As expected Thierry Henry and Deco return to the squad for tomorrow night’s Copa del Rey semi final first leg against Valencia at Camp Nou (kick off 10pm). The surprise is the exclusion of Ronaldinho who will rest along with Sylvinho, Gudjohnsen and Giovani. Rafa Marquez has not recovered from his injury yet, while Jorquera, Oleguer and Ezquerro are all still injured.
It will be an emotional return to Camp Nou for Valencia coach Ronald Koeman and his assistants Jose Mari Bakero and Toni Bruins Slot. It finally seems as if they are turning things around at Valencia after a more than rocky start, they are unbeaten in their four games so far in February. Valencia will be without the injured Marchena, Alexis, Morientes and Miguel, while Koeman continues to leave out Cañizares, Albelda and Angulo. There is a return after suspension for both Joaquin and Ivan Helguera, and there could be a start for the magnificently named Sunny Sunday (just reading this guy’s name makes me smile, unfortunately Sunny is only his nickname - his full name is Stephen Sunday Obayan). Valencia have knocked out Real Union (5-1 aggregate score), Betis (4-2) and Atletico Madrid (3-3 away goals) on the way to the semi finals.
Frank Rijkaard played his strongest team in the previous cup games with Sevilla and Villarreal so he will almost certainly do the same again tomorrow. With Ronaldinho left out we should see a return to the team for Henry on the left again, with Messi on the right and Eto’o at centre forward. In midfield it is not so clear which one of the three pequeños will be left out, but my guess is that Deco will come in for Iniesta. Eric Abidal will return at left back in place of Sylvinho.
Barça and Valencia have met on 17 previous occasions in the Copa del Rey, Barça have been victorious 11 times to Valencia’s 6. If Leo Messi plays it will be his 100th competitive first team game for Barça. The second leg takes place in Valencia on Thursday 20 March, and the winner will face the winner of Racing and Getafe in the final on Wednesday 16 April.
Barça’s 16-man squad: Valdés, Pinto, Zambrotta, Puyol, Thuram. Milito, Abidal, Xavi, Toure, Deco, Iniesta, Messi, Eto’o, Bojan, Henry.
Possible starting XI: Valdés; Zambrotta, Puyol, Milito, Abidal; Xavi, Toure, Deco; Messi, Eto’o, Henry.
My prediction: Barça 3 Valencia 1
Send your predictions in the comments section.
27 responses so far ↓
Dr.Osmo // Feb 26, 2008 at 21:13
———————————-Valdés——————————
—————————-Puyol—–Milito————————–
—–Zambrotta——————————————Abidal——
——————————–Toure———————————
————————–Xavi———-Deco————————–
——Messi——————————————Henry———–
——————————–Eto’o———————————-
Frede // Feb 26, 2008 at 21:26
Barca 2-0 Valencia. Both teams has a solid defences, but Barcas offensive line will do their thing.
Visca el Barca
Taras // Feb 26, 2008 at 21:42
Ronnie won’t play? Why? I say Barca 2-1 Valencia. They will be motivated at Camp Nou.
Nic // Feb 27, 2008 at 2:13
Rijkaard said that he had left out Ronaldinho because “we have a lot of matches in front of us and we should let him rest”.
I think that now that the ‘fantastic four’ are all fit we will see plenty of rotations with them - Eto’o out against Celtic, Henry against Levante, Ronnie against Valencia … does this mean Messi will be rested for Saturday’s game at Atletico Madrid?
Jay // Feb 27, 2008 at 6:42
4-1
Blaugrana // Feb 27, 2008 at 7:36
Barçelona 3-0 valencia it will be good to see eto’o and henry combine well,
pep // Feb 27, 2008 at 10:03
I think Messi might be rested against Celtic rather then against Atletico, Nic. The problem with the four is that you can’t do real rotations cause Messi is the only one who can play (at top level) at the right and Ronaldinho the same on the left. Eto’o and Henry are best up front, they can play at the right or the left but there they lose a lot of what makes them a “fantastico”.
Youssef Gazia // Feb 27, 2008 at 12:52
4-0. Yes, 4-0.
Blaugrana // Feb 27, 2008 at 13:26
Good point pep we don’t have a top replacement for messi’s position let’s hope we patch that up in tha summer, if messi is injured,DISASTER.
Jay // Feb 27, 2008 at 14:24
Again Henry on the left doesnt give me confidence….
Michael Maré // Feb 27, 2008 at 14:51
2-1 to Barca, (I won’t be able to watch the game as Copa Del Rey games are not broadcast in S.A.)
FCB - Canada // Feb 27, 2008 at 15:14
3-0 Barca.
Titi186 // Feb 27, 2008 at 16:45
The comment of ‘pep’ above is absolutelt spot on.
