see in him. Useful as a squad player, impact sub, or rotation...but I don't see him ever starting for us. He hasn't shown enough quality even when he's been on his game. He's simply not good enough IMO.

We can sell him and I won't grieve as you said (as long as it's a decent price), but I wouldn't mind keeping him for depth and all. Bayern showing how important depth is and Alexis could be a useful squad player.

Although he probably deserves more. Everyone knows of his talent, it's unfortunate he never shows it much for us.

If alexis stays for next season, i expect him to really shine. im sure the hard work he will do over the summer will pay off

Thiago should have played since he's been our best mid for a month. We should play a strong team next week and hopefully we win and clinch the league.

Then we have three games where Bartra, Montoya, Thiago and Tello should start every game, and chances are given to Roberto, Muniesa, Rafinha and Deulofeu (who are all in line for promotion next year too).

JDS deserves time for his patience, but he's not in our plans so while I'd feel bad if he doesn't get to start all those games, its his fault... Sorry bud.

Let's stop playing Adriano at CB as well... If Bartra can play against Bayern, he can play in La Liga.


Would go with something like that...

Can't believe that Montoya isn't getting more of a go. Quit playing Adriano at CB for crying at loud. As Kizz said, if he can play against Bayern then he can play in La Liga. Deulofeu should be playing more often soon given that he out of the many other B players will be promoted next season.

So now we have Madrid playing two games before we play any. If they drop any points in either game we are crowned champions automatically.

Otherwise we play Atletico next. Tough match and a good challenge. If we win that match we become the champions. If we draw we need just a point. Worst case we should at least wrap up the title in the home game against Valladolid needing either a win or a draw at that point. One plus of this happening is the team winning the title in front of their own fans.

Once this is done we need to choose between two conflicting objectives. At least if we have won against Atletico shall we go for equaling Madrid's record 100 point haul? Or shall we concentrate on giving game time to youngsters and/or squad players?

Oh yes Messi's free kick was one of the best free kicks I have seen in quite some time. Utterly sumptuous.

I don't really believe in 'going for records'...

I think the priority should be to not injure anyone or play players who are not 100%. I'd say guys like Xavi, Alves, Pique, Iniesta, Busquets and Pedro would all be pretty run down after a long and gruelling season. The players that can step in for them would have more hunger anyway.

Guys like Alexis, Abidal, Song and Villa all have things to prove... and finally its perfect time to see what Bartra, Monty, Roberto, Rafinha and Deulofeu can do, and if they are part of our future.

There should be a lot of hunger in these players... so we should perform quite well anyway.

As for Messi. He will want to play, and if he's recovered then he should if he wants to.

If we've wrapped up the league, I'd like to see this team at home...


Alexis--> Deulofeu
Abidal-->Muniesa
Messi/Tello--> Villa

Did you know that in our entire history to date we have never regained the league title the very next season after the one in which we have lost it?

Just read it on Twitter.

With all due respect, playing Adriano at centre back shows your coach has no clue about how to arrange a defence.

danyjr wrote:With all due respect, playing Adriano at centre back shows your coach has no clue about how to arrange a defence.

Has much more than you.

free_cat wrote:Has much more than you.

What an insightful comment

Spoiler:

danyjr wrote:

free_cat wrote:Has much more than you.

What an insightful comment

Spoiler:

More insightfull than yours, mine is at least true.

Adriano played fine as a CB last season.

@CB: You need a runner along Neymar and Messi, who are both accustomed to free roles. We could sign a runner but I don't see the point when we already have Pedro and Alexis. I am a believer in Alexis because of his great work ethic, and it seems his confidence is growing per match and he is finally able to play great games. While I realize he will probably be offloaded (although both Tito and Alexis say that they want him to stay, so who knows) I think he is a superior option to Pedro for that role, and can only see him improving from now on.

I don't agree. Adriano is poor at keeping the offside line and so many times misses runners going behind him. Not to mention he's not a great tackler, nor good on air. The only quality of him useful as a CB is his recovering speed which is vital if you're bad at defending (à la Clichy).