<span class="titolo">La Liga Preview: Villarreal - Barcelona</span></p> <span class="sommario">What: La Liga Matchday 8 Who: Villarreal (3rd, 15/21pts) vs. FC Barcelona (2nd, 17/21pts) When:Saturday, 20th October 2007, 20:00 CET Where: Estadio El Madrigal, Vila-real, Spain</span></p> Second welcomes third for match of the day in La Liga, with Barcelona able to leapfrog Real Madrid at the top - should results go their way - while Villarreal are anxious to retake the runner-up position in La Liga. And here at El Madrigal, they have every chance of doing so. Barcelona are weakened thanks to injuries and internationals and, with a fervent home crowd behind them, the Yellow Submarine players will feel a repeat of their 2-0 springtime victory over the blaugrana could be on the cards. Back On Track - Without Riquelme And all this without Riquelme. The Argentine genius may have strutted his stuff for the albiceleste over the last week, but there's no sign of his return to the Villarreal squad. Quite the opposite, in fact. The club hierarchy have restated their intention to punt the playmaker at their earliest convenience, while coach Manuel Pellegrini has once again left him out of the squad. Indeed, the Chilean manager has become so sick of the pressure regarding Juan Roman that he's likened his current status to that of an "international terrorist". Be that as it may, he's still doing well in charge at the Madrigal. Last week's slip-up away to Osasuna aside, Villarreal had been in great form, recovering from their 5-0 early season loss at home to Real Madrid to win every other match. Goalscoring was occasionally an issue, with late strikes against tired defenders comprising much of their total, but the mercurial Giuseppe Rossi hit form at just the right time to help Villarreal maintain the pressure. He's suspended for this one, though; with Guille Franco and Jon Dahl Tomasson yet to really hit form, this could spell trouble for the Vila-Real men. Still, they've only conceded goals in three matches of nine in the entire competitive campaign, and have devilishly creative wingers in the form of Pires and Cazorla, so all is not lost at either end of the pitch. Domestic Pressures, International Worries For Barcelona, goalscoring is even less of a problem. The blaugrana, steered by the young hand of Lionel Messi, have simply been on fire lately, leading the Liga scoring charts alongside Real Madrid with over two goals a game. In Europe, they've managed five in two matches, and this statistic is all the more impressive for their having done so without the still-injured Samuel Eto'o. Indeed, Barcelona's continued excellence even in the face of an injury crisis has impressed many both within and without Spain. Yaya Toure and Edmilson are both out, leaving a gaping hole in central midfield; even with that taken into account, a patchwork defence has done enough, if not quite at a world-class level. For this encounter, Carles Puyol is just about ready to play a full ninety minutes alongside Gaby Milito, while Oleguer will hope to find form in a right-back position still rendered his own by virtue of Zambrotta's injury woes. Up front, Ronaldinho's yet to really find form this season, and will in fact miss this one after returning to Spain late following international duty. This could give either Bojan Krkic or Giovani dos Santos a real chance to impress up front. For their sake as much as the team's, Barcelona fans will hope that the prodigal stars get some good opportunities to showcase their skills, but without too much pressure on their young shoulders. In this sense, international commitments and injuries are something of a mixed blessing for Barcelona. But one wonders how long a threadbare squad can keep up their truly sensational run of form. Indeed, it might not get better anytime soon: in just under three months, Toure and Eto'o will be gone yet again, this time not due to injuries but the African Cup of Nations. How can the remaining 23 players steady the ship if even one more injury strikes? For now, though, the good times are rolling at the Nou Camp, with such luminaries as Atletico Madrid, Zaragoza, Sevilla and Lyon being left in the culers' dust in recent weeks. Can they keep it up here? FORM GUIDE Villarreal (their scores first) <table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="0" style="width: 290px; height: 139px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td>07/10</td> <td>A</td> <td>Osasuna</td> <td>2-3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>04/10</td> <td>A</td> <td>BATE Borisov</td> <td>2-0</td> </tr> <tr> <td>30/09</td> <td>H</td> <td>Athletic Bilbao</td> <td>1-0</td> </tr> <tr> <td>26/09</td> <td>A</td> <td>Racing Santander</td> <td>2-0</td> </tr> <tr> <td>20/09</td> <td>H</td> <td>BATE Borivos</td> <td>4-1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>16/09</td> <td>A</td> <td>Real Mallorca</td> <td>1-0</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> FC Barcelona</p> <table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="0" style="width: 285px; height: 139px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td>07/10</td> <td>H</td> <td>Atletico Madrid</td> <td>3-0</td> </tr> <tr> <td>02/10</td> <td>A</td> <td>VfB Stuttgart</td> <td>2-0</td> </tr> <tr> <td>29/09</td> <td>A</td> <td>Levante</td> <td>4-1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>26/09</td> <td>H</td> <td>Zaragoza</td> <td>4-1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>22/09</td> <td>H</td> <td>Sevilla</td> <td>2-1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>19/09</td> <td>H</td> <td>Lyon</td> <td>3-0</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> TEAM NEWS <span style="font-style: italic;"> Villarreal </span> Star striker and top scorer Giuseppe Rossi is suspended and central midfielder Josico is out injured for this all-important clash. The rest of the squad is fully fit, with coach Pellegrini expected to deploy a double pivot in central midfield, although without Josico this could be a challenge. Squad: Viera, Diego Lopez; Javi Venta, Angel, Capdevila, Cygan, Fuentes, Godin; Senna, Bruno, Mavuba, Cani, Cazorla, Pires, Mati Fernandez; Nihat, Franco, Tomasson. Possible Starting XI: Viera; Angel, Cygan, Fuentes, Capdevila; Cazorla, Bruno/Mavuba, Senna, Pires; Franco; Nihat. FC Barcelona Barcelona's injury problems continue apace; as mentioned, Toure, Zambrotta, Eto'o and now Ronaldinho are just some of those left out. Should coach Rijkaard stick with his usual 4-3-3 then it remains to be seen who will play up front with Messi and Henry: Eidur Gudjohnsen could make his first start of the season, or is there perhaps space for a young gun such as Giovani or Bojan? Squad: Valdes, Jorquera; Oleguer, Thuram, Puyol, Milito, Abidal, Sylvinho; Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, Marc Crosas; Henry, Messi, Gudjohnsen, Ezquerro, Bojan, Giovani. Possible Starting XI: Valdes; Oleguer, Puyol, Milito, Abidal; Xavi, Deco, Iniesta; Messi, Henry, Giovani. PREDICTION Villarreal have every reason to be confident going into this game, but so too do Barcelona. And even without the attacking influence of Eto'o and Ronaldinho, it seems as if the blaugrana have enough to emerge victorious. It won't be a 4-1 rout by any means, but Barcelona will edge it.</p> </p> </p>
