Our opponents are known for their attacking football and know how to pass the ball. While their squad is on the smallish side, they have the attacking duo of Rossi-Nilmar which has caused havoc not only in Spain but also in EL having knocked out two possible next season CL teams(3rd team from Serie A and the 2nd team from Bundesliga).

It is not certain that Nilmar will have recovered in time as he missed this past weekend's game as well. None the less, their third striker, Marco Ruben, has been in good form. Scored the only goal last weekend to beat Athletic, and seems to link up even better with Rossi than Nilmar has in the last couple of months(early in the season they were out of this world).

 

It is not certain that will have recovered in time as he missed this past weekend's game as well. None the less, their third striker, Marco Ruben, has been in good form. Scored the only goal last weekend to beat Athletic, and seems to link up even better with Rossi than Nilmar has in the last couple of months(early in the season they were out of this world).

Oh, ok. There is about 10 days to the game and the friggin international brake so all kinds of shit might happen in the meantime. Marco Ruben has been playing well and him instead of Nilmar doesnt make Villarreal that much weaker.

But thanks for pointing it out, i hope Nilmar will recover for the game though. Wouldnt want injuries messing up this game.

 

A win here will be a huge step towards the league title no doubt. Going to Bernabeu with a 5 point advantage to Madrid will put a lot of pressure on Madrid and obviously less pressure on us.

 

I'll celebrate if we get the 3 points there. 99% Liga will be ours!

 

Who the hell opened this thread. There is possibility of a strike in la liga, and the games will be cancelled. Way premature!

Anyway, personally, I think the strike won't happen.

 

You sonofabitch, politician motherfvcker!

In Southern European countries there is always a possibility of a strike. Cant believe everything they throw at us.

 

is this really happening? Good for us in my perspective

Round 30 La Liga Fixtures Postponed Over Television Revenue RowThe next round of matches in Spain's top flight will be played at a later date as the row over television revenue distribution sees no end...
The next set of matches in the Primera Division scheduled to be played on April 2 and 3, Round 30, has been postponed because of an ongoing row over the distribution of revenue from television deals, the Spanish league has revealed.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the LFP has stated that due to a lack of progress in talks with the Spanish government over calls to revoke a current law that guarantees that one match per week is broadcast on free-to-air television, it has been forced to postpone the next round of games in Spain's top flight until June.

"The board of the First Division Football League (LFP) was informed late on Tuesday of a lack of progress in the negotiations the league has initiated with the Government, the Higher Sports Council and parliamentary groups involving a grievance with respect to other sectors," said a league statement.

"Therefore, the LFP has upheld the decision taken at the last General Assembly on 11 February, which agreed to postpone the round to be played on 3 April until there is a palpable evolution in dialogue."

Thirteen clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, voted for the strike at the last league general assembly but Sevilla, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Espanyol and Real Zaragoza are against the motion and filed a legal challenge in a Madrid court to block the postponement on Wednesday.

However, an LFP spokesman has said that it will stick to the decision taken last month to postpone the games unless the government backs down. The games will instead be played on 12 June, three weeks after the league is currently scheduled to end, according to Villarreal president Fernando Roig.

Roig also says that he is "in complete disagreement that this position of force be adopted" and wants all games to be on pay TV as well as more discussion between the league and the government.

Secretary of State for Sport Jaime Lissavetzky too wants the games to be played as slated and said, "We've been sitting with the League and we have considered many things.

"The main losers are the citizens and football players because the competition has been extended by about 20 days. I hope common sense prevails, and we maintain our readiness to defend the interests of citizens."

Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido is also opposed to the measure and, referring to the system of clubs striking television deals individually and not collectively, said, "It is shameful that the Spanish league has the most unfair revenue sharing in Europe, [but] it is not the moment, politically speaking, to make demands and, besides, it shouldn't always be the fans that pay the consequences."

 

Not really , I would prefer to goto the Bernabeu , with this fixture out of the way. I don't want the uncertainity of this result hanging over us for the rest of the season.

 

So wait, the clubs are unhappy because one game a week is on free tv? Are they serious? :yuck:

 

Mo' money, mo' problems.

 

Dont have a position on whether how fair the TV-deal is but postponing the game 3 weeks after the official end of the season is definitely a brilliant idea!alm:

 

I am trying to look at the bright side, we get lucky if this goes through. Not only do we get to play away against a very tough team but also after international matches took place, and all of us know how bad it is for us after a NT break. For me I am not too bothered about the outcome, if does get postponed (which is something I doubt will happen) I won't be mad at all. When the fixture is expected to take place, I expect La Liga to have been already wrapped up by then. Therefore, it will be a useless fixture by then and I will send some of the B squad for the match.

 

The strike won't move the whole calendar forward but only postpone the Villarreal match? That's a great thing, 9!

Could we finally rest after NF'nT for once?

 

Is that the case then? This game will be postponed, but the other fixtures stay exactly where they are?
Not playing this game this weekend would benefit us greatly I think, but it's still a bullshit situation. The fans deserve to see SOME football on TV for free.

 

I think you nice people are wrong. Villarreal game will not be postponed, but it will be the next game anyway, and our away game against Malaga will be played somewhere in mid June, some 3 weeks after the penultimate round. At this point we may well release our South Americans, who play Copa America, which would "adulterate" the relegation battle.

