[Iribar]

Jauregi, Brechet, Arteta and Karpin are out for Erreala, finally Nihat is fit. Mention Azparren and Gorka Larrea have made the list. Difficult game but as I said I have good vibrations for Riesgo in this game.

FC Barcelona: Valdés; Belletti, Puyol, Oleguer, Van Bronckhorst, Márquez, Xavi, Iniesta, Giuly, Ronaldinho y Etoo.

Real Sociedad: Riesgo; López Rekarte, Labaka, Luiz Alberto, Garrido; Mikel Alonso, Mikel Aranburu, Xabi Prieto, Gabilondo; Nihat y Kovacevic.

Estadio: Camp Nou (19.00 horas)

Árbitro: Rodríguez Santiago.

According to ETB Gari Uranga could play on the left instead of Gabilondo. Also Nihat could play as lonely striker, so Amorrortu could add a midfielder (maybe Alkiza) instead of Kovacevic, we´ll see.

BTW, I don´t understand why Rekarte is playing lately if Zubiaurre did better in the chances he got.

 

[Iribar]

Erreala lost with a goal by Eto'o in the last minutes, didn't see the game so can't comment.

 

[iparralde]

Another sad loss for Erreala The players gave their all, were full of sacrifice... When we start saying this I don´t know if it is a good or bad signal. I suppose that for opponent supporters Erreala made a very deffensive non-attractive game, but in our situation I think you can´t ask for much more. It´s true that when Barça had the ball Erreala defended very close to their own goal-area but at the end of the day, you see that Erreala had as many goal chances as Barça.
Nihat did not start because he had not trained nearly all the week due to a gastroenteritis, he only played for 25 minutes but he managed to have 3 one-ones to Valdes. He failed all 3 chances, one just before Etoo´s goal and the other 2 after that :frownani: With Nihat out, Amorrortu opted for Bittor, Aranburu and M.Alonso in midfield, so they defended that midfield area perfectly but they had difficulties in the ball-control. Xabi Prieto and Gabilondo did well in the few opportunities they had, but Prieto commited 2 silly faults pulling opponents and he was sent-off with 30 minutes remaining. I´m sure he´ll learn the lesson, this is one of the bad things of having so many newbies around...
Mention apart for the refferee... he was so bad for both teams :irritate: The penaltie in the 3rd minute is unbelievable, thanks Etoo for sending it out.

 

[Almogàver]

iparralde said it all. I don't blame Erreala for playing this way, they refused to play the ball and they wanted to win in a counter attack. Not nice, but an option after all. I guess that it's hard to go to win to the Camp Nou, giving a lesson of football.

Actually the tactics were not bad, from the point of view of Erreala. Your defense did quite well, Barça had few chances in the first half and the first 20 minutes of the second. I guess that this is what Amorrortu wanted, a 0-0 and then trying to catch a counter attack at the end. It was weird to see Nihat benched, but if he wasn't at 100%, I don't say anything.

At this point, Rijkaard did a good substitution playing with Sylvinho, since he created a lot of danger in the left wing. Thanx to him, Xabi Prieto made a mistake that costed him the 2nd yellow card. Erreala wasn't a violent team, but they made too many fouls that left them with a lot of yellow cards. Most of them for pulling the Barça players shirts. That was the final for Erreala. Barça began to had chances and the goal was a matter of time.

Nihat had it in his hands anyway and that's why I think that Amorrortu's plan was good, but Valdés was impressive. As people say: "If you forgive, you'll pay it"... and Erreala paid it.

The penalty was totally unfair, but it didn't affect the result. The ref was awful. He didn't make any big mistakes (except the penalty!), but he was one of those that annoy you.