Barcelona's expected line-up at the El Madrigal

OK, based on our current injuries and with an eye towards the Champions League game, here is my line up:

F:     Afellay (L), Villa (C), Bojan
M:    Iniesta, Keita, Mascherano
D:     Adriano (L), Pique, Busquets, Alves (R)
GK:  Valdez

Reserves: Messi, Thiago and Jeffren

El Madrigal is a difficult stadium with an even more difficult crowd (kudos to the Villarreal fans for their loyalty) as such I would like to see the team play a physical first half (Keita and Mascherano) and slow the tempo of the game but bring in the heat in the 2nd half with Messi and Jeffren, if needed.  I would like to see Messi saved for the CL game later in the week and not risk an injury especially after the last scare.  I've included Afellay after his strong showing in the Euro qualifiers (I hope he shines and stays with the team).

For Villearreal, Nilmar and Rossi will want to impress Barcelona and show what they're made of.

Prediction? Based on the above and the fact that we don't do good when we come back from international games, I think it will be a hard earned draw...

Enjoy the game!

Xavi leads Spain to 3-1 Euro 2012 qualifying win against Lithuania

A little bit late, but I wanted to share this article about Xavi:

See this link --> Xavi leads Spain to 3-1 Euro 2012 qualifying win against Lithuania

That's the way its done: Xavi is simply a genius...