If there is a strike, and we play Villarreal on 9/10 April, someone will get screwed. Villarreal plays UEFA league on Thursday before that weekend and we play Shakhtar on Tuesday after that weekend. Unless Villarreal can move UEFA fixture on Wednesday, someone will get only one day rest before the fixtures.

 

A huge fvckup nevertheless. Currently the FCB homepage has our game on 10th which will probably be played on 9th. Dont remember the last time an entire round was postponed in La Liga and how LFP acted then but imo its reasonable to assume that in case the strike happens, the whole round will be moved and other Jornadas will stay the same. Otherwise the whole home-away game structure for the remaining season will be screwed - LFP might be incompetent but that would seriously screw with any potential travelplans of foreign fans. Also that will screw with LFP´s main marketing tool, the Real-Barca game´s, date aswell.

Also the potential situation whether us or Villarreal will be screwed, dont think LFP will go down that road aswell - in their best interest is to give us&Villarreal the best chances of getting to the next round in Europe. Having that game on the 9/10 weekend will screw with that aswell.

 

You are right, because your version is more logical. But since when logic applies to Spanish football?

Whatever I read in Spanish papers about the strike and how the games will be played was along the illogical version I wrote about. But on the other hand, since when should Spanish sport journalism, a fanzine journalism, be taken seriously?

 

Haha, true. Logic is not the way to go when LFP is concerned. But i guess it comes down to whether you think they are more corrupt then stupid or more stupid then corrupt. Im still amazed on why the round they are going to postpone should be played that much after the real season ends. Are they giving more time to the relegation/promotion candidates to come up with the money to pribe the possible officials?

Theres a lot of shit in the fanzines and papers. Basically they are writing every possible scenario and then say that that is going to happen.

 

H. Im still amazed on why the round they are going to postpone should be played that much after the real season ends.

Last Round (if there is no strike) 22. May
CL Final 28. May (one week after)
NT fixtures (4. June and 7. June)
Free date: 11. June (3 weeks later)

They could maybe squeeze this round somewhere midweek, but there is a chance Villarreal will play UEFA league final on 18. May, so probably can't use this date in advance. I'm unsure if there are really any midweek dates available, and I hope they are not thinking using the Wednesday before CL final, the finalist from Spain (we all know who it will be) should have a full week to prepare for the final.

 

If there will be no strike, the match will be played on Saturday at 22:00 CEST.

 

Instead of Sunday 3rd as it was supposed to? Great, one day less for Pep to prepare the game.

 

Supposed to? Nope. Every jornada has Sunday (or Wednesday is they play midweek) as a day of the match written. Until the exact date is decided. Check on a Barca official page.

 

so when we will know if there is a game or not?

 

Tomorrow at 10AM CEST will the judge give his decision about the appeal of six clubs regarding the strike.

 

The league will continue this week. The judge accepted the complaints of the six clubs who refused to go on strike.

 

Lose this match and we can say goodbye to the league title.

 

I tend to agree with this, by far the most important game for Barcelona thus far.

 

Villarreal-Barcelona     Real Madrid-Sporting Gijon
Barcelona-Almeria        Athletic Bilbao-Real Madrid
Real Madrid-Barcelona    Real Madrid-Barcelona
Barcelona-Osasuna        Valencia-Real Madrid
Sociedad-Barcelona       Real Madrid-Real Zaragoza
Barcelona-Espanyol       Sevilla FC-Real Madrid
Levante-Barcelona        Real Madrid-Getafe
Barcelona-Deportivo      Villarreal-Real Madrid
Málaga-Barcelona Real    Madrid-Almeria

With respect to all opponents, I think that 1 point from 6 possible in Bernabeu and Madrigal will make things tight, but controllable.

More than 1 point in those two matches will be excellent.

 

If we leave the Bernabeu still on top, I'd feel extremely confident of winning this league.

 

No Messi, right? Anybody else?

 

Our injury situation (for madridistas who came out of the closet and for those who are full of hope secretly lurking):

UNDOUBTEDLY UNAVAILABLE:
Xavi (5 yellows), Abidal, Puyol

INJURED AT THE MOMENT:
Pedro, Maxwell, Messi, Bojan

All 4 can possibly be available (Maxwell most probably and Pedro least probably), they are projected to be ready somewhere between Villarreal and Shakhtar game, as far as we know Messi is not really injured but in need of a rest before his muscle problem turns into an injury.

 

Our injury situation (for madridistas who came out of the closet and for those who are full of hope secretly lurking):

UNDOUBTEDLY UNAVAILABLE:
Xavi (5 yellows), Abidal, Puyol

INJURED AT THE MOMENT:
Pedro, Maxwell, Messi, Bojan

All 4 can possibly be available (Maxwell most probably and Pedro least probably), they are projected to be ready somewhere between Villarreal and Shakhtar game, as far as we know Messi is not really injured but in need of a rest before his muscle problem turns into an injury.

Perhaps Pep can learn something from this in the future? Learn and understand that Messi must not play every damn 90 min in every single match. :frustrat:

 

I think Madrid have the most difficult schedule, going away to villareal, sevilla and valencia is gonna be very tough. I don't see us getting 9 out of 9. This is the last game besides the Bernabeu where Barca can still drop points. Even if you lose, you'll most likely win the league.

 

Don't forget going to San Mames, which is traditionally our third most difficult stadium to achieve results in(after Camp Nou and Riazor).