I didn't watch full matches against depor or zaragoza but this atletico didn't convinced (spell??) me at all. And IMO we hardly can lost this game.
I know, anything can happen and every team will do their best against team like Barça but we can beat them!

 

Kezman and Petrov were on the bench against Deportivo.

 

Petrov is injured in training and it doesn't matter even if they play........they lack a crucial Playmaker...

 

We've kind of revenged Betis in the Supercopa for last season defeats. Now it's time to take revenge on Atletico. Last season we played them also on the 3rd league day, didn't we?

Anyway, it doesn't seem like their form is good yet, so hopefully, we can grab all three points at Vicente Calderon. We'll know more after today's game at Bremen.

 

Atletico have a good squad but they need time to adjust to one another.
The part of their team from midfield up is very new and they have a new coach so we shouldn't expect a very organised Atletico that beat us at home last season. I think we will win. They'll be poor for some time because it's not easy to find a good strategy for a new team.

They've been too hyped up. They're nothing special at the moment.

 

We have to hope that their bad form continues for another game at least. They seem to be struggling to find the right blend, in terms of players. There has been some unrest when you see guys like Kezman on the bench, exactly what he left Chelsea because of.

This is probably a good time to play in the Calderon, in my opinion.

 

Barca tonight was very mature. I think with a similar attitude in Madrid we can get away with all three pts. We are definitely favourites.

 

Seriously man........i felt they defended well and got the 3 points but i still miss the pace of the game and the entertainment..........still 3 points r welcome anyday but our defence looks sharper and Gio was good today both going forward and in Defending.

 

Tough game, no doubt.

It seems that Petrov won´t play. That´s good for us.

 

Petrov has a small chance to play, I hope he makes it because he's a great player that can cause Barca many problems.

By the way, take care with Torres on Sunday. p

 

I repeat.......Last year that Karate Chop Pass by Ibagaza and The final Phantom Penalty were the only flashes.......otherwise we constantly dominated and ran against Perea and Pablo......This year it wont happen.

 

Tough game as Atletico always seem to cause us problems, unfortunately they never seem to play the same way against their neighbors. Anyway, this year they haven't started off well and it looks like they haven't got it together yet so I predict a comfortable win for us, 3-1 for the Blaugrana. Forca Barca!

 

Yes, Its going to be a tough one!! but I hope we will win!!

 

Vicente Calderón - 56163

ATLÉTICO MADRID VS F.C. BARCELONA

​

Atlético Madrid didn't start very well. They still have many problems to score, although they have talent enough to do it. Bianchi did some inventions in Riazor, but the pressure of the media will force him to play with the usual XI, unless they have an injury.

They really need to win, so I don't expect an easy match. Lately, they are a pain in the ass, we had many problems with them in the last seasons. As always, we must impose our law in the midfield, which is their weakest point. We must have the ball and be careful with the counter attacks. I fear Petrov and our RB.

It's a "clasico" of La Liga. Let's hope to win and kill one of our rivals.

The match on Sunday at 9 PM (Canal+, if you live in Spain).

 

I wonder who Rijkaard will play at RB, Belletti or Oleguer..

 

I wonder who Rijkaard will play at RB, Belletti or Oleguer..

How many guesses do we get? :shades: :howler:

 

How many guesses do we get? :shades: :howler:

Knock yourself out

 

I gues Rijkaard and Oleguer are related somehow...they must be.

 

Definetely a tough game.
Atletico have a good team on paper yet they still haven't convinced at all in their first 2 games.
I think we can get the 3 points from Calderon this year and it's time to stop Torres

VISCA BARCA

 

I don't get all this criticism against Oleguer. He's not top-class, but he's a decent defender. Besides, if we don't play with him, who do you want? We have what we have and we must live with it.

 

I don't get all this criticism against Oleguer. He's not top-class, but he's a decent defender. Besides, if we don't play with him, who do you want? We have what we have and we must live with it.

I agree, see yesterday's game thread.
We never really had world-class international defenders, bar Koeman, the rest was spanish and/or homegrown. I think there are some good reasons for that. There is no guarantee that a foreign defender will have the same top performances in Spain. A good recent example for that is Walter Samuel and I believe it's even harder at Barça. We are an attack-minded team, always have been, that makes it tough for keepers and defenders, tougher than at other teams.
I already said that years ago, I doubt even Nesta (someone who was considered the best defender in the world by a good majority 1-2 years ago, maybe still is) would be a guaranteed success in Barcelona.
Even Helenio Herrera back then had his foreign players up front and his Catalan warriors at the back, it's a good policy and it can work wonders.

Oleguer does a decent job and while I agree that a fighter like Puyol could complement well with a classy central defender (a leader-type, think Blind at Ajax, Baresi at Milan,...), this central defense just won us the league title last year and is doing fine. No way Oleguer deserves the criticism he is constantly getting.

From what I read, I also get the feeling that Oleguer is an important part off the field, a loyal and humble chap, outspoken when it comes to crazy wages and last but not least a politically involved person.


By the way, did Frank already choose his 18men-squad for the game? I couldn't find it anywhere.

 

Definetely a tough game.
Atletico have a good team on paper yet they still haven't convinced at all in their first 2 games.
I think we can get the 3 points from Calderon this year and it's time to stop Torres

VISCA BARCA

I hope we will get those 3 points

 

Ok Oleguer is loyal, he don`t get enough money and he is politically involved. I still consider Marquez or Edmilson better options in CB.

 

Oleguer is more than loyal.. He was a starter last season, he's still a starter, he has the worst contract and yet you won't hear him complaining. Besides that, he's the aim of all the critics. I would say he's a saint.

 

Oh come on. He isn`t good enough to be a starter. Am i the only one who thinks that?