Spain - Liga BBVA : Real Valladolid 1 - 0 FC Barcelona // 08-03-2014

Post by Live highlights.

Missing Players

Player	Reason	Status	Rating
Alcatraz		Doubtful	6.56
Víctor Pérez		Doubtful	6.4
Heinz		Doubtful	6.66

Player	Reason	Status	Rating
Gerard Piqué		Out	7.46
Isaac Cuenca		Out	N/A

Team News

 Valladolid

• Juan Ignacio Martinez has a few injury concerns.
• Heinz is still sidelined, while Alcatraz is suffering from a hamstring injury.
• Victor Perez is also a doubt having come down with a back injury.

 Barcelona

• Jordi Alba returns from his recent spell on the sidelines. He featured for Spain in their midweek victory over Italy and should start this game.
• Gerard Pique is still out with a calf injury.
• Lionel Messi vomited during Argentina's midweek friendly against Romania in Bucharest, so there will be some doubts regarding his current health.
• During the week captain Carles Puyol announced he was leaving the club in June.

Prediction

• Valladolid's Alvaro Rubio said this week, "We will try and surprise Barcelona". Though, it will take something special that's for sure. Barcelona may not be playing at the level they used to, yet they remain an incredibly strong side. Last week they trounced Almeria 4-1 without really hitting their stride. Against struggling Valladolid, they will likely do so again.
• One area where Valladolid will look to hurt Barcelona is in the air. The hosts are relatively strong aerially and they will try and use this to their advantage when going forward. If they can be sound defensively and force Barca to rely on crossed balls into the box, this will also play into the hosts' hands.
• After cutting the gap between them and leaders Real Madrid last weekend, the Catalans will be bidding to at least maintain the status quo or take advantage of any slip up from Carlo Ancelotti's men and Valladolid ultimately should not be too much of a problem to them. With Neymar scoring a hat-trick midweek and with Andres Iniesta looking more and more his usual self, the visitors will simply have too much quality and fire-power. Nevertheless, Valladolid will be encouraged by the fact that they have lost just three times in twelve home league games this season.

Match Summary

Valladolid	Barcelona
Strengths
Stole the ball often from the opposition	(Team showed no significant strengths)
Weaknesses
Were aggressive	Were poor at finishing
Lost possession often
Gave away a lot of free-kicks around the box
Styles
Played with width	Favoured long shots
Favoured long balls	Dominated possession
	Favoured short passing