Ok i will just go ahead and paste the information here so everyone can take a look for themselves. But as far as i know Barca are in horrible shape and will be punished by the German Beasts!!!!
Barcelona kick-start their pre-season campaign tomorrow, as they prepare to travel to Germany to face Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in the 2013 Uli Hoeness Cup. Despite appointing Gerardo Martino as their new coach this morning, Barcelona travel to the Allianz Arena without a permanent coach, and will therefore be led by Jordi Roura and Rubi – in what may be their last match with the club.
After the unfortunate resignation of head coach Tito Vilanova, the players were in no fit state to travel to Poland on Saturday, where they would have otherwise started their pre-season against Lechia Gdansk (who last night kicked off their season with a 2-2 draw at home to Podbeskidzie). And as that match will now be played in a week’s time on the 30th, Barça now face the unenviable task of squaring off against the reigning European Champions in their first friendly match of 2013/14.
TEAM NEWS
BARCELONA
Worryingly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Barcelona who will not only be in inferior condition to their Bavarian hosts, but will also be without a raft of first-team players who are yet to return to the club after their service at the 2013 Confederations Cup. That means there will be no Xavi, no Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué, or even Neymar, or Dani Alves – so Lionel Messi and possibly Alexis Sánchez aside, Barça will be without their entire first-choice starting XI, particularly as club captain Carles Puyol continues to miss out through injury.
So, if Barcelona lost by four goals on their last trip to the Allianz Arena with their first-choice XI, what on earth are we in store for tomorrow, when a second-string team attempts to go toe-to-toe with a full-strength Bayern Munich?
If the recent matches between the two sides are anything to go by, it’s going to be a busy night for Jose Manuel Pinto in the Barcelona goal. Starting between the sticks in the absence of Victor Valdés, Pinto enters this pre-season knowing that this may well be his last year with the club, as Barcelona reportedly have deals with both Pepe Reina and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. Certainly, if those two do end up joining the club, there doesn’t appear to be much room for a 38 year-old veteran like Pinto – regardless of his character and popularity in the dressing-room. Yet, there’s a feeling that with Pinto, age is just a number.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
First-half
Barcelona (4-3-3): Pinto; Montoya, Bartra, Mascherano, Adriano; Song, JDS, Roberto; Alexis, Messi, Tello
Second-half
Barcelona (4-3-3): Oier; Patric, Sergi Gomez, Mascherano, Planas; Samper, Ilie, Espinosa; Nieto, Dongou, Roman
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Lahm, Van Buyten, Dante, Alaba; Thiago, Kroos; Robben, Müller, Ribery; Mandzukic
MATCH PREDICTION
Barcelona have only just started pre-season, are without the majority of their starting XI, and don’t even have a permanent manager to lead them out at the Allianz, against a Bayern side that’s continuing to dominate all-comers under our best-ever coach, Pep Guardiola. There appears to be no way that Barcelona will win, but this is only a friendly after all; the result is irrelevant. Still, I’ll predict a close first-half (possibly finishing 1-1) and depending on the scale of each team’s substitutions, I can see Bayern running away with it in the second-half. 3-1 Bayern.
Barcelona kick-start their pre-season campaign tomorrow, as they prepare to travel to Germany to face Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in the 2013 Uli Hoeness Cup. Despite appointing Gerardo Martino as their new coach this morning, Barcelona travel to the Allianz Arena without a permanent coach, and will therefore be led by Jordi Roura and Rubi – in what may be their last match with the club.
After the unfortunate resignation of head coach Tito Vilanova, the players were in no fit state to travel to Poland on Saturday, where they would have otherwise started their pre-season against Lechia Gdansk (who last night kicked off their season with a 2-2 draw at home to Podbeskidzie). And as that match will now be played in a week’s time on the 30th, Barça now face the unenviable task of squaring off against the reigning European Champions in their first friendly match of 2013/14.
TEAM NEWS
BARCELONA
Worryingly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Barcelona who will not only be in inferior condition to their Bavarian hosts, but will also be without a raft of first-team players who are yet to return to the club after their service at the 2013 Confederations Cup. That means there will be no Xavi, no Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué, or even Neymar, or Dani Alves – so Lionel Messi and possibly Alexis Sánchez aside, Barça will be without their entire first-choice starting XI, particularly as club captain Carles Puyol continues to miss out through injury.
So, if Barcelona lost by four goals on their last trip to the Allianz Arena with their first-choice XI, what on earth are we in store for tomorrow, when a second-string team attempts to go toe-to-toe with a full-strength Bayern Munich?
If the recent matches between the two sides are anything to go by, it’s going to be a busy night for Jose Manuel Pinto in the Barcelona goal. Starting between the sticks in the absence of Victor Valdés, Pinto enters this pre-season knowing that this may well be his last year with the club, as Barcelona reportedly have deals with both Pepe Reina and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. Certainly, if those two do end up joining the club, there doesn’t appear to be much room for a 38 year-old veteran like Pinto – regardless of his character and popularity in the dressing-room. Yet, there’s a feeling that with Pinto, age is just a number.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
First-half
Barcelona (4-3-3): Pinto; Montoya, Bartra, Mascherano, Adriano; Song, JDS, Roberto; Alexis, Messi, Tello
Second-half
Barcelona (4-3-3): Oier; Patric, Sergi Gomez, Mascherano, Planas; Samper, Ilie, Espinosa; Nieto, Dongou, Roman
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Lahm, Van Buyten, Dante, Alaba; Thiago, Kroos; Robben, Müller, Ribery; Mandzukic
MATCH PREDICTION
Barcelona have only just started pre-season, are without the majority of their starting XI, and don’t even have a permanent manager to lead them out at the Allianz, against a Bayern side that’s continuing to dominate all-comers under our best-ever coach, Pep Guardiola. There appears to be no way that Barcelona will win, but this is only a friendly after all; the result is irrelevant. Still, I’ll predict a close first-half (possibly finishing 1-1) and depending on the scale of each team’s substitutions, I can see Bayern running away with it in the second-half. 3-1 Bayern.
gl all
