Under-fire Aguirre: “We aren’t the favourites, but we expect to give a surprise…”
Maxi, our often times non-existent capitan, on the game:
“…we need to worry about ourselves. We need to be calm and not leave ourselves exposed, because in one chance they can break the game…We learned that last season.”
Maxi continues: “We went through a bad time, but we’ll fight back. We’ll raise ourselves up. We’re out of the UEFA Cup and the Copa del Rey, so no cups are left. Our goal is clear now, so let’s fight. There’s no crisis – we just need everyone’s support.”
Here’s a mini-recap of our away game against Barcelona earlier this season. Click here & here.
So, have we learned from those mistakes? Not really. Our defence is still rubbish and we’re struggling to score goals at the moment. If this isn’t a recipe for disaster, I don’t know is. That said, I still hope that we get something out of this game. The players need it, the supporters need it. These are desperate times, my friends. We’ve dropped enough points in the past weeks. Will the abuse end this Sunday? For the love of God please.
STARTING 11: Abbiati, Valera, Pablo, Perea, Antonio López; Camacho, Raúl García, Maxi, Simao, & Forlán.
SUBS: Falcón, Cléber, Luis García, Zé Castro, Jurado, Reyes, Miguel, Mista, Perea.
The only major doubt is Agüero– he’s still recuperating from his midweek injury– Aguirre will determine if he’s fit enough to be included in the starting 11 tomorrow (Saturday).
Who is Ignacio Camacho?
An incredibly talented B/cantera team player. This kid won the U-17 European Championship with Spain (a team which he captained). Camacho is known to idolise Claude Makelele– he shares a similar midfield style to the Frenchman, by the way. Basically, he’s exactly the sort of player we need at the moment: a defensive midfielder. His presence will essentially allow Raul to take on a more attacking role.
STILL INJURED: Leo Franco, Seitaridis, & Motta (for the rest of the season).
Eller & Pernia have been completely left out (tactical decision of Aguirre). If this doesn’t spell the end of these two players, I don’t know what does.
Previous Results for this fixture (Atleti v Barcelona):
06/07 season: 0-6 loss for us– absolute humiliation.
05/06 season: 2-1 win for us.
04/05 season: 1-1 draw.
03/04 season: 0-0 draw.
02/03 season: 3-0 win for us.
Besides last season’s disaster, we have a fairly good record against Barcelona at home. Of course, that’s when we had Torres- who had a knack for terrorising Barcelona.
Barcelona’s previous five games away from Camp Nou (in Liga):
1-2 win against Zaragoza.
1-1 draw against Sevilla.
1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao.
0-2 win against Mallorca.
0-3 win against Valencia.
Not bad at all. If I remember correctly, a few of their goals and/or victories have been as a result of dubious ref decisions…draw your own conclusions.
They enter the game unbeaten in 8 games.
Barcelona’s selected 18: Valdés, Pinto, Zambrotta, Puyol, Milito, Abidal, Sylvinho, Thuram, Edmílson, Xavi, Deco, Ronaldinho, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Messi, Henry, Eto’o & Giovani.
No Bojan, but this is still an incredibly strong squad.
Former Atleti coach Radomir Antić believes that Barça’s visit will revive our current slump: “Perhaps for Atlético, the visit of Barcelona is the best thing. A team in poor form must look for incentives. The motivation that playing Barça will give them can cause the talent that has been dull to arise. The Calderón also will be an added aid that the team needs to succeed.”
Antic has managed both teams (Atleti for longer stints) and hopes for an Atleti win: “I am with Atlético, even though I am not a supporter. I like the style in which football is played rather than the results. I like to see expansive play that takes advantage of the whole field rather than watching a team that defends for ninety minutes to get a result.”
Of course, he says our chances are increased if we have Kun & Forlán– which is a doubt at this point in time.
LET’S JUST GET SOMETHING OUT OF THIS GAME, I SAY.
VAMOS MI POBRE ATLETI!
Anything missing?
