Barcelona vs Stuttgart Champions League Preview 17/03/2010

In the second half they regrouped, started playing better football and equalized with a goal by Ibrahimovic

Preview Barcelona vs Stuttgart Champions League 17/03/2010

Barcelona vs Stuttgart Wednesday March 17th Kick-off time 20.45, Camp Nou Stadium Barcelona, Titleholders Barcelona shaken in Stuttgart now out to land decisive blow

Onno van Keulen

Barcelona seemed on the verge of collapse in the first half of their away game against modest German side VfB Stuttgart three weeks ago. The titleholders played their worst 45 minutes of the season and were losing the first leg game of the knockout phase by 1-0, a score that could easily have run up to 3-0.

In the second half they regrouped, started playing better football and equalized with a goal by Ibrahimovic. But the meltdown of the champions during the first half of the game made one thing very clear: this years Barcelona is more vulnerable, less dominant and is just a team that seems easier to beat. Not easy to beat, but possible to beat, whereas last year but very few teams could aspire to do that.

And that is the message Stuttgart manager Christian Gross will convey his men: if we play the best night of football of our lives, we can knock out Barcelona. Still, the German players and fans will form a but small minority that believes the South-German side can actually leave the Barcelona arena ´alive. Fourty-year old goalkeeper and captain Jens Lehman, who will have plenty of work to do tonight, says ,,We have a small chance to get through, but it´s not as small as the outside world seems to believe”.

,,We need to play like we did in the first 45 minutes of the first game. Aggressively chasing the ball, looking for the confrontation where we can and above all stay level headed with the one or two chances we are surely going to get”, says manager Gross. In Stuttgart it was especially the fast, five time German international Claudemir Cacau (27) who created opportunities for his team and ultimately scored the opening goal.

Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola is seeing his side little by little recuperating form, a convincing 3-0 win over Valencia last weekend confirming that Barcelona might once again peak at seasons end. ,,We will have to play this game as if it were the final. If we get careless or arrogant, we might be unpleasantly surprised.” The Catalans are missing pivotal midfielder Xavi but can otherwise field their strongest team. Injured leftwing defender Abidal will be replaced by the offensively minded Brazilian Maxwell.

Barcelona will be gunning to get to this years´ final maybe more than ever before, since it will be played in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, home of Real Madrid, eliminated last week by Olympique Lyon. Lifting the European Cup in Madrid will be the ultimate humiliation for Real Madrid fans and their president Florentino Perez alike, who spent 300 million euros last summer on new signings to see his own side crown themselves Europe’s best in Madrid, not archrivals Barcelona.

Stuttgart and Barca played each other once before, in the group stage of the Champions League in the 2007-2008 season, with Barcelona winning comfortably both at home (3-1) and away (2-0).



Onno van Keulen
Barcelona Reporter.com


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