Match Result ; Sporting Gijon 0-1 FC Barcelona

An early goal from Adriano gave Guardiola’s men the three points in Gijon which take them to the top of the table for the first time this season. On the negative side, Abidal was forced off with an injury.

As they were in their last two visits to El Molinon, Barça were really made to work hard by Sporting and they ran out winners thanks to a single first half goal from Adriano –though they could easily have increased their lead in a dominant first 45 minutes. After the break the game was more evenly balanced, with Barça controlling the home team’s efforts, despite losing Abidal to injury and, in truth, Valdes was rarely under threat.

The win puts Barça at the top of La Liga going into the international break, with 14 points alongside Llevant, but with a better goal difference.

Adriano opens the scoring
Guardiola began the game with another tactical innovation, sending out a 3-3-4 line up, with Pedro playing as a false number nine, Messi a little behind him and Villa and Adriano out wide. The system helped Barça dominate and after a Xavi shot had bounced off the woodwork, Adriano was quick to pounce and his shot deflected off Canella past Sporting keeper Juan Pablo to give Barça a deserved early lead.

Dominant Barça
One up, Barça now began to completely take charge and Thiago and Villa combined on the left to nearly double the lead before Messi had a penalty shout turned down by the ref. The second looked to be a matter of when not if, as Sporting defended en masse and could only muster a couple of counter attacks before the break.

Abidal injury and return to back four
The hosts upped their game in the second half though., and played with a greater intensity and more presence in attack, upsetting Barça’s rhythm, which was further disturbed by Abidal’s injury, forcing Guardiola to bring on Maxwell and Piqué for the Frenchman and Pedro, whilst reverting to a traditional back four. After a first 25 minutes or so under immense local pressure, Barça began to take control again and take the sting out of any Sporting threat by employing their trademark domination of possession and not allowing the hosts a sniff of a chance.

RESULT:
Sporting Gijon: 0
FC Barcelona: 1
GOALSCORERS:
Sporting Gijon: (none)
FC Barcelona: Adriano (12′)
LINEUPS:
Sporting Gijon: Juan Pablo, Lora, Botia, I. Hernandez, Canella, Rivera, N. Cases, Trejo, A. Castro, De las Cuevas, and Barral
FC Barcelona: Valdés, Alves, Mascherano, Abidal, Adriano, Busquets, Xavi, Thiago, Pedro, Messi, and Villa
SUBSTITUTES:
Sporting Gijon: Cuellar, Gregory, D. Suarez, Ayoze, S. Alvarez, R. Leon, and Bilic
FC Barcelona: Pinto, Fontàs, Puyol, Piqué, Maxwell, Keita, and Cuenca
SUBSTITUTIONS:
Sporting Gijon: Ayoze on for Trejo (75′), Bilic on for Cases (79′)
FC Barcelona: Maxwell on for Abidal (56′), Pique on for Pedro (57′), Keita on for Adriano (80′)
CAUTIONS:
Sporting Gijon: Cases (34′), Castro (87′)
FC Barcelona: Pedro (50′), Busquets (90+2′)

Man of The Match: Javier Mascherano

Next Match ; Sporting Gijon v FC Barcelona

La Liga Jornada 7
El Molinon

Barca will be looking to pick up their first Liga away win of the season on Sunday when they travel to Sporting, who are currently bottom of the league.

Manuel Preciado has no injury concerns and has a full squad to choose from for the visit of Barcelona. After an impressive substitute performance in the 0-0 draw against Racing last week, Oscar Trejo is expected to replace Nacho Novo up front while Andre Castro could replace Alberto Lora in the middle of the park.
Carles Puyol is expected to be rested following his recent return from injury, with Javier Mascherano ready to step into the centre of defence. Xavi could also be rested in midfield, with Thiago the likeliest to deputise for the experienced playmaker, while Cesc Fabregas will return in place of Seydou Keita.
Pep Guardiola is still without the injured trio of Andres Iniesta, Alexis Sanchez and Ibrahim Afellay for the visit to Gijon.

Line Up Prediction;
Sporting : Juan Pablo; Lora, Botia, Hernandez, Canella, Castro, Rivera, De Las Cuevas, Trejo, Barral, Sangoy.
Barca : Valdes ; Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Thiago, Pedro, Villa, Messi.

