Barcelona's First New Test

Spanish League’s Game of the Week

By: Gerardo Gonzalez

 Villareal has two "stabbing knifes upfront in Rossi and Nilmar, they have experience, and a reliable keeper…It’s a very complete team.”

As La Liga’s first games of the season were played over the weekend after a short lock out that halted any activity for two weeks, the last game of the opening week and perhaps the most attractive is still to be played on Monday as reigning champions Barcelona will take on a motivated FC Villareal at Camp Nou.

The Blaugranas will be coming home after convincingly winning the Supercup of Europe 2-0 away from FC Oporto, the reigning UEFA champions, on Friday at Stade Louis II in Monaco. Pep Guardiola’s squad has been on a high note following a pre-season US tour that left many wondering if Barça would be the same force to be recon with this upcoming season. Two losses on the way to US soil included a defeat by the minimal difference against a very complete Manchester United and a staggering 4-1 loss to Mexican side Chivas de Guadalajara. Not after rebounding to defeat America 2-0 in a more subtle way.

However, following its philosophy of bringing up their own players it was evident that many youngsters from the bottom ranks of the academy were lined up and perhaps explains as of why the first team did not performed as it is accustomed to see them play. It wasn’t until on the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu for the Spanish Supercup that Barcelona sidelined a more experimented team against perpetual rivals Real Madrid. Earning a 2-2 draw in the first leg and compellingly winning the second leg at Camp Nou 3-2 with the defining goal coming from Leonel Messi on the 88’ minute and causing more tensions between both sides at the end. Nonetheless, the drive to begin the Spanish league competition in a positive way has prompted several players that previously had been seen missing in action due to injuries to come back to at least accumulate playtime minutes in case they are needed after three pillars in the defense Gerard Pique, Adriano and Danny Alves will be out due to injuries and punishment regulations. Some of the returning names are Maxwell and Carles Puyol, the latter one who returned to training after a knee surgery back in June.

Villareal will come out with an extra push of motivation after having qualified to the group stages of the Champions League by defeating Danish side Odense BK in an aggregate 3-1 global score. A team that Barça will need to be careful with as Guardiola has stated that Villareal has given them a great amount of worries in the pitch when playing for the past few years. “Being in Champions gives them tranquility and confidence for the coming season. Since the Pellegrini era they have a similar playing style; they have two stabbing knifes upfront in Rossi and Nilmar, they have experience, and a reliable keeper…It’s a very complete team.”

About the writer:
Gerardo Gonzalez graduated from Loyola University Chicago. Mr. Gonzalez obtained a Bachelors of Business Administration with a concentration in Sports Management.