FC Barcelona - Osasuna: Preview

Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi celebrating.

Welcome back after an awesome 2011! Here’s wishing you people have an even more awesome year ahead. :-)

Getting back to football, FC Barcelona are back to begin the New Year with a Copa del Rey round of 16 match-up with Osasuna. The last encounter between these two teams at the Camp Nou was totally one-sided, with Barca registering a whooping 8 – 0 victory. Osasuna, currently placed 5th in the Primera Liga, will try to get over the previous crushing and hold Barca to a draw, to say the least. Their full-squad, will be an added advantage.

Messi, Valdes out for tonight’s tie.

Lionel Messi and Victor Valdes are ruled out for tonight’s tie after being diagnosed with a viral fever. This, combined with the absence of David Villa and Ibrahim Afellay, calls for B-team players. Cuenca, Montoya, Deloufeu, Dos Santos are expected to be called up.

Possible Line-ups:

Pinto – Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Abidal – Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta – Pedro, Cesc, Cuenca.

Pinto – Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Abidal – Thiago, Xavi, Cesc – Cuenca, Pedro, Alexis.

Pinto – Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal – Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta – Pedro, Cuenca, Alexis.

Match Details:

Kick-off: 2:30 A.M. IST

Venue: Camp Nou.

Camp Nou introduces ‘Smoking Ban’. Starting tonight, Barca have decided to ban smoking in the stadium. They will be the first Spanish club to do so.