Score Prediction : 0-3

Bojan Scores in Roma Victory

Barcelona loan out Bojan Krkic scored a beautiful goal today in Roma’s 3-1 victory over Atlanta in the Italian Serie A.  The goal, Krkic’s first this season, came after 20 minutes of play as he ran onto a sublime pass from teammate De Rossi.  Roma, lead by new manager Luis Enrique, have had a troubled start to the campaign, but now find themselves third, level on eight points with Juventus and Udinese after three official matches.

Watch the Goal!

Guardiola: “We always find it hard to beat Sporting”

In the customary pre-match press conference, FC Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged that despite Sporting Gijon’s current form, he was wary of the team, which has always caused problems for his side. Guardiola added he doesn’t underestimate the Asturian team and has a lot of respect for the fans at El Molinón. Also, asked about the spate of injuries that has hit the club recently, Guardiola downplayed the concerns. “I am worried about particular things, but not the recent succession of muscle injuries,” he said. ”There are always injuries in football and there always will be.”

While Guardiola’s first time facing Preciado’s team as manager was memorable (Barcelona defeated Gijon 6-1), since then Barca has really toiled to overcome the opposition’s strong defence. “It is one of the games we have found the hardest and the scores have always been close,” he said. ”We always find it hard to beat Sporting because they defend very well and have an intense ground where the fans help them a lot. But we even find it hard to beat them when we’re at home.” Adding to that Barcelona’s less-than-impressive away form, Guardiola has a lot to ponder about.
When questioned on whether Preciado would be dismissed if Gijon’s bad start to the season continued, Guardiola stood by the coach and praised the work that he has put in building the team. “They won’t sack him,” he said. “If anybody has done things for that team, it’s him. He’s saved them every year and they’ve been in some very difficult situations. He always pulls it off and this year will be no exception.”
Returning to the topic of Cesc Fabregas, , who like Ibrahim Afellay suffered the injury during training, Guardiola noted that losing any player due to injury always hinders the plans of the team but injuries in itself are an inseperable part of of football. He gave details on how Cesc suffered the injury. “He was going in for a cross and overstretched himself, he scored the goal but got hurt,” said Guardiola. ”But luckily it’s not too serious and he’ll be back once the international break is over.” He added that Cesc had so far taken special care of himself and worked hard on injury prevention, but then injuries can never be ruled out. Guardiola also believes that it isn’t that the club has had more injuries so far this year when compared to the same time around last year.
Delivering some good news, Guardiola noted that Carles Puyol was back with the team after a knock in Minsk. With regards to Sanchez’ going to Chile to recover from his injury, Guardiola said that the player’s presence there didn’t mean that he was all clear to play with the national team during the international break. “At first it was important for him to be here, but at the current stage of his recovery he can go to be with his family and one of the club’s physios is travelling with him,” said Guardiola. ”He has permission to go to Chile but not to play for the national team.” (fcbarcelona.cat)

Jeffren Suarez visit Barca training session

There was a former Barça man watching today’s session, Jeffren Suárez who is currently on the books of Sporting Lisbon. He greeted the players who were his team mates until just a few months ago and spoke to several of them at length.

Barca squad for the next match against Sporting Gijon

Josep Guardiola has picked 18 players for the game on Sunday evening in Gijón. The list includes captain Carles Puyol, who is back working with the squad and Barça B’s Isaac Cuenca, but Cesc is out through injury.

18 players will travel to Gijón on Sunday for a tricky match against Sporting, where Barcelona only drew last season (1-1). Seventeen members of the first team travel, following the injury to Cesc Fàbregas today Carles Puyol is also in the side after recovering from a rib injury sustained against Borisov midweek, plus Isaac Cuenca, of Barça B.

Four absentees
The injured Afellay, Alexis and Cesc are all put through injury, and although Andrés Iniesta did join today’s training session, he is also left behind.

The players will travel to Asturias on Sunday at midday, arriving in Gijón around 11.45, eight hours before kickoff.

Cesc Fabregas injured and out for 3 weeks

Barca midfielder suffered a hamstring injury in training on Saturday morning and will be sidelined for three weeks.

Pep Guardiola has lost Cesc Fàbregas for three weeks after he suffered an injury in the final training session before the league game on Sunday evening with Sporting Gijón. Tests have revealed that he has torn fibre in his right femoral biceps.

He is expected to be out of action for three weeks, and therefore misses the trip to El Molinón this weekend. This will be followed by an international break, so Barcelona won’t play again until October 15 against Racing Santander, a game he will also miss, along with the Champions League meeting with FC Viktoria at the Camp Nou. If all goes to plan, he will be available for selection for the following home league game against Sevilla.