“I think Messi might be rested against Celtic rather then against Atletico, Nic. The problem with the four is that you can’t do real rotations cause Messi is the only one who can play (at top level) at the right and Ronaldinho the same on the left. Eto’o and Henry are best up front, they can play at the right or the left but there they lose a lot of what makes them a “fantastico””
This is a weird situation. Do you play 4-3-3 and when R10 is on top form you have to leave out either TH14 or E9 on the centre forward position, or do you play 4-4-2 and play both Henry and Eto’o up front but then sacrifice the the wing play of Ronnie and Messi and convert them to plain midfeilders?
If it was me I would trial the 4-4-2 because from what very little I have seen of Henry and Eto’o together they seem to be very compatible and against Celtic they had some very nice interchanges which will enevitably lead to a more effective attack especially against teams who are good at defending.
What do you think Nic (and everyone else
)?
Titi186 // Feb 27, 2008 at 16:45
Oh and I predict 2-0 just for the record!
Taras // Feb 27, 2008 at 17:07
Titi186- I would rather play 4-3-3 because Ronnie and Messi combine great with each other up front and they can do some damage by themselves. They can also provide Henry or Eto’o with some nice passes. If Barca plays 4-4-2 than it’s less entertaining to watch because Henry doesn’t have much dribbling abilities.
Taras // Feb 27, 2008 at 17:10
Nic- in what position does Dunga play Ronaldinho? I like the way he plays for Brasil very much.
mcv // Feb 27, 2008 at 17:19
@ Taras - Well Brazil play a 4-2-2-2 of sorts, with Ronaldinho and Kaka playing as CAM’s behind the two strikers, which is his natural position and where he excels the most.
Taras // Feb 27, 2008 at 17:31
Thanks mcv. He played good for Brasil in last matches and I think that he’s facing criticism not because his bad shape, it’s because Rijkaard doesn’t use him the wright way.
Youssef Gazia // Feb 27, 2008 at 20:03
Sorry to break it to you guys but I think that we will never see the fantastic 4 all together upfront.
Taras // Feb 27, 2008 at 20:26
Youssef Gazia- we have a small chance to see all of the fantastic four up front . If Barca plays a team like Levante or if we play a match which means nothing than Rijkaard can play 4-2-4 with Ronnie, Eto’o, Henry and Messi up front.
Titi186 // Feb 27, 2008 at 20:29
Fair point Taras I agree with you that Henry has the least dribbling ability out of the fantastic four (but still has enough lol!).
I also agree with you that 4-3-3 is more entertaining as especially with Ronnia and Messi beating people 1-on-1 the skills are on show and everyone is laughing.
BUT would you want a 4-3-3 if it was more exciting but yeilded less wins? I dont think so. I just think that with Messi and Ronnie aswell has Deco, Iniesta, Xavi etc feeding BOTH Henry and Eto’o, Barca with score huge amounts of goals.
Im the first one to admit that Henry has not been the most exciting player at Barca but he has been the second most effective. He is only 1 goal behind Messi and with all his rave reviews this season, Henry being so close to him in terms of goals says alot about his true scoring abilities.
Luckyily for me and you, we dont have to make these decisions
Forca Barca!!
Nic // Feb 27, 2008 at 20:37
Youssef is right I think, the four will not play together. I am happy with 4-3-3 as long as Eto’o is playing, it doesn’t work so well without his pressurizing work. I would not play 4-4-2 with Ronnie and Messi in midfield because it would effectively be a 4-2-4 which would be suicide in the modern game.
Basically I think it has to be 4-3-3 with Messi-Eto’o and either Ronaldinho or Henry or Iniesta on the left.
Taras // Feb 27, 2008 at 20:38
Forca Barca, Titi186!!! But Rijkaard can also use two different formations in first and second halfs. He can use 4-4-2 in the first half to score some goals, and use 4-3-3 in the second to put in Barca’s brand good show! And of course we can also score goals with 4-3-3! But it all depends on how the game goes!
Nic // Feb 27, 2008 at 21:09
Team just announced: as I predicted
———————–Valdés——————–
Zambrotta— Puyol—- Milito—— Abidal
——Xavi——— Toure——-Deco——–
–Messi————-Eto’o———— Henry–
joan amenos // Feb 27, 2008 at 21:20
My prediction: Barça 2 -València 0.
joan amenos // Feb 27, 2008 at 21:34
The first moment will be a minut for nostalgia. I remember now Koeman and Bakero and our success in 1992. But we are young!
Information for foreigners: there is a special rivalry between Barcelona and Valencia, but in a great part of Valencia they speak catalan language. They are the two most important cities in the historic country “Páïsos catalans”.
NateW // Feb 27, 2008 at 23:36
any updates on the game? I don’t have access to it.
Eurosport.com has it at 0-1 ??
Leave a Comment