Racing Santander - Barca Preview

Ok, there are some serious good news - not like all the news till now was bad. But this one sounds so good - Milito is back in training. There is no date set for his return but still it is good to hear that we may be able to count on his service maybe in the latter part of the season. And that is a very good news to the build up of the Racing clash. There are reports that Pep may be tempted to rest Messi at the El Sardinero, but most probably he would only start him from the bench. Last season also Messi started on the bench here and came on to help Barca win that encounter. It is also not clear whether Iniesta will get a much awaited start; Pep seems to be in no hurry to rush "San Andres" and there is a high chance he will again see action only after the break. Pep Guardiola has announced a 19 man squad for the visit to Santander - Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Piqué, Marquez, Chygrynskiy, Maxwell, Abidal, Busquets, Toure Yaya, Xavi, Keita, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry, Jeffren. Pep will be looking to rest his major players tonight because of the tight schedule ahead of them. Puyol, Abidal and Toure who were rested in the last match is definite to get their start, meanwhile Pique is destined to get a well deserved rest.

So as usual Valdes should guard the goal. Alves, Puyol, Chygrrynskiy (I am still having trouble spelling his name) and Abidal should form the defense. The midfield will have the presence of Xavi and Keita alongside Toure. The front trio may look a bit different if Pep rests Messi. My guts tells me that Messi will start from the bench and the front trio most probably will look like Henry, Ibrahmovic and Pedro. It will be interesting to watch how Ibrahmovic perform in the absence of Messi upfront. He may have to carry the attacking lead tonight. This is teh most important match till we played because of the fact that Madrid will be playing Villareal on Wednesday. A victory tonight will increase pressure on Madrid to a greater extent and we may return to the top with atleast two point lead. This is going to be a very tough match but I still go with our team winning it 3-0.