Barcelona vs Valencia | Pre-match analysis and everything you need to know.

Barcelona vs Valencia | Current Form, Head to head record and Predicted Lineup. 

Barcelona Current form (Last 5 games) - WWWWL

Valencia current form (Last 5 games) - WLWLD

Head to Head ( LAST 5 GAMES) 

Barcelona win - 2 

Valencia win - 1

Draw - 2

Here is our predicted lineup for Barcelona 

Barcelona vs Juventus | History and everything you need to know about the champions league clash

Barcelona vs Juventus - Head to Head and Facts 

Barcelona has only won 3 out of the 9 games they have played against Juventus. They have lost 4 times and drew twice. Though most of these games happened way in the past as Barcelona has only met Juventus once in the last 15 years and when they did it was in the Champions League final in 2015 when Barca won 3-1 to lift the trophy. 

Champions league record this season - 
Barcelona and Juventus both ended the group stage top of their group. Barcelona ended with 15 points whereas Juventus ended with 14 points. 
Barcelona won 6-5 on aggregate against PSG. 
Juventus won 3-0 against Porto. 

Barcelona has scored 26 goals and conceded 8 goals in the Champions League this season. They have a goal difference of 18 and are the highest scoring side in the UCL.

Juventus has scored 14 goals and conceded 2 in the Champions League this season. They have a goal difference of 12 and are the side with least goals conceded.

As we can see, Juventus have had the best defense in the league whereas Barcelona is having the best attack. It is going to be a nail-biting fixture for sure. Like an unbreakable wall against an unstoppable force. 

Champions League Quarter Finals Draw

The UEFA Champions league Quarter-Final matchups : 

Atletico Madrid - Leicester City 

Dortmund - As Monaco 

Bayern - Real Madrid 

Juventus - Barcelona 

The problems behind the Barcelona's bad form in the middle of the season.

Barcelona had a bad run of form in the middle of this season A lot of times we just barely managed to win or tie because of Messi's last-minute goals. The team was performing pretty bad. Let's analyze the problems responsible for the bad form -

1) Unstable midfield: Rakitic was playing horrible, Iniesta was out for some time in between. Busquets had no reliable support left. Without the midfield being stable Barcelona's entire game got affected. They couldn't attack with their wish. They couldn't keep the possession of the ball for too long. Barcelona's system just doesn't work without a stable midfield. 

2) Poor full backs: Roberto and Alba were not being utilized to their potential, or even close to their potential. Maybe it was because of the manager's inability to build a proper system using them or maybe just their bad form. It is tough to tell. But whatever the reason, neither Alba or Digne nor Rroberto or Vidal were up to the mark.  Vidal finally was showing progress in the last couple of games before he got injured, unfortunately. 

3) Unstable positions: After a couple of bad games Luis Enrique panicked and started experimenting too much. Gomes will start LCM one game CDM the next and then RCM. Same with Rakitic.  The midfield was being changed too much.

4) Weak aerial: Barcelona has a very weak aerial strength. A lot of goals were conceded from the set pieces because of this. This problem still lies in the the team.

Let's hope we don't have to see bad form like this again this season. 

Some interesting facts about the Barcelona players.

Here are a few interesting facts which you might not knew about the players. 

Sergio Busquet's father, Carles Busquets was a football player too. Carles is a former Barcelona keeper. He was the backup keeper but still had 79 appearances for Barcelona. 

In 2011, Iniesta invested 420,000 euros in his boyhood club, Albacete. Two years later, with the club facing administrative relegation to the fourth tier of Spanish Football, Iniesta loaned them a further 240,00 euros to cover unpain wages. 

Pique's grandfather Bernabeu is a former vice president of FC Barcelona.  

Suarez has six brothers, one of whom is also a footballer. Luis Suarez's elder brother Paolo Suarez is a footballer who plays for Sonsonate.  

Neymar  has a tattoo of her sister Rafaella Beckran on his arm. Rafaella has a tattoo of Neymar's eyes on her arm. 

Messi has a tattoo of her mother Celia on his left shoulder. 

Once when Messi was in training with the national team in Buenos Aires, he made a three-hour trip by car to Rosario immediately after practice to have dinner with his family, spent the night with them, and returned to Buenos Aires the next day in time for practice.

Messi funded the construction of a new gymnasium and a dormitory inside the stadium of his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys for their youth academy.  

The reason why Barelona needs a midfielder.

Many midfielders have been linked to Barcelona recently. Verrati, Thiago, and Isco are the top prospects whose names we have heard in the media recently. But let's take a look at why do Barcelona absolutely need a midfielder in their star-studded squad.

Barcelona is known for their tiki-taka and passing game. Barcelona likes to build their attacks slowly and steadily instead of counters. Barcelona's midfield has always been the most important part of the team. Barcelona's been the most successful club in the last 10 years. A lot of which was because of the brilliant midfield of Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets.
 But as Xavi left in 2015, Barcelona has started losing their identity. Rakitic is a great midfielder but didn't' prove to be up to the mark by Barcelona's standards. Also, Iniesta is also getting a bit old. Even though he can still play like an absolute beast, he can't play every match. Andre Gomes has not been even close to the level. Denis Suarez is playing well but still, needs time to develop. 
From next season Iniesta won't be playing all the games and only 1 of the 3 key midfielders we had would be remaining. If the midfield is not absolute world class, Barcelona can not play their best game. They will start depending on the raw talents of the players and MSN. This has also been the case for a lot of part of this season. A lot of times Barcelona just barely managed a win that too because of the raw talent of Messi, Suarez or Neymar. Barcelona's title chances will drastically decrease if Barcelona's identity and the Tiki-Taka aren't restored soon. That's why a midfielder like Thiago or Verratti is needed. 

Let's hope we will see the Barca the world knows next season with another world class midfielder along with Busquets and Iniesta. 

The ideal midfielder for Barcelona | Summer transfers

Barcelona has been linked with many midfielders including Thiago, Verrati and some time back even the Real Madrid midfielder Isco. In this article we will analyze who would be the perfect fit for Barcelona between the 2 most promising targets Thiago and Verrati. 

Let's look at them individually first. 

1) Thiago Alcantra 

The Bayern Munich midfielder has been phenomenal this season. He has played 19 Bundesliga games for Bayern this season notching up 5 MOTM awards. 

- League Stats per 90 Mins [rating out of 5]

Chances Created - 1.62 [3/5]

Dribbles - 2.13 [4/5]

Passes completed - 89.16 [5/5]
Pass completion - 90% [5/5]
Tackles won - 2.01 [4/5]
Interceptions - 4.98 [5/5] 
Overall Rating - 4.4

- Playstyle : Strong passing and presence in game. Good dribbling. Great defensive contribution. Good finishing. 

2) Marco Verrati

Verrati, who has been PSG's engine in the recent years  has started 14 Ligue 1 games winning 2 MOTM awards. 
- League Stats per 90 Mins [rating out of 5]

Chances Created - 1.98 [3.5/5]

Dribbles - 2.42 [4/5]

Passes completed - 89.16 [5/5]
Pass completion - 89% [5/5]
Tackles won - 2.79 [4.5/5]
Interceptions - 0.98 [2/5] 
Overall Rating - 4

-Playstyle : Strong passing and presence in the game. Good dribbling. Good with through balls. Likes to tackle. Commits fouls often.

Verdict : 
Thiago should be the ideal midfielder for Barcelona because 
1) Gives away less fouls. Barcelona are not very well with defending set pieces and giving away too many fouls can be dangerous.
2) Contributes more defensively. The new 3-4-3 formation means the midfielder needs to be stronger defensively and win the ball before the opponents cross their half. Thiago's interceptions can be very useful here.
3) Thiago was one of the La Masia's talent and knows how to play the Barcelona style of football. 

Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo | La Liga 2016/17

We present to you La Liga stats of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

The difference between the two is pretty clear statistically. Who do you think will end the League with more goals?

These loaned talents may be on their way to the first team in June

Munir el haddadi and Cristian Tello are two of the possible Barca talents on loan who may return to the Camp Nou to see themselves in the first team next season. 

Another talent that could be returning would have been Halilovic but he was not able to develop this season as he did not get playtime in his loan in the Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. He needs more time on the pitch before joining the first team. So it is more likely he will be loaned next season.

One of the primary reasons we may see one of the talents join the first team is the recent change in formation and shifting Messi to Central attacking midfielder or a secondary striker role. Rafinha has been seen playing the RW/RWB position since the change in formation. Since Messi is now mostly playing a central role and Paco or Suarez are not able to play on the wing, someone is needed to play that position. 

Munir who is currently loaned to Valencia where he has appeared in 16 games, starting in 8 of them has notched up 4 goals and 3 assists. He is young, has some experience with the first team and plays mainly as a right winger. 

Cristian Tello is on a loan to the Seria A club Fiorentina where he has appeared 19 times, starting 7 times has notched up 3 goals and 4 assists. He is not very young like Munir but has more experience with the first team. He was well known for his chemistry with Messi when he used to play for the first team.

It is tough to say for certain that which player will be returning to the club as it also depends on who will be seen in the managerial role next season. However, the chances of it being one of Munir or Tello are more likely.  

FC Barcelona Managerial candidates | Who is the right man for the job?

As the current FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has announced a few weeks back that he will not be managing next season. He needs a break said Lucho. Let's look at the three main potential candidates - 

1) Ernesto Valverde - Current Athletic Bilbao Manager 

Athletic Bilbao Stats this season with rating according to the club's level -  
Average Possession - 50% [Average]
Pass completion - 74% [Average]
League possession - 7th [Average]

Playstyle - Attempt crosses often. Very strong with aerial duels.

Verdict - Valverde has decent experience in the Spanish la Liga but Valverde is not suitable for Barcelona. He has been doing just decent with Bilbao and his playstyle is not suitable for Barcelona.

2) Ronald Koeman - Current Everton Manager

Everton Stats this season with rating according to the club's level - 

Possession - 51% [Average]

Pass completion - 78% [Average]

League possession - 7th [Above average because of bad couple of last seasons]

Playstyle - Using the wings. Through balls. Short passing.

Verdict - Ronald Koeman is a good manager. His style suits Barcelona more than Valverde. But one negative is he does not have experience in the Spanish Liga.

3) Jorge Sampaoli - Current Sevilla Manager 

Sevilla Stats this season with rating according to the club's level - 

Possession - 56% [Above average]

Pass completion - 81% [Above average]

League position - 2nd [Good] 

Playstyle - Possession football. Short Passing. Through balls. 

Verdict - Sampaoli has experience in Spanish Liga. He has done great with Sevilla. Has suitable style for Barcelona. Also, he is good with multiple formations and rotating the team. 

Therefore, Sampaoli should be the ideal manager for Barcelona next season. 

What went wrong against Deportivo?

Deportivo 2 - 1 FC Barcelona

Problems we had against Deportivo -

1) Lack of aerial strength. A lot of our key players are weak in the air. Example Mascherano, Messi, Neymar, Arda, Alba. Both the goals were conceded from corners. Even though the first one wasn't because of an aerial duel if we had someone strong in the air the ball would have been headed out before even getting in the heart of the box. The second goal was from a direct header. 

This even affects our attack. A lot of good crosses are delivered by the players but no one to head them in. 

2) The team lacked creativity. Gomes needs to be much more creative. Rest of the team also lacked creativity today. 

3) Players had not completely recovered from the energy consuming game against PSG. The player's who played against PSG were not reacting as fast and were not very agile and energetic today. 

The team has some time to relax before their next game as Barcelona has a week before their next game when they face Valencia at Camp Nou. 

Deportivo 2 - 1 Barcelona | Match Sumarry

A disappointing loss from the Blaugrana this Sunday when they faced Deportivo. Even though it seemed like Barcelona controlled the game well in the first half they conceded around the 40th-minute mark. A dangerous ball from the corner came in and Mascherano tried to clear it in a heroic way with an overhead kick but failed. Stegan dived towards the ball but unfortunately couldn't catch it and the ball went loose for Joselu to blast it into the empty net. 
Suarez equalized in the early 2nd half when Denis Suarez's low cross from the right flank was stopped by Arribas only to be smashed back in by Suarez to the near post. Good reaction from Suarez there. 
Barca was keeping possession for most of the game but in the 74th minute another corner was curled into the far post by Emre Colak and Bergantinos rose above Alba to head it in for Deportivo's 2nd goal. Barcelona tried to recover from that lead by going all out attack in the last 15 mins but unfortunately, couldn't score or even create a lot of scoring chances.